As you are probably all sick to death of hearing, I have a new puppy. She is cuteness encapsulated in puppy form and I love her so much! She tolerate 4 young children visiting today (and overcrowding and over petting even though I told them to be senstive to her), and she was tolerance itself. She makes me smile everytime I look at her and she has such joyfulness for life.
However, I am aware of the fact that although you could forgive her anything at present by the way she looks at you (she knows very well she has us wrapped around her little paws!)  she needs to learn the rules as soon as possible, so there are questions I have and need advice on. I have read so many books (everything Gwen Bailey, the K.I.S.S puppy book, Dog Training for Dummies, and The Culture Clash etc.) and I felt really confident that I knew exactly what I should do when I brought her home, and suddenly, once she got here, I have kind of got nervous (because of the responsibility involved and how much I feel for her) and worried about what I was doing, as well as hugely confused.

(And just to confirm, Missy was 7 weeks old on Friday 12th August, and is a GSD. She is a fairly timid pup - not the kind that runs up to you immediately when she was in the litter, but is still very interested in the world around her - she just sometimes likes to observe first. The vet said she is fairly timid too, and will need a lot of socialisation to combat any problems centred on her timidity. We brought her home on Saturday 13th. She was very withdrawn (to be expected) for the first few hours, and then played well and interacted with us, and came over for hugs and company. She is slowly learning her name and sits on command already (although sometimes with her attention span as it is, you have to say it and gently touch her bum to get her to remember...! Flash a treat and her bottom is straight to the floor. She will start puppy classes at 10 weeks old in early september).

However, I need help on a couple of issues...

1. Crate Training. When Missy is tired we put her in her crate and she quite happily snugs up at the back and sleeps. We started closing the door too and she is happy with this. Today I needed to crate her because an emergency came up (partner in hospital) and because she wasn't tired she was very unhappy and cried. I tried to ignore her (even though it broke my heart) and by the time I went back to her she had settled and was asleep. At night we crate her in the front room, but instead of leaving her, we sleep in the front room, so she is crated but we are there. She cries usually twice in the night, but the sound of us moving about seems to settle her. Also, when she whines, we wonder if she needs the toilet, and so my partner sets his alarm to take her out at around 3am (Missy goes to bed at around 11:30 and we wake up to take her to the loo at 6 am (yes, we are both exhausted!) She has never had either a poo or a wee in her crate).
We want to get to the stage soon where we crate her and leave her downstairs while we sleep upstairs (the sofa is starting to kill my back). Is it a case of crating her and leaving her, ignoring her cries, or should we wait and sleep downstairs with her for longer until she feels more settled in our home? I feel terrible leaving her to cry. I would take her up to our bedroom, but there is a) not enough room for the crate in our room, and b) our staircase is very steep (old victorian house) and I wouldn't feel safe lifting her up and down stairs as it could run the risk of my falling with her. She is already 1 stone 4 ounzes and so is already getting to be a handful). Therefore, having her in the bedroom is unfortunately not an option.

2. Toilet training. At the moment Missy has had about two wee wee accidents a day over the past two days, and these have been wholly my fault (the most recent being me on my own and hospital has rang so I haven't noticed her circling and sniffing). We take her out every hour (sometimes every 10 minutes if she makes grumbling noises and seems a little unsettled). When she goes outside, we use our chosen trigger word, which is 'wee wee' (which we use as a general term for 'go to the toilet' as opposed to just 'go for a wee') and then praise her immediately. Is this a good method? Also, I know you are supposed to take a pup out around 10-20 minutes after feeding, but Missy tend to eat and then immediatetly goes to sleep, and I try to wake her, but she goes all floppy tired and isn't interested, so we take her out once she has woken up. Sometimes, when we think she wants to go, but she doesn't (she will behave like she does and then will see something highly interesting like a rose to pull on, or a bee and seems to forget she was going to squat) we will say 'wee-wee' to see if it will remind her to go, but we are worried we are saying something over and over that she doesn't understand yet, so should we say 'wee-wee' only when she goes for now until it is really drilled in that when she pees/poos the word 'wee-wee' is said?

