Housetraining in an apartment

[nursejess80]

We live in a condo and have a patio with an iron gate that opens onto kind of like a big grass alleyway in between the buildings. We have trained Ruby from day 1 to go outside. I agree with everything that Aleethomas said about the training. We pretty much have done the same thing. The only time she's had an accident in weeks was when she was having some stomach problems. and she's only 18 wks old. I tried to use the puppy pads with the little contraption to hold them in place, but Ruby was determined and was still able to shred them everywhere. Newspaper was a complete disaster, and we only tried that when we were attempting to make a little nursery for her in the kitchen when we weren't home. She never quite understood what we wanted her to do, so she played with her new loud "toys". We have now just had to crate her every time we leave or when we can't watch her, and although she still resists a little, it has definitely been the best thing for us. We'll continue to do this until we can trust her in the house, but we're a LONG way from that. I know it's frustrating to deal with pee and poop everywhere, but you just have to try and see what works best for Scooby. Have you gotten the book about housetraining in 7 days?? It really is helpful. I didn't follow it exactly, but I used a lot of the concepts. If you absolutely cannot take him outside, have you tried a doggy litter box?? Is that what the whizbox thing is?? Good luck with everything, and hang in there!!

[Scouty girl]

Housetraining is one of the most important hurdles you will have to get over. It takes time, patience and consistency. At times you have to be really fast. I live in a single home and still had to run more than a few times with Scout in my arms.

It will seem as if your puppy will never 'get it'. Then one day, as if a miracle has happened there's no more peeing or pooping in the house. That is a very happy day.

Don't be discouraged, just know if you keep up a routine your puppy will be trained in no time. Then you'll look back and say, what was the big deal?.

[laram]

I live in an apartment too and I got Sammy over Christmas when it was -10 to -25 oC I have to say house-training was quite horrible for a while! We went out every hour and hid round the side of the building where there's a little patch of grass (dogs aren't allowed to pee in the yard ). Thankfully he learned quickly, and with a thick coat and little boots the weather wasn't as much of a problem as I'd feared. Now I can walk him somewhere where he's actually allowed to pee, and I only have to go out 3-4 times a day. In the long run, it was worth the effort. His breeder had tried to paper-train him before he came to me, but it was very unreliable and you could never be sure if he would just decide 'this is as good a place as any' on some corner of the carpet.

I do envy people with gardens though!! It would be so lovely to just open the door and let him run!

[loveisokay]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a puppy that cries? She's a bit too loud for an apartment - loud noises don't distract her from it & we don't react to her noises but we really need to nip it in the bud quickly.