i got zack when he was 16 weeks and he had been at the home where i got him since he was 12 weeks. At that home, the back sliding door was open most of the time, on to the big grassy yard, and there were dogs of many different ages in the home, and it seems the younger ones to some degree learned from the older ones.
Zack had the idea of going outside when i got him, but for probably another month, he didn't totally get it, like he would not go inside for a week or more and then all of a sudden there he would be right in front of me, starting to squat in the living room.
I always kept Zack in the crate, closed, at night and while he was here alone, and he never ever went pee or poo in the crate. I didn't know about X pens until a bit later.
Even from the beginning at 16 weeks, i never got up during the night to let him out. When i would come to him and let him out of the crate, all he wanted to do was greet and snuggle, and he did not pee during that ritual. Then i'd let him out, and sometimes he'd take his sweet time to pee, he'd sniff around and run around in the backyard for a while before peeing. This would be after on average about 7 hours, often more, without peeing, when he was 4 months old.
So i think as dogs go, he has good bladder control. My daughter's cav, Belle, has always peed on herself and the floor when she's excited. She generally hasn't peed or pooed in the crate even though they leave her home all day and don't come home at lunch, or they used to. Now she stays in the kitchen and she has a kitten as a companion. the only exception was that she peed and pooed in the crate when she was sick, poor baby
Based on what i've been hearing, i think for early house training, keeping a puppy in a closed crate during the night helps them to learn to hold their bladder because they have such a strong instinct not to soil right next to themselves. When they're very young, a lot of people get up during the night and let them out and then put them back in the crate. I know that dogs do get trained other ways, besides crating, though. I made use of wee wee pads when Zack was small because it was the rainy cold season, he refused to go outside, and also he was sick with colitis which complicated housetraining. But the whole process didn't take that long. He was largely housetrained by 5 months, though there will be an "accident" maybe every couple of months, right when i conclude that he's 100%. never say never.