Puppy already has head start on potty training from first owner. How should I proceed?

Best rule of living with dogs I ever learned - set them up for success, not failure. That means crating at night for sure. Their bladders are not physically able to be reliable until after 6 months. If you read potty training posts from the past you will see that sometimes they have a regression period around a year old. Once they have peed on your carpet it's really hard to get the smell out - their noses are so much better than ours and it will attract them to that spot again.

Xpen/playpen are your best tools! Gives them a bit more room than a crate.

Freedom in the house/apt - depends so much on the dog. Elijah is two and still loves to chew on random stuff, shoes, etc so he does NOT get freedom when we're not here. Faith is 6 and has privileges for about a year now. She is reliable.

 

I second what Sharon said. Crating at night (a must) and using an X pen or crate (or both combined) during the day.
As Sharon said every dog is different but I don't give mine 100% freedom (especially a puppy who could easily chew an electrical cord when your not home) until they're at least 2. My youngest is 1 1/2 and has decided in the past week that its ok to pee in the house...so no freedom yet. You really need to play it by ear but puppies like the security of the crate especially when in a new environment.

 

I penned my dog in a small-ish kitchen instead of crating him. He had a crate inside the kitchen with a piddle pad.
He did however chew the wall, and a few cabinets so FYI.
I did not come home at lunch, though, so he was in there for 8 hours a day.

Really it comes down to trial and error in finding out exactly what your pup gets into. Gavin was a counter surfer, but after he teethed he wasn't a chewer.
He did love wicker though, as I found out the hard way as he ate my laundry basket and a sunhat!

Potty training is all about consistency...never give him the chance to mess up

 

Oh my goodness - is this a sheltie thing? Brodie has chewed some of our walls as well - totally did not expect that!

I am a firm believer in crates. We had doxies first - doxies with long backs - doxies that love to fly off high surfaces - when the oldest was a puppy I made friends on a forum with a women who took in 2 same age as our first - they ate through electrical cords and were electrocuted - we have always crated. Brodie now goes to his crate along with Kooper, their crates are side by side, when we say 'kennel' and there he stays perfectly safe and content until we return or wake. We actually do dinner in their crates when we have dinner - no begging and it helps Brodie who eats horridly slow while Kooper inhales. I may eventually have him up in our room in a bed, but not for the first year or so for sure. Having a dog who is content in a crate is so beneficial for hotel stays, illness, surgery, and just all around well being when you are not there while they are young and adventurous.

 

Faith is a Border Collie in a Sheltie suit - the most intense and driven of my dogs over the years. And, she also LOVED to chew on stuff, she destroyed many flip flops over the years. Housebreaking was NOT the problem. Just was safer to keep her out of mischief. She has mended her ways now so she does get her freedom. Hoping Elijah will get there before long but better safe than sorry.

 

Each dog is different. Our 1st Sheltie, Hollie had free range when she was just a few months old. She was very reliable and trustworthy. Shelby on the other hand was a little brat . It took years before she could be trusted. She loved to chew everything. One day we came home and she had let herself out of the crate, nothing was chewed, and she hasn’t been crated since. So I guess she just told us she was done.