When housebreaking a puppy remember 3 things: schedule,schedule,schedule. The first thing you should do is buy a crate. Perferably an "airline" style, although a "cage" style will also make do. The enclosure should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the size of the dog. many cage types come with a divider that can be added and then adjusted as the puppy grows. Inside you should put only newspapers at first. Many people feel badly for the dog and put towels inside. This can be a surefire way to kill your dog. Many puppies will ingest the fabric and get a blockage.
Next is a schedule. You must come up with a schedule you can keep. If you get up at 6am, get your leash in hand, put it on the dog and go straight outside to a spot you want the dog to eliminate in. When the dog eliminates, either say good pee pee or good poop and give a reward such as smoked turkey or boiled chicken. It should be a "high value" treat. The reason why you want to identify pee pee or poop, is so the dog learns those words and eventually can be taught to pee and poop on command. We'll talk more about that later.
Repeat the process over the course of the day. The dog can be let out of the crate to play for a while, only when under your direct supervision. Rule of thumb: for every month the puppy is alive, is how often in hours it should go out. For example: a 3 month old dog should go out every 3 hours.
Depending on how many times a day you feed them, generally a half hour after you feed, you should give them the opportunity to eliminate. Remember, if you control what goes in, you control what comes out. Also after 8pm is "last call" for water. I never leave water in the cage for them to drink after 8pm. The more they drink the more they have to go.
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