The true secret to potty training is taking your young pup out frequently (typically every two hours for an eight-week-old pup) and never giving him the chance to have a potty accident. This means a minimum of eight trips each day.
Most of the time, a pup can control his bladder one hour for every month of age. So if your pup is two months old, he can hold it for approximately two hours. Don’t go longer than this between toilet breaks or he’s certain to have an accident. If you work away from home, this means you need to ask your housemate (or family member) or in some cases to employ a dog walker to give your pup his breaks. - source
To prevent giving your dog the chance to potty anywhere else in the house he should always either be:
- in his crate
- in a puppy-safe and potty-safe playpen with a potty area which has an ideal potty surface (like fake grass or pee pads)
- attached to you by a leash so he can’t wander off to potty
- or under your direct supervision in an enclosed area. Direct guidance implies you’re looking at him at all times.
DIY Dog Potty Area (image source)
Check out Go Potty – Housetraining Your Pup.
Follow this plan for a month straight and he’ll dependably get the habit of going outside and holding it inside. Then continue keeping a close eye on him for another month or two, particularly when you take him on outings to other people’s homes, before affirming his completely potty trained.
