toilet training's really easy.
put some newspaper down by the back door. everytime he looks like he's going to wee either put him on it or put him outside (even if you move him while he's doing it!). when he wees on the paper or outside, lots of fuss and praise.
put him outside regularly, he will wee naturally, and lots of praise when he does.
if he wees anywhere other than outside or on the newspaper (even during the night), absolutely NO telling off/smacking/rubbing nose in it/shouting or even talking to him. he will take this as attention and will learn that weeing in the house (unless its on newspaper) gets him attention. instead, just clean it up and totally ignore him and put him outside for 10 mins, and ignore him for a good 10 mins after. he will learn that this behaviour means he gets ignored. (beware... he will look at you really cutely at this stage, don't fall for it!)
when he wees on paper or outside remember to give him LOTS of praise and tell him what a good boy he is.
after you've got him peeing on paper, move the paper outside the backdoor. same rules apply. once he's got used to weeing on the paper outside, remove the paper altogether. (you can put paper down at night while doing this transition)
simple rule, praise good behaviour, ignore bad. dog's do not know the difference between good and bad attention, its all just attention and if you tell them off when they do a bad thing, they know its a way to get your attention. its very hard especially when he looks so cute, but the quicker you learn the rules, the quicker he will
i learned all this from a bloke who's really famous, trains guide dogs and RAF dogs.
something else i've learned myself when toilet training... always wear slippers in the morning when you walk in the kitchen, just in case in your sleepy state you don't notice the dog poo! its not very nice to have it inbetween your toes!
