Apartment-specific training tips

[dizredux]

@jesusismybestfriend314 For sure! In addition to the smell factor, I think the balcony is a great idea because it still gets them used to going outside to do their business and really helps reduce the confusion of "some parts of the house are okay to pee in, but not others". Giving an actual "box" for them to go in, will further help differentiate it from the rest of the house.

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@dizredux Wonderful - I should have known from your reddit handle you were going to be a proponent of boxes. Cheers!

 

[arewethereyet]

@jesusismybestfriend314 I built a grass patch on my balcony using a large metal tray (2' x 3'), some top soil, and a roll of sod! 2 months later the thing is still going strong, my my shihpoo loves having a quick easy spot to go potty. The downfall is that her pee has killed most of the grass, but hey... it works anyway! Cost was about $20 total. Highly recommend trying this! I will add, that pee pads worked well too (before I built the balcony grass patch), until she decided she hated using them. The grass was a much more attractive option for her!

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@arewethereyet My DIY skills are pretty abysmal except for lego and IKEA furniture - I will try the Fresh Patch option for now and if things get expensive, I'll bite the bullet and make something.

 

[mirxx]

@jesusismybestfriend314 We went all-in on proper potty training. We lived in a building with an elevator in NYC with a giant Leonberger puppy, but we still would interrupt her if she ever started peeing and brought her downstairs outside every time. It was hard work to do it especially as she got heavy to carry, but if you interrupt them and carry them, they'll hold it until you get downstairs.

We're so glad we never did pee pads—once they're trained, they're trained and it'll make life so much easier in the long term. We know many people with dogs and pee pads and they never seem to be able to get them fully trained off of them.

 

[joy_of_the_lord]

@mirxx While i think it’s possible that puppies can get used to going potty inside, I think it really depends on the dog. My puppy eventually just stopped using the pee pads all on his own even though we kept them down after he started going potty outside. In the last few weeks, he’s only used the pee pad one time and had very few accidents otherwise.

If you get a routine established of taking them outside regularly, it shouldn’t be an impossible task to break the puppy of.

 

[mirxx]

@joy_of_the_lord I think you’re totally correct. We might’ve ended up spending more work doing it once, but I’m glad we didn’t have to revisit. Could be super fast though. No pee pad shame.

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@joy_of_the_lord Thank you - hope we get a puppy with high maturity and social consciousness like yours seems to have! It'd be great if we didn't have to wean them off the pad and it happened all on it's own.

 

[dimi01]

@mirxx We also went all-in on outside-only potty training from a second-floor apartment. It was difficult but very much worth it. My pup only does his business outdoors. He learned to go in the rain and during storms, and on command. It almost broke my patience but we did it!

 

[mirxx]

@dimi01 Almost identical experience to ours. Worth it!

 

[zbnigniew]

@dimi01 Oh man, I live in a second floor apartment too which I know isn't too bad but the thought of running downstairs with the puppy every hour and potentially in the middle of the night is insane to me. How long did it take for your pup to be more or less potty trained? We're getting our pup in a month and I'm leaning towards puppy pads to help for at night and early morning, but then be diligent and routine about going outside during the day.

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@mirxx Ok - I think ours will remain small, so carrying will remain an option for a few weeks. Yeah - this morning I was thinking pee pads might be the way to go, but I'm leaning towards pee pads for emergency situations (thunder and lightning?) but mostly grass on balcony + grass on afternoon walks when they get older. Thanks a lot!

 

[bbcemt]

@jesusismybestfriend314 My #1 lifesaver potty training my dachshund from my 6 floor walk up was an emergency puppy bag I left hanging on my door.

it had a spare set of keys, poop bags, and training treats in it. I also left her leash hanging on the door knob. When I saw her circling/sniffing/giving cues she was about to go, I grabbed her and bolted out the door with the bag.

It may seem obvious but having a bag with the essentials ready to go where you can't miss it helps your reaction time and ensures that you won't get locked out of your apartment at 3am! Good luck with your fur baby, it's going to be the best!!!!!

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@bbcemt The emergency bag is a fantastic idea. I’ll totally keep this at the ready!! Thanks.

