khowie

I'm looking for some advice from others who have house trained in an apartment. I have read many people suggesting using newspapers or pads when in an apartment but I would rather not use them as I have also heard that that method takes longer and there is more likely to be accidents down the road. Has anyone successfully house trained in an apartment without using newspaper or pads? Is it doable?

Searcher

Yes, it is doable. After the first few weeks we never had an accident & all of the ones we had in those first 2 weeks were our fault for not reading her signals. You do have to be very diligent about getting your dog out. As a puppy we started with every hour, then every 2 hours, etc. We have a standard poodle & live on the second floor with lots of steps. Night were a bit difficult at first but it really didn't take long for her to sleep thru the night. If I remember correctly it was about a month.
What type of apartment are you in? Do you have a porch? What story are you on? Where do you live? What size poodle are you planning on? All those may make a difference in the approach you use.

sparkyjoe

Can you maybe give a little more information about your apartment situation (I take it that you're not on the first floor? Is there a patio?).

Also what size Poodle you have or are thinking of getting?

I live in a townhome condo, so I have easy access to the outdoors, but my patio area is currently not fenced, so there is the need to always take the time to leash before going out.

I got my SPoo when he was around 4 months and I don't seem to remember putting paper or pads in his kennel when I had to go out, but I came home every day at lunch to run him outside for the first several months.

I've dreamed of those indoor potty spots when the temps were in the extreme negatives, or it was raining like a monsoon, but it didn't seem practical for a male SPoo who occasionally lifted his leg to piddle. For a smaller dog I could imagine that they are more realistic.

I think I've heard of folks with a medium sized dog training it to use the bathtub as it's toilet when they lived in a highrise or it wasn't easy for the human to get outside for some reason like a disability. (I'm not saying it's ideal or even pleasant to think of, but I've heard of it. Really!)

Maybe there's a trustworthy neighbor in your building who's home during the day that you could have take your dog out during the day?

Use your imagination and keep an open mind.

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Jill and Cally in Central Ohio, & Gable at the Bridge

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sparkyjoe

Ah, I just read that you have an 8wk old mini.

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Jill and Cally in Central Ohio, & Gable at the Bridge

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JE-UK

Housetraining in an apartment shouldn't be any different than housetraining in a house. I lived for decades in apartments with dogs, and there's nothing very different about taking a dog out from an apartment or a house, other than not having the convenience of a fenced yard. I know some people train a dog to eliminate in a special place, litter box or pad, in an apartment, but that has always seemed super icky to me .

However, if the puppy is that young, and there is no one around all day until the pup is about 4 or 5 months old, you may have to provide an appropriate place to eliminate until the puppy can physically hold it.

If I were housetraining a dog in an apartment, I would just be extremely scrupulous about providing PLENTY of opportunities to eliminate outside. Every hour at least, at that age.

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"Yes is so much important than No." Dominique Barbier

khowie

Thanks for the reassurance that it is doable. He is an 8 week old mini and there is always someone home with him except for the occasional hour where I need to go out for groceries or what not, at which point he goes into his crate which he is fabulous in now, just goes right to sleep.
I really just wanted to hear that it could be done as I kept reading about the newspaper and pad method being used in apartments so I was unsure. We live on the 6th floor so it does take a bit of time to get outside.

schnauzerpoodle

We live in a high-rise and we have a patio. Nickel came home when he was 9 wks old and has become reliably bell-trained and litterbox trained within a few weeks. The dog litter is getting expensive and more difficult to find (only Petsmart carries it and the closest store is 10 miles away) so we recently switched to the Potty Park. Nickel got the idea within the same day.

My mini boy has no problem using the Potty Park and outdoor on grass and/or gravels. When we are not home, he can hold it in until we are back.

khowie

Thanks for the replies! I forgot to mention that we do not have a patio. We are finding house training difficult as sometimes our lil guy goes 4 times in one hour. We will take him out, he appears done and then within 10 minutes He is peeing inside again. Sometimes he doesn't even stop and sniff, it's just playing one second and then peeing the next. I think perhaps his blatter just needs to mature more. He is already catching on with others things like sitting and he does pee on command when outside so he is a smart lil guy.

dcyk

I stay in an apartment too, and i have a cage with a tray for my TPOO instead of a crate, the cage is quite spacious for him, so he tends to eliminate one side and sleep on the other.

I kinda encourage him to do his business in the cage giving him much praise everytime he does it. Now everytime he's out playing or feeding in the hall, he will just run back into the cage to do his business big or small, and that's just in 2 weeks time. Allow for mistakes, it will still happen

Don't overfeed, more goes in more comes out, just feed enough

schnauzerpoodle

This is the first time I live in a high-rise with a patio. In the past 20 years, I live in condos with no patio and all my dogs were house trained. You just have to take him out every hour (when he's young). I will also bring his favorite toy and play with him in the public space (hallway, lobby, elevator, etc.) and hang around those places, that way he will get the idea those are part of his den and that he should hold his bladder until we are out of the building.