potty training

the one thats worked best for me personally is the first one you mentioned. Take the puppy outside just after a play session; just after eating or drinking; just upon waking, and before bed time, and of course whenever you see the pup sniffing around or acting as if he needs to go,..whenever you take him out and he goes potty make a big deal about it and praise him..eventually he should get it

The best way easily is to train your puppy to go outside from the beginning and to eventually alert you when they have to go outside as they mature. If you use piddle pads or paper of some sort you are basically training your dog twice. Why do that? It's confusing to the puppy and just a lot of extra work that is not necessarily needed. Go directly to the end product you are looking for - the puppy going on its own outside.

The biggest thing is you'll need is patience, patience and patience. Secondly, consistency.

There is a direct correlation between the time you actually put into the puppy housebreaking process and the speed in which the housebreaking of the puppy successfully occurs.

A few tips: A puppy should be taken out immediately (to a prearranged housebreaking area outside): when it wakes up first thing in the morning (before if you manage to get up before the puppy), after each and every meal, after each and every nap, and again before he goes to bed for the night.

Keep the puppy on a strict housebreaking schedule, both feeding and elimination, and you will have puppy housebreaking success much sooner.

I don't have the time or space to go into great detail here but I do have an article listing more detailed steps in the housebreaking process at the bottom of my puppy page on my German Shepherd site. Although the article is aimed at GSD's, it can easily be used with any breed of puppy. See the URL in my signature. Good luck with your new baby.