 

[athisfeet1234]

@jesusismybestfriend314 I'm not in a high rise, but a third floor apartment. We kept our pup going on puppy pads until he was fully vaccinated. Once he could go outside we hung some bells up on the door and immediately started transitioning to outside. For the first few times, he would go to the patio door to let us know he had to go. We would ring the bells with his paw, then carry him all the way out to the grass. The first day he held it ALL day because he was so used to the patio. Once he went outside we have him a ton of treats. He caught on really fast and we moved to letting him walk down (using the elevator) instead of being carried. He pooped in the hall once but he was also sick that day. I've heard the fake grass pads for a porch can really smell, which sucks for you and neighbors. So if you can commit to doing outside I would.

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@athisfeet1234 Fair point with the fake grass. The use of the bell is interesting - do you keep it at a level the little one can reach or do you keep it high up so you trigger a 'going out time!' response when you ring it? I guess if I was a puppy I'd ring the bell all day long to get attention but I suppose you're protecting against that somehow, right? Held it all day - wow! even I can't do that. Props to pup.

 

[athisfeet1234]

@jesusismybestfriend314 We put it where he can reach it! We just helped him ring it until he learned. He was scared of them at first but we put some peanut butter on there and once he got used to the jingling from licking it he was fine. Only did it once though because we didn't want him to think it was a PB dispenser lol he honestly didn't abuse the bells at all! I know some pups do, so it's definitely a possibility. But usually if they ring the bells and you only go to the bathroom spot, don't let them wander or do anything fun, they get the picture. We had to go out of town for a few weeks with the pup and he did learn to abuse them since my family had a back yard. But we are working on retraining to where he was.

 

[jesusismybestfriend314]

@athisfeet1234 Gotcha - the PB trick is a stroke of genius: I tip my hat to you, good sir/madam. Ok - we will keep in mind that doing the business of elimination must be kept business-like. Good tip. Thanks much! Could you quantify around when is "once he could go outside" - is this 6 months-ish or closer to 1 year-ish?

 

[dutchmaster83]

@jesusismybestfriend314 37th floor here and first timers too! Our girl is 11 weeks today. I built her a 32x32 box using 4 2x4, outdoor planter liner, soil and pea gravel. Total cost was around $30. Will likely have to change out the soil and gravel once a year, but won't necessarily need it as much once she's fully vaccinated. I've rinsed it once as we haven't had a good rain storm. She took to it right away and still pees on grass/other surfaces when outdoors in safe environments. I would suggest taking your pup outdoors on the balcony many times, even when not having to potty, to get used to the height and sounds. Our girl has started to enjoy watching the trains go by.

One thing that we did that I highly recommend is we wrote our adjacent neighbours a letter from our girl with a photo explaining how she didn't love her crate and we were sorry about any loud noises they would hear. We also added our cell numbers so that they can text us if it's too loud to try and avoid getting a noise complaint. This ended up being a great way to meet our neighbours (we're also somewhat new to our building) as they came over to meet our girl and even brought her toys! Your neighbours will definitely appreciate such a small gesture and it'll help you feel more at ease when they're howling in their crate.

Also baby gates, baby gates, baby gates or any other way to block! The more blocked off areas you have the better it will be for your sanity. We are slowly starting to open up other areas as she gets better with her bladder, but we made the initial mistake of allowing our girl free reign of the apartment and she decided to mark her territory basically anywhere and everywhere we couldn't see her. Now that she only has access to half the apartment, she goes towards the door when she needs to go. Also get rid of your carpets unless you're okay with having to constantly clean them. Much easier to clean the floor multiple times than the carpet they enjoy chewing and peeing on.

Hope this helps and congratulations! It'll be peaks and valleys, but ultimately the love you'll have for him/her will negate the valleys

 

[bornagainbrian]

@dutchmaster83 We used a play pen for our puppy's first month at home and it was a tremendous help! It attached to his crate and we had the pee pad inside so he only spent time in his specific area. We removed the pen only a few weeks ago so he has full access to the apartment while supervised and at night he sleeps in the pen.

The first week we got our puppy we did not have a pen and it was a bad idea. Too much freedom led to more distractions and more accidents