You increase the time as the pup gets older but using crate training for housetraining generally takes weeks to a couple of months. Most puppies are not relatively reliable (but STILL needing to always be under 100% supervision, 100% of the time and expect mistakes) at 6 months. So it will be much much longer than a 2-week plan! The thing is that after a few weeks of doing this -- say til 3 months -- you can then begin to regularly substitute constant watching when out of the crate to being in the crate, because you know they will likely be OK for maybe a couple of hours *but must be constantly watched, at arm's length, or back into the crate*. It is the mistakes that set the pup back each time. Never ever punish (except yourself, mentally, for forgetting to constantly watch!
). Each mistake is like a little step backwards so the goal is to be attentive and try to set your puppy up for constant success.
A small pup can only hold itself maybe an hour or a while longer if asleep. At 8-12 weeks, start with an hour. As the pup gets more reliable, try slowly extending the time between potty breaks -- 90 minutes, then 2 hours etc. Young puppies need to go frequently so taking them out hourly really gets them to associate going outside with... going! That means faster housetraining overall. The problems people encounter tend to come with giving them too much freedom too soon, assuming they are housetrained when they are only just getting to the point where they are somewhat reliable, and stretching out time between potty breaks too quickly.
I made ALL these mistakes!! As did probably all of us. :lol:
Our next puppy will be done on the hourly basis for the first three months as much as possible (obviously not everyone can always do every hour on the hour during waking times so that will also naturally begin to give your puppy more extended times and more variation).
I can not recommend enough using Dunbar's approach of training a dog to go right away BEFORE a walk (so much easier for cleanup) and also to go on a word command, different ones for pee and poop. I did just the pee with Jaspar and it has been invaluable over the years such as when on a roadtrip and you need them to relieve themselves at a petrol station... or to go before going inside to visit someone, so you know their bladder is empty. It is also a great idea to have them go always in one area of the garden so that you don't end up with poop everywhere and lawn burns. This is easy to do as well when a puppy --much harder when they get older.
All puppies are individuals and some learn faster than others but take with a GIANT grain of salt those books that promise a housetrained puppy in 1-2 weeks. There's just no way -- any more than most toddlers get using a potty in just 1-2 weeks. People who think they have a housetrained puppy by 3 months are generally those that find they have an unhoustrained puppy needing remedial training a month or two later because they fail to supervise enough, the pup starts doing little wees inside that are not easily spotted for weeks -- maybe months! -- often in hidden places if they have been scolded when going inside. Slow, kind, steady, and gradual does it with housetraining.