you guys/gals are great even during repeat questions...

Seriously! Thanks!

We've had Rambo, who appears to be about 9 1/2 weeks give or take and he's a beautiful little GSD mix. Great little puppy and very, very....very and did I say, VERY? energetic! From what I've read on these threads, he's quite normal... lol. So far, he's made a couple steps forward in house breaking. We adopted him at around 7 1/2 weeks (roughly) from a shelter and it appears that he may have been caged up and forced to relieve himself in his cage during the period that most feel was his crucial age of house breaking. Ok, so I'm going to have to practice more patience for a longer time...kinda sux, but we committed to this little guy. When we first got him, he relieved (poop and pee) wherever he could, whenever he could. Being our first puppy, we tried different methods from online, but the layout of our house just wasn't perfect..lol. So, at first, we took him outside to relieve himself regularly and after a couple days he caught on to where we wanted him to relieve. This didn't necessarily mean that he didn't relieve inside. So, I decided to try the treat method and this worked great! He was proud to relieve and run straight to us for his treat afterward. Still peed inside, regularly, but pooping inside had become almost non-issue. Then, my mother came out to visit and she's pretty good with puppy raising, so I was expecting miracles over the week of visit. Well, it seems our little Rambo was a bit more energetic than the Boxers my mom has raised and she resorted to old-school methods like rubbing the nose in urine, etc. I noticed a near-spiteful step backward in training and Rambo would pee pretty much at will in the house, even seconds after going outside to pee. I talked to my mom and we agreed that this old method was ineffective, period. He started to sneak in a quick pee in the house as we would begin to go outside and I got frustrated. Then, my wife realized that he was peeing as I was obtaining his treat and thought he'd get a treat for peeing right away! lol, I think she was right. poor little Rambo! So, I decided that Rambo should be leashed while indoors (outside of his crate) to ensure that my family doesn't just ignore him and let him pee. This also includes monitored peeing and 'at-a-boy's' for relieving. He seems to be doing pretty dang good this way and I must also mention that he has not peed in his crate at night for the last 2-3 nights. I'm happy with his progress, but just wanted to get your input.