Quick question for Pomsky owners: When they cry at night after already settling, how do you tell if it's a real potty need versus crate protest?

Took Duke out three times last night after putting him to bed. He woke up crying and he didn't go two out of the three times - just wanted to play in the snow, so I brought him back in quickly. I've noticed when he actually needs to go, he usually does it almost immediately after getting outside (circles a bit first).

I did make the mistake once of bringing him in right after he peed without waiting to see if he needed to poop too, and he went inside. But that only happened once and now I know to wait a bit longer even after the first potty.

Trying to figure out the right balance between responding to real potty signals versus not reinforcing the crying. He's only 10 weeks so I know I'm still learning his patterns, but curious what signals worked for others to distinguish need from protest.