I've been reading this thread sat with my 2yr old springer, v nostalgic (admittedly through rose tinted specs 
). Would of liked another but DP won't let me as we have our first baby due in August
A few things we did with Sammy if anyone would like to try. This is what worked for us, so it could be worth a try. I remember being at the end of my tether sometimes 
The first three nights were hell. He howled the house down, thank god we didn't have neighbours. Because we worked we sent him to a dog sitter in the day from day four, (when i went back to work) and she wouldn't let him sleep too much in the late afternoon and we tried to not let him have too much sleep before bedtime. That night and since peace and quiet 
We had puppy pads in his crate for night time. We let him become dry at night in his own time, but the pads made cleaning up so much easier and he wasn't on them for that long
We are fortunate our living room backs onto the garden which helped with toilet training. We also gave treats everytime he went outside for a poo, which he soon cottoned onto, so would come back leaping and bounding back waiting for his reward
We used to wonder why after eating he would go nuts, and the vets said sometimes protein can make them a bit loopy for a little while.
I would definatley do it all again, not sure if I'll say that about childbirth
Oh and take lots and lots of pictures, I love looking back at how little he was.