jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@bornagainbrian Gotcha - yeah I'll look into it. Thank you for your time, my friend. Super helpful! Good luck with your mini cockapoo (the intelligence makes sense - those guys are sharp! my colleague has one).
Apartment-specific training tips
- Thread starter jesusismybestfriend314
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- house training puppy 101
bornagainbrian
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 No worries at all! Let me know if you have other questions, we really struggled to find apartment related advice at first too. Again I'm not a seasoned dog trainer by any means but happy to share any findings!
jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@bornagainbrian Will do - cheers!
@jesusismybestfriend314 I would recommend some chicken wire or something of the like zip ties to the railing until he’s big enough to trust. It’s super cheap, easily replaceable, and if the pup does decide to chew on it, it won’t break their teeth like harder metals would
jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 don't forget chicken wire or hardware cloth if there are big gaps. the first time we took our puppy up on the fenced-in roof of our building he very quickly figured out that there was no fencing under the elevated AC units and he starting exploring the roof of the next building over. I wish we had had a balcony and sod for our apartment house training. We adopted a 30lb, 5 mo rescue with zero house training into a 4th floor walkup. He was great at letting us know when he needed to go out, but simply could not hold it long enough. I washed those stairs with enzymatic cleaner more times than I care to remember.
@jesusismybestfriend314 My balcony has some gaps also, so I got this: https://www.amazon.com/Cardinal-Gates-Shield-Safety-15-Feet/dp/B000H47XPY
works great!
works great!
@bornagainbrian Oh wow! I don't feel as bad living on the top 5th floor of a apartment building and his potty spot was just down the sidewalk a little bit. A few months back (middle of winter) when we were taking him out every 1-2 hours.
After putting on all my warm winter clothes, getting down to 1st floor, and back up again...it seemed like it was potty time again as soon as I sat down.
Could not imagine your circumstances!
After putting on all my warm winter clothes, getting down to 1st floor, and back up again...it seemed like it was potty time again as soon as I sat down.
Could not imagine your circumstances!
bornagainbrian
New member
I'm in Canada so our winters are super cold (we got him in March when it was still freezing) and there was just no way we were going to bundle us and our puppy up to go outside every time hahajesusismybestfriend314
New member
@bornagainbrian This is fantastic - thank you so much for your detailed reply. A lot of things you mentioned resonate strongly with us, especially the final paragraph! The second vaccination thing is useful too - it's hard enough socializing with COVID as it is; we certainly wouldn't want to miss out on extra weeks before the 4mo mark if possible. If you don't mind me asking, what breed is your puppy?Sounds like one smart cookie!!
walkinfaith
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 Could you use some netting around the gaps on the balcony to make it safe? Then get one of those fake grass potty spot things? Sorry, still working on my first cup of coffee, so words are hard.
jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@walkinfaith Netting sounds like a good idea, as long as I can get rid of sharp edges and make sure they remain fixed. I was also thinking of putting a playpen in the balcony itself (maybe 4' x 4') and just carry the little one to it and let them go about their business. Any suggestions on brands of the fake-grass potty spot things? I'm getting mixed reviews on Amazon. That first cup - I hear you.
@jesusismybestfriend314 We had a fake grass spot and I think it's workable if you can keep it outdoors, because despite cleaning and changing the pad underneath, the thing starts to REEK!
jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 I would recommend getting more than one grass pad so you can keep cycling them in and out for cleaning, because the cleaning cycle goes from washing, deodorizing and drying.
For washing, you'd probably want to rinse it out liberally with a garden hose near a drain or some type of drainage. For deodorizing you would either use an enzyme cleaner, or some people say 1/2-1/2 vinegar and water mix works. And then you'll have to let it air dry. This all takes time, so you would probably want to have maybe 2~3 grass pads.
If you can, though, I would still let your pup pee outside whenever possible. You can use a stop watch to time the intervals between when your pup pees (or have accidents), so you have a rough idea of how long they can hold in their pee for.
Puppies generally are physiologically incapable of holding their pee in because their bladder muscles aren't that developed yet, so it's good to have an idea of when your puppy really has to go, because accidents don't necessarily mean your puppy isn't house trained yet, it could also mean the caretaker didn't pay enough attention to the puppy's needs.
For washing, you'd probably want to rinse it out liberally with a garden hose near a drain or some type of drainage. For deodorizing you would either use an enzyme cleaner, or some people say 1/2-1/2 vinegar and water mix works. And then you'll have to let it air dry. This all takes time, so you would probably want to have maybe 2~3 grass pads.
If you can, though, I would still let your pup pee outside whenever possible. You can use a stop watch to time the intervals between when your pup pees (or have accidents), so you have a rough idea of how long they can hold in their pee for.
Puppies generally are physiologically incapable of holding their pee in because their bladder muscles aren't that developed yet, so it's good to have an idea of when your puppy really has to go, because accidents don't necessarily mean your puppy isn't house trained yet, it could also mean the caretaker didn't pay enough attention to the puppy's needs.
jesusismybestfriend314
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 I used to chuck it into the bathtub and blast it with the hose shower head thing, then bleach it (and the tub), allow to dry, then repeat for good measure
retrodude82
New member
@jesusismybestfriend314 We would throw ours in the shower every couple of days and scrub it with dish soap and it helped diminish the smell. Only on the hot days with direct sunlight was it miserable. Check Amazon they have decent ones that is where we got ours.
@jesusismybestfriend314 An alternative to the fake grass patch - Simpawtico on youtube has a video about making a "puppy apartment" and they describe creating a little "toilet" for your pup. They recommend using whatever they will most likely be pottying on outside when they're grown. So if it's grass, put grass in it, if it's concrete - get a slab of concrete, if it's gravel, fill it with gravel, etc.
There may be ways you could make it easier to clean as well, depending on the type of filler you use. Maybe like getting some sort of "rack" so the pee can drain all the way to the bottom of the tub, and then you can just lift the rack out and clean the bottom.
There may be ways you could make it easier to clean as well, depending on the type of filler you use. Maybe like getting some sort of "rack" so the pee can drain all the way to the bottom of the tub, and then you can just lift the rack out and clean the bottom.