Because if she is loose and you take your eyes off her, she can go to the bathroom on your floor or carpet in an instant, and the bad habit is begun.  (If or should I say, "When" an accident occurs, be sure that you clean up using an enzyme cleaner that will remove the odor.  Dogs will return to that same spot if you don't get rid of the odor.  Don't clean it with any type of ammonia cleaner because they smell much like the urine and don't use anything acidic.  I would suggest that you get a big box of 20 Mule Team Borax for this purpose.  It's inexpensive and works well.

Confinement means a dog pen or dog crate, or gated in a small room, always in the middle of family life.

Going to the bathroom outdoors:

1.  Establish a regular routine for meals and pick up the bowl after each meal.  Pick up water bowls about 3 hours before your regular  bedtime.  Of course, don't do any intensive play during this time that would make the puppy overly thirsty.

2.  Establish a regular in and out  daytime schedule.  Take the pup out about every two hours plus whenever she wakes from a nap, after she eats (small pups will usually poop within 5 or 10 minutes after eating...like clockwork), or when she suddenly walks in small quick circles or starts sniffing the floor.  Do not let the pup roam your house.  Only have her out of her crate/gated area  if you are playing with her.  One option would be to attach her leash to your belt loop and let her follow you around so you can keep a close eye on her if you don't have time to do a lot of regular play.  They love to be near you.. 

At night......you can  roughly figure that a pup can go 30 minutes to one hour for every week of age so you'll probably be safe with getting up only once during the night if your pup is very young and soon you can drop that time from your schedule too.  Don't forget to limit the water intake before bedtime which helps greatly.

3.  Choose a bathroom spot in your yard.  Sounds yucky, but if you can get some of their urine on a small towel and drop the towel in that area, they seem to get the idea.  You can get enough urine by wiping them right after they've tinkled and then you can put the small cloth in a zip lock bag.  Take the pup directly to that spot (drop the tinkle cloth) on a leash.  This works without the cloth too.   Stand still.  You can let her circle you, but don't move from your spot.  Don't speak to her except to say, "Hurry Up" or "Go Potty".  If she gets bored and sits down, take a few steps to get her moving and then stand still again.  If she really doesn't need to go, bring her back inside.  Put her in her crate and close the door.  After a couple of minutes take her back outside.  She will learn that she must go to the bathroom when you take her out to the bathroom spot.  A well trained dog will give you a token drop to show you that she doesn't need to go. 

4.)  When she does go on command, praise her and you could even give her a treat.  After she does her potty business, and only then, do you romp and play with her awhile.

Going to the bathroom indoors:

Indoor training is necessary if you are gone for extended periods of time during the day (longer than the pup can hold it) or if you don't have easy access to a yard at all times.

1.  She will need access to newspapers or a doggie litter box.

2.  Shape a pen around the newspapers or litter box so the paper or box takes up all of the pen except for a small blanket or bed, food and water bowls, and a toy.  Leave no other open space.  Most pups don't want to soil their bed so they will usually go on the paper or in the box.  The small pen gives them little choice.  It also helps to prime the spot where you want her to tinkle with a little of her  urine....much like the tinkle cloth in the outdoors training.

3.  Whenever your pup goes on the paper praise her.  Sometimes you can give a treat.

4.  When she is outside of the pen.........remember this should only be while you're playing with her.........occasionally lead her back onto the papers or into the litter box with a treat.  This helps her remember where her box is.  If at anytime she actually runs in and uses the box, praise her excessively and give her a treat.

5.  When you start noticing that the pup does it's business only on the paper, you can gradually start decreasing the size of the paper in the area and or increasing the size of the area.

*  I'll add a little note to this information.....Corgis (both Pembrokes and Cardigans) are the easiest dogs to housetrain.  This is because of their high intelligence level and their natural desire for cleanliness.

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