If you closely follow some simple rules, house-training your puppy will only take a few weeks.  However, occasional accidents may happen for a few months. Accidents most-certainly will occur if your puppy eats something it shouldn't, is exposed to varying routines, or has an infection or parasite of some kind - requiring veterinary treatment. I always recommend when taking your pup for 1st and 2nd inoculations (which are 4 weeks apart) to also take a stool sample for the vet to check at the same time. 

The first thing is to decide where you would like your puppy to eliminate:  An outdoor area easy to access is ideal.  For apartment dwellers or those that must leave their puppy alone longer than he will have control, require to set up an elimination area with paper.

Establish a routine, and stick to it! 

After sleeping, eating & drinking puppies will usually eliminate.  Shortly after these activities (& very quickly after your puppy 1st wakes from a night of sleep) take your puppy to the elimination area.  Use a simple phrase such as “go pee” as he starts to eliminate; he'll quickly learn to associate these words to the action.

Give your puppy lots of praise (don’t worry if your neighbours think you are crazy, your pup will love it, and it'll serve you well for years to come).  Give a food treat as soon as he finishes.  Don’t wait till you get indoors - due to the time-delay, your puppy will not be able to associate that it was the outdoor elimination he was being rewarded for.  That way, your pup will learn to eliminate regularly in the area you have selected.  If you take puppy to the area, but he just wants to play or investigate, you can return indoors.  However, watch him carefully & try again every in about 20 minutes.  Always go outdoors with your puppy.  Then you'll know he's done his business, be there to reward behaviour and observe for any abnormalities.

To learn how your puppy behaves when he needs to eliminate, observation is vital!  If you see your puppy circling, squatting, sneaking off or heading towards the door, take them to their elimination area immediately, following up with a reward. Your dog(s) will soon learn to show you these cues, when they need to go outside.  Liz