[yorkietalkjilly]

Confining a dog in a crate of pen small enough to encourage it to hold its pee/poo on a regular schedule is the only way to teach one how to hold himself/herself. The only time they should be confined to the crate is when they aren't out peeing/pooing, eating/drinking, playing, cuddling, walking, training. Otherwise, they should be in the crate for their naps and down time when you cannot watch them. The crate isn't used as a 24/7 jail, just a place to put them for naps and when you can't be with them/watching them.

Or, take them outside literally every 30 minutes a day until and if they get the idea that outside is THE place to leave their scent and perform their toilet duties for all the world(other dogs) to enjoy. Outside is the instinctive place for dogs and most prefer to leave their pee/poop outside as their ancestors have for generations. That every 30 minute schedule is firm and must be undertaken for at least - at least - three weeks with dogs who are confirmed house-peers/poopers. But if you do that, be sure to treat and highly praise the dog as soon as it goes outside, do that every single pee/poo. But once the dog is back inside, you must confine the dogs to a single room for a couple of months while on that schedule, which you can extend to every 40 minutes after 3 -4 weeks and on until they are holding it until they get to go outside for up to 3 - 6 hours.

If you don't confine them, they will just go anywhere in the house and relieve themselves but if they are confined to the room where you are, you can watch them for signs of needing to go potty - humping up, running around sniffing the ground excitedly, going in circles, watching you or the door to outside steadily or standing/sitting/lying near the door or whining at you. And treating/praising the dog is very important but a regular schedule with some form of confinement is an absolute necessity for an animal in order for him to learn how to gain control of his toilet habits and then he can have free run of the house, once he's totally clean in the house. It takes about one year of confining the dog when you cannot watch him or have to leave the room or house to really truly housebreak a dog so that he never never never makes a mistake. That way the idea is so ingrained in his brain, he wouldn't think of using the inside for his toilet.