This is the SHORT version, believe it or not.
We got Loki at 13 weeks. Started crate training and taking him out OFTEN and giving him a treat when he went out. He got the pooping outside thing down, and we fed him on a schedule so that helped. When he started to go in the house we would grab him and RUN outside. He got that figured out pretty quick - but we also caught him in the act every time!
Otherwise, he literally peed every 5 minutes. Finally, we learned he had a bladder problem and also that he was drinking WAY too much water (4 times what he needed) and was drinking it too fast, causing him to pee every 5 minutes. Anyway, once he was on medicine training was easy because he already knew what to do. He would scratch softly at the door and have an accident on the mat by the door if no one heard him. By 10 months he would ask to go outside EVERY time and accidents were only if we did not let him out in time. We put the bells up when he was a year old. It took him about a week to learn how to ring the bells. Now, he rings them when he wants to go out, which is still every 30 mins. He is crated when we aren't home.
Sammy was almost a year old when she came to us and was not potty trained. We started sending her outside every time Loki went out - which is pretty often. She also thought nothing of just going on the floor. It took us a while to learn her routine, since it is slightly different from Loki's. I learned what times of day she needed to poop (morning first thing, afternoon around 4, and then usually before bed) and would sit outside with her until she went, waiting with a treat. She would try to come inside before she was done, and I'd take her right back out. Now, 4 months later she FINALLY knows what do to when we go outside, doesn't try to come back (often) before I'm convinced she's empty, and she scratches at the door or sits by the door or at least barks at me or *something* to let me know. No accidents from Sammy in a week or two so I can't complain!!
They are both crated when we are not home, which is usually not longer than 4 hours. Yes, my husband works from home, but that's not why she's trained. She would go whole weekends with no accidents and then have one on Monday because he would get busy and couldn't or didn't let her out. Now she is learning to yell at him to let her out!!
This DID help with Loki because we crated him, and then hubby would let him out often. But he had the crate if he needed it.
So to sum up, Loki was a year old before he was 100%. He was down to about 1 accident a week by the time he was 8 months, simply because he couldn't hold it.
Sammy was nearly 1 when we got her and not trained - she knew the grass was a fun place to pee but had no idea it was the right place to pee. 4 months later she is giving us cues.
We basically spent ALL of our free time training these two, obviously at different times (Loki's 2 1/2) Loki was WAY harder than Sam because of his medical problems. She was a challenge only because she barks for attention when she is in her crate so we tethered her and watched her constantly.
Anyway, I don't know if that helps anyone, but hopefully it will encourage some of you??