Congratulations on your new puppy! I was so nervous, terrified really, that I would have no clue what to do and how to train Bailey when we brought him home 5 weeks ago. Like you, I prepared and read a lot. So, hopefully, like me you'll find that you're more ready for a new puppy than you thought.
Bailey is only 15 weeks old, so we're still working on the house training. But we're definitely on the right track and he's doing very well, so I'll share what we did.
Both my husband and I work full-time, but I come home every day for lunch. While we're at work, Bailey is in an ex-pen with water, toys, a wee wee pad and his crate with a comfy bed in it. When someone is home, he spends very little time in his ex-pen -- only if one of us needs to do something around the house or run an errand and the other isn't there, or if he needs a nap and won't settle down on his own. Otherwise, we kept a really close eye on him, took him out after eating, playing and napping, or if an hour had lapsed and he hadn't gone out. Now we're at the point where we're still watching him like a hawk, but he's started telling us when he needs a potty break. He will stop whatever he's doing, look right in my face, throw back his head and bark. I'll ask him if he wants to go out and he will usually run to the back door. I'm fully expecting set-backs, but we haven't had an accident in three weeks, so I'm thrilled with his progress.
As for the harness, it took a few days to get used to it. I found a bone that smells and tastes like peanut butter. He gets to chew on it only when he has his harness on -- it really helped him forget he was even wearing the harness. Now, he doesn't mind having it and the lead on. But he hated the process of getting it on and fights me. I'm hoping that gets easier in time though.
Congrats again. And have fun!