Eliminating outside unsupervised

Question
I have a 4 mo. old puggle. I take him outside to eliminate about once an hour and I watch him. We have a large, fenced in yard that he runs around in all the time supervised. My husband feels that I shouldn't stand there and watch our puppy eliminate. He feels that I am hindering his training. Is 4 months too young to expect the pup to go outside unsupervised? He'll only stay outside alone for a brief period of time. When I don't watch  him, he'll come in and mess in the house.

Answer
You are not hindering his training by standing there and watching him eliminate. I hope you are praising him happily when he finishes doing his business, too! Four months IS too young to expect him to know he is outside to potty. Most likely, if you let him out, he will sniff around, then come sit at the door, and when he gets back in, will suddenly 'remember' that he needed to go potty, and will 'go' on the floor, just like you say he does.

I go outside with my dogs, for potty purposes, until they are at least a year old, and I always praise them whenever they potty out there. I also keep them on a leash until they are pottying 'on command,' so to speak, reliably, before I will allow them to be off leash for that purpose. I go out with the dog or puppy on a leash, and go to the same spot in the yard each time. I wander around in that area until the dog or puppy begins to eliminate. At that point, I begin saying my 'potty command,' which is "Go hurry." I say it over and over, in the same tone of voice, as the dog is doing his business, and when the dog finishes, I say "Good hurry!" in a happy tone of voice and drop the leash for some playtime before going back inside. When I can take the dog out on leash, say "Go hurry," and the dog respond by at least *trying* to pee, then I start taking the dog out off leash. Gradually, I start hanging further and further back from the dog, until I can let the dog out, say "Go hurry," and the dog goes out in the yard, potties, and returns to the door. This can be anywhere from a year of age or even later. I have a female right now that is 14 months old, that I still have to go partially out in the yard with, if I'm in a hurry, or remain standing at the door until she finally goes out into the yard and goes potty. When she does, I open the door, step out, praise her, and let her back in. My 2-year old male understands that he is to go potty when I let him out and tell him to go hurry, but she does not quite understand yet.