We had a nice visit with family! Ubu is such a social guy, he gets really excited when he sees people. Keeping everyone on the same page about how to handle his greetings will be very important.
So, to recap some of the things we talked about, look for signs that he needs to go outside to the bathroom. He usually heads to the door and hovers around the door when he needs to go out. Sometimes he will vocalize a little (whine). This is great! He is showing that he understands what he needs to do. Now, his body just needs to catch up a little bit. These are great signs but, if you miss them, he will go find a spot in the house to go to the bathroom because he doesn't have the control yet. Feeding scheduled feedings help predict when he will need to go to the bathroom.
I'm still going outside with him so I can cue him to go to the bathroom ("hurry, hurry"). Then I can quietly praise him when he goes to the bathroom (if my praise is too enthusiastic I might interrupt him and end up with a half full bladder). It's also important that I am out there with him so I make sure he does his business and he's not just playing around. If he does have an accident in the house and I catch him in the act, I can interrupt him and quickly usher him outside. If I don't catch him in the act, the only thing I can do is clean it up and use and enzymatic cleaner to eliminate the smell.
If I take him out and he doesn't go to the bathroom when I expect him to, I can put him in his crate for 15 - 20 minutes and try again. This is not punishment! This is simply to confine him so he doesn't have an accident. And speaking of crates, Ubu loves his crate. He will readily go in when I say "kennel." I toss a treat in after him to reinforce this behavior (note: I do not get a treat out to bribe him to get in, I toss it in AFTER he has gone in). Sometimes he will vocalize a little bit in the crate (especially in a new environment). Just ignore this and it will die down. The crate is a great place to confine him when you can't keep an eye on him or you are leaving the house. He also sleeps in his crate at night.
I started to feed him three times a day to see if we could get him to eat more. If that doesn't work, we might want to try adding something to his food to bulk up the calories a bit. Notice that he is sitting nicely for his meal. He should remain sitting until I put the food bowl down and say "Ok." Having dogs sit for things they want (food, attention, going outside, putting his leash on, etc.) is a nice way of having them "say please" for what they want.
You can also take part of his meals on the go with you so you can reward him for behavior you like throughout the day. Polite greetings (sitting for greetings), lying down next to you on the floor next to the couch, chewing on chew toys, etc. can all be rewarded throughout the day as you catch him doing behavior you like. He also needs to be supervised at all times so you can interrupt behavior you don't like (i.e. putting his feet on the couch). Any time you interrupt behavior you don't like, redirect to a better activity and praise him when he is doing a more appropriate behavior.
Keep plenty of toys around to keep him entertained and chewing on appropriate things.
His chewing will increase as his deciduous teeth start to fall out and his adult teeth start to come in. If he has been reinforced for chewing on appropriate things it will save the legs of your furniture. He's a pretty good boy so I don't think you will have problems with his chewing.
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