Tommy so do you suggest that we soley just use the crate during the day...even though it will be 4 hoursish till we can get back...im not sure how long he can hold it yet...because we are very diligent about taking him out about every hour or so when we are home....and he is doing great...5 days and only 2 accidents so far....

I second Tommy's advice. If you can watch him, sleeping on the carpet is just fine.

Myself, I'd clip a leash to his collar just to make sure the slippery little devil didn't wake up and slink off to make potty in a corner while I was distracted by the scrolling headlines on cable news.

also is there any secret to wearing them out before bedtime so that they do sleep well at night...?

It will only be another couple of weeks before the pup is able to make it 4 hours without an accident in the crate.
I would bend over backwards to make sure someone could get home and let him out every couple of hours.

Once a dog has learned to pee in the house, you could end up with years of problems.

Lots of puppy games in the backyard during potty times, and several short (as in less than 5 minutes at this age), fun marker training sessions are fantastic for tiring little puppy bodies and minds.

8 weeks is not too young to start loading the marker and teaching sit with positive reinforcement.

tommy what did you do with the puppy at night...my fear about the laundry room...(and it worked well last night)...is that i can hardly hear him whine...and dont want him to wait too long if he has to go out at night....

see the bed thing neither one of us mind...we had a 14 year old lab that we had put down in October...the best dog i have ever had....he slept at the foot of the bed every night...

all of this is just so new to us

if the puppy is in the house we have him on a leash...and tethered to something...

we have been working on the sit thing...making him sit before we feed him....if i walk him to the door ( a lot of times i pick him up and take him out) ...before we go out...and before we come in....

how do you suggest handling when he is on the leash and doesnt want to go where you want him to and he resists...like you are pulling on him....

 Quote: Joey Harris

if the puppy is in the house we have him on a leash...and tethered to something...

Tethered to YOU is the idea .....

Unless I missed something......

Joey,

When our dog was the age of yours the last person to bed at night took him out to pee. Then my son got up at 2:30 AM, every morning, to take him out. Then he was taken out again at 6:30 AM. No crate accidents.

Put him in the crate when you can't have eyes on him.

If he is making a lot of noise put the crate at the opposite end of the house and close the doors.

We left a radio on for Hans at night. My wife and son think it helped. I don't know if it really did, but it didn't hurt. My son also took one of his sweaty smelly t-shirts in the crate with Hans. I don't know if that helped either, but my wife and son thought it did.

We never put down papers or pads for him. We had a couple of accidents in the house because we broke the "crate him if you can't keep eyes on him" rule.

It doesn't hurt a dog to spend a lot of time in the crate. If the alternative is to let his housebreaking lapse you are really better off to crate him and only take him out when he needs to go pee.

Somewhere on here someone has advice on how long a dog can hold his bladder at a given age. I think my son got up in the middle of the night with Hans for several months.

Do you have kids? Let me tell you, dogs housebreak a lot quicker!

rich....where did you crate your dog at night?.....what did you do during the day with him....

we have a son that is 3...and yes i agree i think dogs house train much faster....ha ha

 Quote: Joey Harris

if the puppy is in the house we have him on a leash...and tethered to something...

we have been working on the sit thing...making him sit before we feed him....if i walk him to the door ( a lot of times i pick him up and take him out) ...before we go out...and before we come in....

how do you suggest handling when he is on the leash and doesnt want to go where you want him to and he resists...like you are pulling on him....

When I say tethered, I mean to use a carbeener to clip the leash to your belt loop. Sorry... just saying tethered is pretty ambiguous.

If the pup doesn't want to follow along on the leash, try enticing him with a toy (wiggle it in the manner that a wounded bird would thrash), or perhaps a tasty peice of hot dog or another treat he likes.

If all else fails, slight tug, release, slight tug, release on the leash, all the while calling the puppy in an excited happy voice, pat your knees, clap your hands, etc.

A gentle tug followed by immediate release is of no real harm when all else fails.