Hi Val,
I got 2 dogs myself and tis is how I toilet train:
1. Confine the pup in a small area e.g. play pen with clearly designated area for eating (bowl with drinkin water), sleeping (a towel or blanket) and doin his biz (newspapers). Rem to place some toys in the confined area or playpen for him to play.
2. For 1st 3 days, i let the pup out of confined area every interval of an hr or 2 hrs i.e. confined for an hr or 2 hrs and play for an hr durin daytime. Cos pup needs to "go to toilet" more often. I'll place him on the papers n say the command "pee or poo" n when he relieves himself, I praise him.
3. Also, try not to leave him unattended for the 1st few days to prevent mistakes. If there's someone who can watch over him, the min. u c him circlin n abt to do his biz, qucikly pic him up n place him on papers n giv the pee/poo command. Remember do not shout or panic cos tis might startle the pup n he wun dare to pee/poo. The lesser the pup make mistakes, the faster he learns where to pee/poo.
4. When he accidentally does it outside the confined area, u can only 'punish' him when u caught him red-handed. Just a simple n firm "no" will do. Harsh beatin will make the pup fear u.
5. Place him on the papers after each meals. Pup needs to be fed more frequently. I fed mine up to 4x a day until he's 5 mths n then gradually switch to 2 meals a day. Do not practice free feeding i.e. leave food in bowl thru'out the day. If u r workin, just feed him 3x a day, early in mornin, after work n before bedtime.
6. Puppy like babies will need to take naps every other hr.
7. It'll probably take 3 days for the pup to understand tat he should do his biz on papers. But tat doesnt mean tat there'll b no accidents. He's still a baby n cant control his bowels n bladder like an adult dog.
I confined my pup to balcony area (instead of playpen) for the 1st 2 wks. For the 1st 3 days, I let him out of the balcony to play at every interval of an hr or 2 hrs. After an hr of play, I'll place him back in balcony on the papers n giv the command to pee/poo. If he does it, I praise n if he doesnt do it, I let him b. He'll sleep for abt an hr n when he wakes up, i sometimes keeps him confined for another hr n sometimes let him out to play. Tis is to train him to be left alone confined e.g. like crate training. After 3 days ( i took 3 days leave to train the pup), I confined him in the balcony durin the day, only let him out to play when i'm home n then confine him again durin bedtime. Confinin him when no one's around is to prevent mistakes, the smaller the area, the easier for him to "make his way" to "his toilet". N also to prevent accidents like chewin on electrical wires etc.
After 2 wks in the balcony, he slowly bcum more reliable in doin his biz in the rite place so I transfer him to kitchen to be with my older dog when no one's at hm. I've newspapers lined on kicten's toilet flr for them to pee/poo. Again, cant hav him free run of the hse cos he might not noe "how to make his way to toilet".
After mths of practice n oso as he grows up, he can control his bowel n bladder better, the less mistakes he makes.
