The best time to housetrain a puppy is as soon as you acquire the puppy! Eight weeks is the earliest puppy leaves his mother and siblings. If the puppy is from a reputable and experienced breeder, they would already have started the process for you at around three weeks.
Puppies develop a substrate preference for toileting at around five weeks. You will still need to go back to basics, as canines don’t generalise behaviours well, but it will certainly be much quicker than if no prior work was done.
The best advice is to speak to the breeder about what processes were followed and how best to continue with the puppy at home.
Samantha Walpole, behaviourist