3. Play Biting. Missy play bites excessively, and sometimes snaps when she wants something you have, doing a little jump as well (usually during play although sometimes just if you talk to her in an excited voice). She play bites more with me than with my partner, and with me she also pulls at my clothes a lot (although I do wear baggier clothes than him..) When she play bites, I yelp and ignore her (as I read you should do), but she seems to get excited by the yelp and carries on. I then tried to shove a chew toy in her mouth when she goes for my hand, which she will then chew, but sometimes she looks to go past the chew toy to your hand. What is the best way to teach a puppy that biting is not the way humans like to play with puppies? I read in The Culture Clash, that inhibiting biting is not a natural way of dog training, but at the same time I am worried if I don't start early, I will get her into the habit of play biting. I do understand though that at the moment she is very young and play biting is how puppies play with their siblings, and how dogs in general will interact. I am not expecting her to stop play biting by next week, and know it takes a long time for play biting to stop and that puppies  play and learn about objects in this way, but what I want to do is start (in terms of training and general house rules) in the best way to make this biting stop sooner rather than later in her life. What is the best course to train her away from play biting?

4. Trying to get on the sofa. Missy has started to try and get on the sofa. She only does this when she wants attention/wants to play. We have been ignoring her (at the moment she can only get her paws up on the sofa, so I know she won't actually be able to get up) and then praising her once she is sitting in front of us (i.e. all feet on the ground). Is this the right thing to do?

I think I have become very overwhelmed by how much I feel for her and I have got myself so nervous that all my preparation has kind of gone to pot. I really don't want anyone commenting in a negative or nasty way in relation to this post - Missy is my first puppy and I tried my best to prepare as much as possible, but it can be hard for people who have never owned a dog before to make sense of all the different kinds of advice presented in books. I would appreciate help/advice/comments on these issues.

OK, that's about it for now (all big issues I know, but I could do with some advice).

Thanks all!

1. I suppose you give her water at night? Realistcally she can't hold her pee in for that long. If she has to go then she want's out or she will soil her crate. Crying just for attention , Yes ignore this. It will break your heart but it must be ignored , if she is not having accidents in the crate or seperation anxiety then let her cry she will eventually settle.

2. Yes you are doing the right thing by taking her out as often as you think she needs to go out. I suppose you are with her all day? Limit her access to your house and keep her in your sight at all times , catching a puppy in the act is usually the most effective way of house breaking. Continue taking her out and praise for pee, keep an eye on her meaning don't let her sneak into the hall without you noticing and weeing their. Wait until she wakes up then take her out immiedetly , a tired pup is a grumpy pup!

3. Holding muzzle until they settle can be effective. When they get excited you will notice they start to breathe a bit harder from the nose , gently hold her muzzle when she gets nippy and tell her no bite. Let go and walk away , if she continues then keep correcting her. Sometimes holding the muzzle till you can hear them calming down works well.

Don't be nervous , she's just a baby and all these problems are so very common. Leash training will probably be your next obstacle after puppy stages being to deminish :D

4. "OFF" command comes in handy. I usually gently push them off with my forearm then give them a sit or down command and treat. Consistency!

>I suppose you give her water at night?

Let's hope so ;)  As MannyG, she is far too young to hold her pee all night.  She is going to produce urine and fill her bladder (probably a couple of times) whether you give her water or not so there is no point it letting her get thirsty :)
Using a trigger word is a very good idea but as you have spotted she will not make the connection immediately.  Realistically all responsibility that the wees occur in the correct place will stay with you for at least 10 days by which time she should be associating the word with the action making life easier in terms of at least getting her to get on with it when you go to the right place :) even then it will continue to be you responsibility for some time to ensure that regular trips are taken.

all good advice.

erm, re the play biting, when she play bites, just stand up, fold your arms and make no eye contact until she is calm.  She must learn that biting results in the end of playtime.  Once she is calm, go back to her with a toy, if she bites again, repeat as above until she  gets the idea.  You could even put her on a timeout for 2 minutes and then bring her back in.  Whichever u choose.
hope this helps x

All this advice has been brilliant. We are actually going to get a trainer from the classes she will be joingin once her vaccinations are complete, to come over and give us some advice on little things we can do to start her training a home. I know she is young and has a miniscule attention span, but we thought if someone came and saw our home, our set-up for her, and how we interact with her, they may be able to tell us if we are doing anything wrong or if we are on the right track. I think regarding the play biting we are probably sending her mixed signals, as sometimes she will be ignored, and sometimes have a toy given to her instead or sometimes we move her nose away and say 'no', so we need one strategy we will both stick to. I will definitely take your advice though Jenny, and thanks for replying.

It sounds like you are doing an excellent job.

With the crate training, go to bed, ignore the crying, she will settle down.  As she is so young you will have to get up during the night for a few more weeks yet.  When she can hold for longer, get up half an hour later each time until you reach your normal getting up time.

With the play biting, I think Jenny has hit it spot on, they soon catch on with this method.

I would stop the jumping up at the sofa now, it won't be long before she can jump up.  Just gently remove her legs and say off.  Don't say down as you will need that for her down training.

Good Luck