Housetraining the puppies of small breeds of dogs is indeed not for the faint of heart! The keyword when it comes to these little rascals is "errorless management", which means three things: total 100% supervision (you will need to watch them round the clock), total confinement (crate training) when you can't assure yourself that you can handle the third, total supervision (you cannot fully look out for them since you also need to go to work).

Of course the word "total" presents the most challenge. After all, perhaps only a handful could keep up the whole day with a high-energy bundle no bigger than a hamster. And there lies the rub. Getting him out of sight could be the start of your worries!

Management is the first effective tool in your possession. You can use housebreaking aids like baby gates or a playpen to control the dog's movements and keep her within sight in one corner, or you can temporarily leash her nearby. If you need to get the phone or cook some dinner, place your puppy in her crate or a playpen in the room you are in. Bring the dog outside on an consistently regular schedule - every hour, if needed, with every successful outing capped by cheering and cookies.

Tethering the dog is still another option to control the movements of your little one.

At this point you also need to do a bit of detective work. You need to find out as soon as you can what (sometimes subtle) bodily signal, like for example, a pause mid step, ear twitch, or sniffing pattern the dog performs seconds before she squats. The moment you know what signal is this, react by redirecting your dog and answering with something firm yet short and easy to remember, like "You wanna potty? Go potty outside!" Another thing that can be done is to teach the dog to ring a bell before going outside to eliminate.

Potty pads, for all their novelty, are actually something you need to avoid too. One of your end-goals is to get the pup to go outside and eliminate there, so if you think you need an indoor toileting area for the time being, check out using a low sided tray with a layer of sod or dirt – try to mimic the look and feel of the surface of the intended outside target. But eventually an indoor potty area may not even help, but may actually hamper the process of getting the pup to go outside. Avoid using one as much as possible.

Lastly for housebreaking aids, what about using a litter box? Plenty of tiny dog owners teach their little apartment housemates to use a litter box, rather than going off on an adventure to look for some patch of grass. In case of some especially thorny housetraining difficulties, litter boxes are an option.