There are few things sweeter, and messier, than having a new puppy in the house. One of the least appealing aspects is constantly having to clean up the little 'gifts' it leaves for you around the house - which tend to appear late at night and just in time to propel you across the room.

Housebreaking your puppy needs to be high on you're list of things to do. Potty training your puppy can be quite a slow process if you don't have a lot of time to devote to your pet.

Part of your house training preparations will be to set aside a room that the puppy can use when you're not home. The room will need to be made doggy-proof - plenty of newspaper lining the floor in case of mishaps.

It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD

You'll have to make sure this is changed daily to keep everything hygienic. Next, you'll need to equip the room with some essentials like water, food, bedding and puppy's favorite toys.

Eventually, the puppy will begin to realize that he can only use the newspaper to carry out his bodily functions, and as he grows older he will tend to prefer a specific area of the room.

When this happens, you'll be able to gradually start to remove the newspaper from the other areas of the room until you're left with just the spot that he favors. If any little accidents do happen, then just put some of the newspaper back in that area until he goes back to his spot again.

You can continue to use the room in this way even when you're at home, and by taking a proactive part in the puppy potty training process, you can help things along. Take him to his preferred spot every hour and straight after he eats and drinks, wakes from sleeping or napping and after you've played together.

Whenever he uses his favorite spot, be sure to praise him because it will reaffirm to him that he's doing the right thing, but you must also make sure not to get too upset with him if there's the occasional accident.

After all, who doesn't get things wrong from time to time when they're learning something new? Soon, you'll be able to start introducing him to other parts of the house - but remember to return him to the 'puppy room' when you aren't able to be there to supervise him.

We all enjoy seeing our puppies get excited, but there can be one unpleasant side effect of this, and that's when it gets so excited that the puppy potties on the floor.

This is actually quite a common reaction, even with puppies that have been housetrained, but it still doesn't make it any nicer to clean up.

Excitement peeing is a result of a bladder control deficiency and often the puppy won't even realize it has peed on the floor, so don't be too quick to punish him.

If you do get upset with him, he'll change from peeing in excitement to what's known as submissive urination - this is how the puppy shows that they're no threat and are subordinate to you.

Cesar's Way:
The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems

Eventually, the puppy will gain control over its bladder and the excitement peeing will stop, but what do you do in the meantime?

First, you should find out what stimuli causes him to pee. When you know what they are, you should make them more of an everyday thing in his routine. That way, you take the excitement out of them and stop the accidents.

If you're the cause of the excitement, then you should ignore him when you get home - about five minutes should be enough to do the trick. Next, let the puppy settle down again while you go outside. Coming in and going out a couple of times, ignoring the puppy each time you enter.

The puppy will start to lose interest, at which point you can go up to him to say hello. You may have to repeat this over a number of days before the excitement peeing stops.

As inconvenient as it might be, you may have to use the same method with any visitors you have if the puppy has the same excitement problem with them, too.

One of the worst things you could do if the puppy has excitement peeing issues is to become angry and yell at him. He's only doing it because you're his owner and he's pleased to see you. However, using the right routines, you'll be able to stop the problem quickly.