Go Potty!

We're using the crate/pen method to house train Charlie.  The basic idea is to keep him in a confined space when we're not supervising or playing with him so that he doesn't have the opportunity to take a secret dump in the back corner of the apartment. We try to keep all of his bathroom experiences outside so that he associates grass with pee/poo time.  And just as he's going, we use the phrase "Go Potty, Go Potty" so that he'll be able go on command, in theory anyway. "Go Potty" is actually for when he pees.  We say "Go Poo-Poo" when he's taking a shit.  However, after a few embarrassing instances of saying go poo-poo as our neighbors pass awkwardly by, we've changed it to "Hurry up".
It's not always easy to know when he has to go. We usually take him out when he starts showing signs like walking in circles and sniffing. We also just try to keep him on a schedule, taking him out after he wakes up from one of his many naps or just after eating.   He does have "accidents" on occasion and we sometimes find him crouched over in the hallway doing his business. When that happens, according to my wife, we're supposed to pick him up and rush him outside so he can finish.  Usually the poor guy is so stunned from being suddenly picked up in the middle of taking a shit and hurried outside, that  once he's on his designated patch of grass nothing comes out, despite how many times we say "Go poo-poo, go poo-poo"----or,  the rest falls out while in transit. That's always fun because you never know where it's going to land.   Once there was a brown, mushy present waiting for me on one of my flip flops that I keep by the door. 

Another thing we try to use is a bell on the door so that he associates the ringing of the bell with going outside.  This seemed to work at first.  He would walk to the door, ring the bell and then we'd take him outside and he'd go right away.  We thought Charlie was a genius.  However, our little Einstein loves the bell and he quickly just starting pulling on it all of the time, defeating the whole purpose of the doorbell.  So, now there's no bell.

Charlie is almost fully trained now, however, since he still has accidents every now and then, it will be a while before I'm fully confident to put on my shoes without careful inspection.