Before you ever bring home a new puppy for the first time, provide a crate.
Crating will not only help in housebreaking your puppy, but it will provide him with his own secure, safe place.
In the beginning, you might want to place shredded newspaper in the crate.
Once your puppy is housebroken, the crate will be very useful to you if you work outside the home, and the puppy is by himself all day.
Crating your puppy also gets him (and you) through the chewing stage.
You will be protecting him from chewing something dangerous like electrical wires, harmful plants, and small objects that could get caught in his throat.
Leave a couple of rawhide chew toys in the crate with the puppy for his need to chew.
When you get home, let your puppy out of the crate to relieve himself, then praise him.
Eventually, you will be able to let him loose in the house while you are away.
Leave the crate door open, anyway, and do not be surprised if you find him sleeping in there.
It is very important to know that crating your puppy should never be part of a punishment when he does something wrong.
You do not want the puppy to ever associate the crate with being punished.
Whenever you put him in the crate, give him a treat and praise him.
As he grows older, he will still want to use the crate because it is a place where he feels safe and secure.