I am so glad that I found this site. There is so much conflicting advice out there. I like this common sense approach. But I'm not sure how much common sense I have right now! We have a 9 week cockapoo puppy. We've had him for one week. He sleeps thru the night from 10:30 to 5:30. No crying at all. We began crate training immediately, but once I came across this site, I understood that he was not in the crate during the day enough, so now unless he has peed/pooped, he is in the crate. If he produces, he gets 15 minutes of intense supervision inside. If he doesn't produce, he comes inside and back in the crate. We do this every 30 minutes until he produces. I just ordered the Common Sense Housebreaking ebook. Can't wait for it to arrive.
Questions though:
1. On the Q&A on housebreaking, it says to walk the puppy first. I have had conflicting info regarding this, i.e. no walks outside of the yard until he's had all his shots, outside is not playtime (although he goes quicker if we run him around first)
2. Is saying "NO" and redirecting an appropriate correction for mouthing/biting/nipping?
3. Leash. When to start leash work? Is he too young? He is on the leash ouside in our yard, but he pulls. Also runs ahead to the door whether he's done or not. We physically pick him up and go back to the potty area. Is this the right thing to do? How much time is okay to let him do his business? I don't want him to think of potty time as play time.
Any advice would be SO appreciated!

1. Exercise helps them do what they have to do. I walk around my yard. Since I'm on 10 acres that can be a pretty good walk!

2. That works for me.

3. I start leash manners right away. I have a tendency not to give them too much time to do their business. It makes for a much quicker rotation of the dogs when I am trying to potty them all. I will play after they potty.

Ditto what Betty wrote and just to add, crate training is not leaving the pup in there all day except to potty or eat. I didn't quite understand what you meant when you said "so now unless he has peed/pooped, he is in the crate", but it sounds as if you leave him in there most of the day? If I'm wrong and misunderstood you, disregard but if not, remember a pup/dog needs a lot of interaction and play time with you. It's how they learn about their world. The crate is not their world.

"No walks outside of the yard until he's had all his shots" means you miss out on valuable socializing time. NOW is the time to take him out in public. If you don't feel comfortable, carry him, but he needs to be exposed to noises and people and new environments. (NOT dog parks). My litter had their first shots at 8 weeks and didn't have their 3rd set until 5 months. Many people on this board do not vaccinate at all. Imagine the missed socializing opportunities by waiting for shots!

Your puppy needs interaction and play time. Crate time is for sleeping or when you cannot supervise the puppy.

Oh no, I don't think I wrote that correctly...he's NOT in the crate all day. What I meant was when we take him outside and he doesn't eliminate, he goes back into the crate for 30 minutes and we repeat the process. When he does his business outside, we play with him and are with him. Previously, when he didn't eliminate we would just bring him in and he would immediately poop or pee on the floor. Now he goes outside, pees or poops, we play and then he takes a nap!
Today I will take him for a walk in my neighborhood. What about him pulling on his leash?

Thanks for clarifying

I (personally) wouldn't worry about a pup of 9 weeks old pulling on his leash. Also he's much too young to be corrected for that type of thing, so the best thing to do is take little treats with you and use them to keep him close to you, very very short walks (he's very young and also very tiny so I wouldn't walk him around a whole block yet until you see how he does with shorter walks).

When he does pull, stand still and call him back to you, give him a treat and praise him when he comes, change directions 180 degrees and start walking in the other direction. Repeat (and repeat and repeat ). He'll learn the most fun place is to be by your side. When he starts walking by your side, treat and praise. At first you won't get far obviously, but he'll be learning through this exercise.

Just a reminder, loose dogs and tiny puppy which sometimes looks to them like prey. Keep an eye out and be ready to pick up your puppy at the first sign of another dog.

Edited to add: don't let your puppy interact with strange dogs.

I love this video for puppy training. I wasn't consistent or patient enough with my puppy, but this method worked really well when I applied myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6bX1zq5HBg

It illustrates what Sandy was talking about. Have fun!

Edit: remember, no leash corrections for a baby!

Thanks so much for the advice! We went on two very short walks yesterday (about 1/2 block) and it was fun to watch him explore and react and check everything out and Charlie did great! We will make this a part of our daily routine starting right now!
I can't stress how glad I am to have come across this site...there is so much varied and conflicting information and opinion out there...it's overwhelming, so thank you! The video is nice because I got to "see" the instruction!