[canana]

At 7 weeks, I would keep the puppy in a very small space (i.e. a small area blocked off, without carpet) when you're monitoring him, without free-reign to roam your house. When you're not monitoring him, I would keep him in a x-pen or crate, but make sure to let him out every hour or so for him to potty on the pee pad.

Scottie earned his freedom to my home. When he was monitored, he first only had access to a small room, then that room plus living room, then plus the kitchen area, and so on. By "earned", I mean he had no potty accidents. And when he did, I went back to square one with very limited space. When I wasn't available to monitor his each and every move, he was crated. This was a gradual process that spanned months during his first year. This was just me though - I believe in preventing all and any accidents whatsoever.

And if you haven't read elsewhere already, puppies have a general capacity to hold in their potty for an hour per month-old, up to 8 months (i.e. if they're 1 month old, they can hold 1 to 2 hours; if they're 2 months old, they can hold 2 to 3 hours, etc). So generally, they can hold up to 8 hrs...