Elly, I am far from expert but just wanted to try to help you look because you've helped me so much, knowingly or not. This article hints that accidents will happen, but seemingly not for too long. It focusses on housebreaking pups quite a bit by the 5th or so paragraph.
http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-cratetrain.htm

What worked for us - she'd whine, we'd wake up and lay there and listen. She's eventually quit after a few minutes if we didn't move - then we'd take her out. However, some dogs don't stop whining!

Others might have different opinions on this - but it MIGHT be okay to take her out at night if she's whining, as it might help teach her to whine if she needs to go outside. But if you do that you need to make sure she goes out of the crate, outside, and straight back to bed. No play time, or anything.

You can set your alarm - but pups can be so whiney, that any movement wakefulness from you, might make him whine anyways. I know some people will set their alarm for a while - and then start setting it at longer, varied intervals to help the dog learn to sleep through the night. One night midnight and 4 am, next night 11 and 3 am, then 1 and 5 am - so the dog doesn't get into a routine of getting up at the same time every night, for no reason.

Dogs can generally hold it longer if they're sleeping - I think we only got up with our dog for 2 weeks, and then once she slept through the night, she was good. Needed out as soon as we opened our eyes, though - but we may have just gotten lucky with her!

We got our dog at 8 weeks and took her out probably 15 times a day. She was in her crate only during the night. Right from the beginning, she seemed to 'crash' at about 7:00 p.m. and we would put her in the crate. For the first two weeks, she started whining at about 5:00 a.m. and we would take her out of the crate, play with her, and give her breakfast.

Slowly, she slept longer and longer until at 12 weeks, she was sleeping a full 12 hours. That is when we stopped using the crate and could trust her to roam the house at night. She actually does very little of that, but we never let her outside until 7:00 in the morning and she has never been concerned about that.

We are amazed that even after going 12 hours without a 'pee break', going outside isn't on her priority list when she wakes up. BTW, this has been our experience in the past with our other dogs. They can hold it much longer than we can!

Thanks. I will check out that link.

I will put the crate near my bed the first few weeks, so I can get to him when he stops whining. I can't take him out if he whines, and if he doesn't stop, not sure what I will do about that.

I wake every few hours anyway, so I will take him out then.

Elly, with the crate beside your bed - you can gently tap the crate if he whines and say 'shh'. This apparently works well, then if he quiets down, you'll be able to get up with him. Or you can keep a can of pennies by the bed to shake when he whines, and then let him out as soon as he's quiet.

elly - here are some questions for you.
Are you okay with taking the dog out for a nice long walk before you go to work, then feeding it?
Are you okay with taking the dog out for a nice long walk as soon as you get home, or to the puppy park or the lake or all of the above?
Are you prepared to spend a couple of hundred a month on feeding, flea treatment and heartworm treatment, not including an assortment of toys, a crate (if you choose to have one) bedding etc?
Are you okay with investing in a class so you and your dog can understand how to converse with each other in the most basic sense?
Are you okay with something which is faster than you, stronger than you and explores its world with very sharp teeth being in your house?
Are you okay with the fact that no matter what you do your dog might eat something, or destroy something in your home, have an accident on the carpet or hardwood floors, leave fluffy hair everywhere, need a bath and then dry itself on your new silk sheets, and possibly eat the entire Thanksgiving dinner before you even got one bite?
If so, you might want to contact your local humane society and foster a puppy first before commiting to getting a puppy. It is the best way to figure out if you should be a dog owner. Good luck with your choice..PS I vote adopt a homeless dog if any votes count towards that

Thanks, everyone, for your advice.

Mazer, I am going to foster a service puppy for Canine Companions for Independence. I agree with you about getting a shelter dog for a pet; but this one I foster will be trained to assist someone with disabilities.

But I did have to consider all your other questions, and I do mean each and every one. I actually thought of you when I was considering the whole thing! I work for an animal welfare organization, and will have their support with classes at the training school and access to food and parasite treatments at cost.

I do take my friends' dogs on long walks when I dog sit, and take them to parks, etc. I will not be able to do that with an 8 week old puppy for a few weeks, but will start puppy classes immediately. How long can a 10 -12 week puppy walk? I am guessing the more exercise, the better, and he will let me know when he is tired, but I read I have to be careful about overdoing it on growing puppy bones. I even got a flexilead, because I do not have a fenced-in back yard, and with the puppy I thought he could play a little more freely on it (chasing balls, etc.) I cannot/ would not ever let him off lead except in a fenced in yard, and I believe in fetch.

The dog will come to work with me, and there are fenced in yards there, and friends' dogs for socialization, when he is older.

Here is a link that might be useful: CCI

Sounds awesome. Beware of setting goals for your dog that are rigid. My dog would no more play fetch with a fully cooked roast beef, a tennis ball, stick frisbee or anything else - totally beneath him.
Just make sure that your dog has a well balanced diet, and is well stimulated - too much of anything is no good, including walkies (especially when young) As far as how long ca a 10-12 week old puppy walk - that depends on the breed of dog... Half way around the block is probably good once released to do so by the vet. Puppy classes and socialization are great as soon as he has had all his shots and is cleared by the vet. Good luck with whoever you choose and let us know all about your decision!!!

Thanks.

He will be a lab-golden mix.

I am waiting to hear from CCI. They got my application, and have to set up a phone interview. They are very stringent about this. And I will have to teach him about 24 of the 60 commands.

Thanks for the support.

That is a very smart dog that you're getting. I bet you'll have no problems training him. I've only had 2 labs, but they've been the easiest to train to do anything! Just MHO. Good luck!

I wouldn't take a new puppy for a long walk, until after he has received the last booster on all of his puppy shots.

We keep new pups in our yard, until they have been fully vaccinated. And usually a quick walk around the yard, is plenty for a pup.

Hi Elly NJ;

Congrats on your new pup. I, too, have a lab/golden mix. She's almost 13 weeks old. I got her when she was 8 weeks old. Ginger is my first lab and she is such a joy to our household. Housetraining took about 2-3 weeks. One day she just "got it" and will go to any door in the house to be let outside. I crate her at night from about 10pm to 5:30am. She whinned to first few nights. This was expected...she was missing her 10 brothers and sisters and her parents. Since then, no more winning and likes to go into her crate at night.

As far as walks... Every night we take a 2 mile walk. We both love it. She really doesn't like to leave the yard and kinda hangs back till we get to our destination and then we turn around and she grabs the leash in her mouth and takes me for a walk. She'll be getting her last booster next week and then she's caught up on her shots.

Hope this helps... Anything else, just ask away!!
Renee

JPW, Thanks for the reminder.

Renee, mcHudd, thanks!

Our Aussie's first "real" walk was around the town square (not quite even a block) when she was about 8-9 weeks, and she passed out for two hours afterwards. The stimulation (car ride, a walk on a leash like a big dog, new sights/smells) wore her out! It never made her quite that tired again... I never forgot our breeder's advice: "A tired puppy is a good puppy." Lots of issues can be avoided by providing the pooch with plenty of exercise and mental stimuli. That pretty much took care of itself once she discovered Frisbees!

We crated the puppy next to the bed at night, and found she would get up and move around the crate when she needed to go. This would wake me up (I slept lightly since I was expecting to get up at least once!) and we'd head outside. I read somewhere to carry the puppy from the crate to The Spot, lest she go immediately upon exiting the crate since then she'd be out of her "den" - whether this was true or not, we never had a crate accident and she housetrained in just a couple of weeks.

Good luck with your puppy, and don't forget to take TONS of pictures!