However, he will still go in the house at every chance he gets, without warning.
Just about any puppy this age will–that's why house training is far more about close management than it is about training a command. A puppy this young will just go when it has to go. It will slowly learn to go outside, but puppies need you to be ready to get them out regularly, and also to keep them at all times within arms reach or within their crate, if you are using a crate for house training (as is highly recommended by most trainers).
In short, the answer to your problem is actually in the question–a puppy should not have the ability to go in the house every chance he gets, because he should be so closely supervised that he never has those chances, and is always set up for success! Your post suggests he is given too much freedom too early for his abilities and training level and age, and has the opportunity to wander around where he is not being carefully watched (he can go either without you noticing, or before you can reach him–neither should be happening under good management
. In other words, he needs to be taken out at very regular intervals, especially after he's been playing for a bit, after drinking, after a nap, after eating. Every single time he goes in the house is a half step backwards, so this is what you really want to avoid. You never want to punish either–this just encourages puppies to learn that what is wrong is going in front of you, not going in the house–they just do not have the conceptual framework to understand cause and effect in a more abstract way. If he is punished for going in the house, to him that just means he is punished because he went while you were there, and he will seek times to go when you aren't looking. But of course, there should never be a time when you aren't looking
and there are many ways to safely and successfully manage puppies to help the house training process along and to speed it up considerably. (This is why it is very hard for people who work all day to take on a puppy–the chances are, they may never end up with a properly housetrained dog because the puppy never has the chance to be properly trained.)
To give a bit of a framework–4 months is very young–it is like expecting a toddler to have learned within a few tries to always use a potty chair. House training is a slow process full of mistakes where the correct response is to roll up a newspaper in hit ourselves over the head for having allowed our attention to lapse into live not seen that our puppy needed a trip outside.
most dogs will be–with a successful house training program–fairly reliable by 6 to 7 months. Most will not be considered fully house trained until about a year old–every now and then they will have a little forgetful moment or relapse–often due to the fact that we forget they really need to get out to go, and they simply can't hold it any longer.
If you go into the training section here, every single one of those trainers has good advice on house training puppies. But I would also recommend immediately downloading the free book, After You Get Your Puppy by the well-known trainer Dr Ian Dunbar, here:
www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads
Not only will it give you excellent advice on how to successfully house train a dog without going crazy
, it also is an invaluable manual for every dog owner on puppy training, care, and behavior. There is no way anyone can end up with a problem dog, if they use this book!
Don't feel too bad–all of us have been there in your shoes with a puppy as we 1st learned how to house train, and some puppies can definitely take longer than others. One final thing to keep in mind– if a lot of fast pees are happening, especially on carpets etc, then it is always worth checking for a UTI (urinary tract infection) as then the issue cannot be solved by training or management -- it's a medical problem and needs a medical solution from your vet.