Lessons from Puppy training 101

So, do you think I should always remember the main rule of puppy training 101? NEVER LEAVE YOUR PUPPY ALONE!!! You have to know where he is at all times. So if you don't want your puppy to sneak off to a place where you can't see him, DON'T TRAIN HIM HOW TO GET THERE!!! Yes, there is a story behind all this. Ozzy has been scared of our basement stairs so we worked and worked with him to get him to go down them by himself. Then we worked and worked with him to get him to come back up by himself. So, fast forward to tonight....I'm sitting on the couch to watch the news and all of a sudden can't hear his little claws clicking on the floor. I get up to find him and just as I'm calling his name, I see Ozzy peeking out from behind the basement stair door. Right away I knew he had went downstairs by himself so I better go inspect the basement floor for "presents". Of course, there was a little package, right on the area rug in the family room. YAY!!! And it isn't even my birthday! Blahhhhhh! Not happy. Of course, too late to scold him because I didn't catch him in the act and he wouldn't understand why I was scolding him. So, I took him outside anyway just to see if he would go again. He did go potty when I asked him to. Gotta love these little ones. Speaking of which, he's sniffing around again, better go outside! He's a good little pooper!!!