Unfortunately, puppies don’t usually come housetrained. You must realize that over the next few weeks YOU will need much patience and time to house train your puppy correctly.

If you want your pup to go to the bathroom outside, you need to pay attention to the times that he will be needing to use the bathroom. Activities like eating, drinking, playing and waking up from naps will all stimulate your pup to go. When he needs to go outside, it helps if you condition him by saying "outside" or "out" in a high-pitched tone of voice, just to get him used to the idea of where he is going. He will soon learn what you mean and that it is time to go to the bathroom.

You must establish where you want your puppy to eliminate. To do this correctly, you have to go outside with your pup every time he needs to go to the bathroom. By your being there, you can easily praise him as soon as he begins to sniff or squat to urinate. You need to praise him in a high-pitched tone of voice, so that he feels he is pleasing you each time he eliminates.

Another consideration in housetraining your puppy is controlled by when you feed your puppy. Most puppies eliminate within just a few minutes of their meals, so as soon as your puppy moves away from his food bowl, or after 10 minutes, whichever comes first, pick up the food bowl, and then immediately take him outside. Make sure to praise him quickly and soon because praising that comes after he is done, even after 10 seconds, does no good.

The challenging part of housetraining is keeping your pup from eliminating inside the house. When you must leave it is a good idea to use a puppy crate for confinement. It is essential to get a crate that is only big enough for your puppy to lay down in comfortably. You can't expect a puppy to hold his urine more than 4 hours at the beginning, so long stays in the crate would not be appropriate. If your schedule makes it impossible to be home within 4 hours, then don't use a crate- instead use a small bathroom or utility room. Lay papers in the corner most likely to be used for elimination. But use the crate as often as you can for shorter times away from home as you will get the best training that way.