Housebreaking

When you bring a new puppy home one of the first things you should be thinking about is housebreaking.  I think every dog owner, new or experienced understands the importance here.  None of us want a dog that is going to poop and pee in our homes!  You are sure to find thousands of housebreaking methods on the internet and many of them are tried and true and many of them are complete nonsense.  3 very important words to keep in mind when housebreaking your puppy are:

Schedule
Consistency
Supervision


Whenever I'm housebreaking a puppy I always have set schedules for feeding, watering, walks and playtime.  Each of these schedules stay the same throughout the housebreaking process and generally throughout the puppies life since I have used the same one for so long.  Most of my clients are very receptive to scheduling and integrate the puppy's schedule into their own.  Some however cannot understand only feeding and watering at certain times rather than leaving it down all day long for a loose puppy.  I can tell you these owners quickly learn the hard way that there is a sure reason for scheduling.  It will not help you to try to conform to a schedule that is completely off balance from your personal schedule, but I would hope if you are a first time owner bringing your new puppy home that you expect to be up early, stay up a little later and even have to get up once or twice in the middle of the night.
Instead of giving you a sample schedule with times I will give you 3 rules to follow that you can mold into your schedule.
Rule #1:  Your puppy needs to go out FIRST thing in the morning.  That means as soon as he comes out of his crate/gated area/or wherever he stays at night.
Rule #2: Your puppy will have to go out after each meal/drink.  Young puppies should eat 3 times per day.  In the morning, afternoon and evening.  After your puppy finishes eating take him/her directly outside.  If you are going to leave water our throughout the day you will need to keep a close watch on when and how much your puppy is drinking.  I generally place water down every 2 hours so that I know when my puppy is drinking and can take them directly outside afterwards.  (You can choose either way to water your puppy and should NEVER withhold water to avoid accidents.)  Your puppy should not have access to water 2 hours prior to bedtime to help avoid accidents in the middle of the night. You should choose one spot that you want your puppy to potty and a good rule of thumb when taking your puppy outside to potty is planning to be outside for at least 15 minutes.  Take your puppy directly to your chosen potty spot to prevent unnecessary dilly dallying. 
Rule #3: Your puppy should only be loose in the house only when you can keep watch him.  If he starts sniffing and circling this is generally a good sign that he needs to go out.  You will learn your puppy's signs for needing to go out.  Pay close attention and try to pick up on these quickly, they will make knowing when your pup needs to go out much easier. Puppies that are unsupervised can and WILL get into trouble, whether it is an accident or chewing a favorite toy or personal item.  So supervision will prevent a whole variety of "accidents.
It helps to write down your puppy's new schedule, especially if there will be multiple people involved with his/her life.  This way everyone will know the schedule and there will be less chance of different people doing different things while your pup is learning.  Once you have your puppy's schedule down be consistent and stick with it.
Following these 3 rules will help you get on the right track to housebreaking your puppy pretty quickly.  For individual questions/concerns regarding housebreaking please leave a comment or contact me privately.