I work 12 hr night shifts, 2 or 3 days on, then 2 or 3 days off. On the days I work, I don't carry a purse, I carry a large bag that holds my thermos, food, stethoscope, cosmetic bag, book, etc. I just throw my wallet in the bag. A couple of times, when Gator was a pup, he somehow snuck in my bag, got my wallet, and took it outside.  Several times, I found my wallet outside, laying in the grass, with bills (sometimes large amts) scattered in the yard. Luckily we have a fence, so I always found the amount of money I expected to have. He also, a few times, found a granola bar or small bag of chips in my bag and helped himself. So I switched over to a backpack with zippers.

As far as potty training, Our recently departed Kaiser was essntially potty trained when I got him at 7 weeks. I credit that to his breeder, who had a large family, and the kids had the puppys very socialized. He did have 1 accident in the house the first week because, upon wakening, I went potty first. (Kaiser was never kenneled).  Kaiser refused to go out in the rain, and sometimes went most the day without peeing, until the rain stopped. Kaiser, did however, start pottying in the house the last 1&1/2 month before he died, of old age.

Kaiser didn't lift his leg,even thought he spent days that I worke with my brother who had an older male lab. When I met my then to be husband, Kaiser was about 1 yr, 3 mos. Scot thought that it was important for Kaiser to pee like a boy, and so he taught him.  I won't go into details, but we do have a privacy fence. Kaiser lifted his leg there after.

Gator came to us when he was 3 months old. He lived outside, on a farm, so it was an adjustment for him to live in a house. Although we had Kaiser to help train him, he was the most difficult dog I've ever had with regard to potty training. He'd go outside, but then he'd go in the house. He drank great amounts of water, in fact I worried that he had diabetes insipitius(sp) until I read somewhere that extremely active puppys need to drink a lot of water. What goes in, has to go out. He was better at potty training when he was neutered at 6 mos, then right after the neutering, he regressed, and it wasn't until he was maybe 7 months or so when he was housetrained. Gator will bark to be let in or out. I agree with others that busy boy puppies will be too busy playing to take time to ask to be let out.