Need reassurance! :)

[Emily Lau]

We are first-time puppy parents... very diligent... but boy it is hard!

Happy points:

Earnest came home around 3.5 weeks ago, now he is around 11.5 weeks. He is affectionate, smart, learns tricks quickly, and loves every person and dog he meets. (he REALLY loves children and dogs)

He is getting the hang of leash-walking too!

Challenging points:

housebreaking has been....... hard. We are as good as it gets when it comes to taking him out. I'd say we take him out at least every 45 mins. He goes outside, willingly and happily. But he also goes inside  if he has a chance. (just for fun, not because he needs to, coz it's just a "little bit of pee" - not excitement pee either, coz he wasn't excited). 

He loves to bark. He barks when he needs to pee, or poo, or wants to play, or just wants a hug. We are consistent with our dealings with him, but he is also very strong-willed!

He is mostly happy and mellow but after he takes a poo he becomes a psycho pup. barks, nips, jumps, gets way too riled up.... (we are also being really consistent with our disciplining...)

He never had an accident in his smaller crate. We upgraded him to a larger crate yesterday, he has had two accidents since.

Umm...

Just want to know that WE WILL PREVAIL! 

I have had so little sleep it is not even funny... :)

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

I think the only thing to maybe add to all the advice is to carry the puppy outside to pee & poo.  I agree with NOT taking them out too often, but on the other hand, get them out before they start to whine.  Crate needs to be partitioned off if too large.  Rule of thumb used to be if 2 months old, every two hours...yes, 24 hours a day!  But then they can gradually go to 3 and 4 hours.  Good Luck.  Mine came to me mostly potty trained by ringing the bells...until she learned that she could ring the bells and then she would just go outside to play...we got rid of the bells & kept the puppy! LOL

[Jen and Annie]

My Annie is now almost 8 months old, and we had some challenges with potty training. Since your little Earnest learns tricks quickly, you might start 'throwing a party' when he goes potty outside - and give him treats and lots of praise. Soon he will figure out that he only gets treats for going potty outside.. We tried the bells, and although Annie picked up on it quick - she also picked up the fact that if she rings the bells, she gets to go outside. Whether she has to go to the bathroom or not - these dogs are smart.
For the barking - maybe you could teach the 'speak' command - and then teach a 'silence' command. Once he knows the silence command, you might be able to get him to stop barking when he shouldnt. I dont know what you're using for training, but I had a lot of sucess with the clicker method.
And I always say a tired puppy is a well behaved puppy. Send him for fetch for 15 minutes at a time, and you might be able to calm him down a little.

Actually just noticing that this original post was from 10 days ago, so you may have him potty trained by now, LOL.

[Emily Lau]

Hi everyone, I have to say that I am so very touched and impressed by how kind and helpful everyone is on this website! Thank you!

Updates:

-4 days no accident, but then he is only out 15-30 mins at a time in the apartment (we take walks and play outside instead), and still go out to potty a lot. His poo schedule is erratic at best though. (no poo after meals, no poo after exercise, then suddenly, POO on the sidewalk, POO in the middle of the night) haha...what a joy! LOL We can't really start the bell yet, because he is not roaming freely in the house enough to even make the whole thing work.

-Earnest is SO good at tricks, but he has absolutely no interests in learning to fetch or fetching anything. We tried everything. (have been using clicker too) I will ask my trainer :) He loves playing soccer and basketball though (I KNOW)

-He is the friendliest doodle in the universe. He loves EVERYONE, and loves taking the subway everywhere (because everyone pets him) :) Also dogs. 

-He is extremely food motivated. When he is roaming in the house, he spends ALL of his free time looking for food :) haha.... He already eats 3 cups of food and a variety of treats everyday :) Oh well, he is packing 10 pounds a month these days.....

-He doesn't bark or nip so much anymore (I have been correcting him consistently). 

-He goes to daycare 1 or 2 times a week, and he loves it there. 

Oh, I have a video for him, if you guys are interested :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlzqQuboWFw

More soon! :)

Emily

[Jen and Annie]

WHAT A CUTIE!!  Annie was not interested much in fetch either at first - but I was able to get her to chase the ball.  I had to throw the ball, and then chase it myself - then she would chase me.... (from your video, it looks like you could use this method - looks like he likes to chase you!) ...then I directed her to pick up the ball and then chase me again.  Soon she figured out that i wanted HER to chase the ball and bring it back to me...  

She will still fetch here and there, but is more interested in actually catching the ball mid-air.  Once she learned that, it's all she wants to do.

If he's food motivated, then the potty training will continue moving right along if you treat him when he goes potty outside. 

He looks like he's going to be tall!  So adorable, they grow up fast, so take lots of pictures and videos!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

He so reminds me of Riley at that age, gorgeous puppy.