# How to potty train when living in an apartment?



## little_ribbon (Jun 14, 2010)

We're picking up Cherry next week-ish.... 

I have done my best to get things ready for her arrival, but I'm not sure if I have made the right choice in buying a pen for her. =/ I thought she might need a place that is cat-free, so we bought a rabbit pen today... It looks a little like this? We're going to wrap some extra wire or sturdy tape around the places where the separate panels are held together to make it more sturdy. It's heavy enough that I doubt it'll tip over if any of the cats decide to lean against it, but the panels are very loosely kept together at the moment so it might be possible for a curious puppy to lift one panel up and crawl underneath (and possibly get hurt in the process) but taping/wiring should prevent that.

I liked the design because it doesn't have a top/ceiling? I'm worried that if I do go for the type of crate that has a covered top, then the cats will probably jump on it? ^^; I have two Ragdolls and they're VERY curious. I think Milo will definitely like to perch on top of a crate and make himself comfortable (they really like being "on top" of things). He might go, "HEY! Why are you in there? Come out and play with me!" *facepalm!*

Aaaanyway, I thought it'd be a good idea because we live in an apartment and I can't take her out every hour to train her to go outside just yet. She won't have all her shots until 12 weeks, right? (We do have a terrace, though! I don't know if that'll make a difference?)

But, now I'm having second thoughts and wondering if my brilliant idea was perhaps not so brilliant after all? Does anyone have any tips for potty training a puppy in an apartment building? Should I place her puppy trainer pads inside and teach her to go on those until she can go outside... or is there another option I haven't thought of yet?

I just want to do things the "right" way from the moment she gets home! I hope someone can help out?


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## omguthrie (Oct 13, 2009)

I have always potty trained all my puppies to go where I will want them to go all their lives. For me it's outside. I just don't like cleaning up pee and poop indoors, even if it's on a pad, plus it smells. I take puppies outside regardless. If they are getting their puppy vaccination series they should be pretty protected. I choose a potty place for them that is away from where I see any other dogs potty and just take them there. We go if it's raining, snowing, hot, etc. 

If you want to train to potty pads then put the pads down where every you want them to be and just start taking the puppy there when you feel she needs to go and encourage her to potty there. 

If she ever potties where you want her to, inside or outside, you need to throw her a party and be very enthusiastic! She will learn where you want her to go.


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## Guess (Sep 23, 2009)

My three guys are pee-pad trained indoors, but are also trained to use a grass potty on our balcony, which is always open to them during the warmer months. They use both very well. They will also pee outside on grass. Works for us! 

Good luck


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## LDMomma (Mar 28, 2009)

My girls are potty pad trained. They will also go outside if it is available. If you plan on training her to eliminate outdoors, I would teach that from the start.


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## KayC (May 3, 2005)

Zoey is pad trained but will wait all day for me to get home to take her outside to poo.


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## Vivid (Jul 23, 2009)

I also live in an apartment so training was definately on my mind when i brought Tyler home. Ty isnt a chi but when she was a pup i trained her to go on Newspaper. The week after her last puppy shot i started taking her out and putting her on the floor or grassy area with newspaper down. After a week or so of doing that i started to slowly with hold the newspaper and she still went. Easy work in my opinion.

Using the news paper conveniant for me since my mom brings them home every day so it was way cheaper for me than the pads and wasnt so weird to see me walking with the paper rather than the pads when we were outside. Even today she will go on newspaper if i put it down for her outside. Old habits die hard i guess.

Also, I dont know if you have seen it but there are little grassy potty pads now available to put in your apartment for your dog to go on. That might make it easier to transition to outside since it is real grass Cherry will be peeing on.

Good luck on your Training.


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## little_ribbon (Jun 14, 2010)

Thank you guys for all the advice!  

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a safe grassy place outside that I could take her to every 2 hours-ish - they all require a bit of a walk, so I think she'll be more likely to pee/poop on me or on the sidewalk before we even reach those places. (That and I don't feel comfortable having her in an area where a lot of dogs have been when she hasn't had all of her shots yet? Am I just being paranoid?)

I'm sure the doggy fields and parks will be GREAT places to take her to once she's a bit older, though! Or will she not get properly socialized if I wait until 13-ish weeks for her to go to dog parks? =/ Oh man, so complicated! I AM planning to carry her around with me a lot so she can get used to lots of different situations if the vet says that's fine - but I read that it's not a good idea to put them on the floor until they've had all their shots? (I am also arranging to have lots of friends over, and we'll be going to visit a friend with a big safe garden, etc. Hopefully I'll come across some people with small dogs on the streets and will be able to arrange some kind of playdate?) 



Vivid said:


> I also live in an apartment so training was definately on my mind when i brought Tyler home. Ty isnt a chi but when she was a pup i trained her to go on Newspaper. The week after her last puppy shot i started taking her out and putting her on the floor or grassy area with newspaper down. After a week or so of doing that i started to slowly with hold the newspaper and she still went. Easy work in my opinion.
> 
> Using the news paper conveniant for me since my mom brings them home every day so it was way cheaper for me than the pads and wasnt so weird to see me walking with the paper rather than the pads when we were outside. Even today she will go on newspaper if i put it down for her outside. Old habits die hard i guess.
> 
> ...


Oh! I never heard of grassy potty pads before! I will DEFINITELY look into that and see about getting something similar on our terrace...  Thank you so much!

Oh, and jeez... my apologies if I come off as one of those crazy "OMG WHAT DO I DO????" people! xD! I am just so worried about making mistakes with her in that crucial puppy period... I don't want her to pick up a disease while going out but at the same time I also want to make sure she's socialized properly and finding a good balance is a little hard? *GNAWS ON NAILS!* I'm sure I'll settle down once she comes home. :')


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## 18453 (Feb 6, 2010)

They say it's ok to put them in your garden before they have their jabs I did with daisy I will with the new puppy

yes carry her everywhere, you can't put her on the floor in public until a week after her last jab but socialize them have lots of people over, wear crazy things, make a lot of noise and expose her to as much as possible. Some may not agree but if she gets scared ignore it and make a point of doing what scares her do she becomes immne to it


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## little_ribbon (Jun 14, 2010)

Daisydoo said:


> They say it's ok to put them in your garden before they have their jabs I did with daisy I will with the new puppy
> 
> yes carry her everywhere, you can't put her on the floor in public until a week after her last jab but socialize them have lots of people over, wear crazy things, make a lot of noise and expose her to as much as possible. Some may not agree but if she gets scared ignore it and make a point of doing what scares her do she becomes immne to it


Ooh!  Thanks! Okay, I'll just substitute the garden with our terrace and a grassy potty area on it.. and maybe take her over to my friend's garden (she has no dogs - just a big lizard pet? - and it's all fenced off..) to get her used to walking around in the grass then?

Sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun...  I'm glad I will be able to take her with me as long as I keep her off the floor! The bag I bought has a removable pillow, so I've used it as an example to make extra pillows out of some cheap fabric I got at IKEA. I'm sure she'll have a few accidents in there if she's out with me often, so.... I guess they'll come in handy soon.

Thanks so much for your help! I'm feeling a lot calmer now, haha.


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## Terri (Aug 21, 2009)

Yeah i took Darla out in her carrier before she was able to touch the ground.

I live in a flat too, and so i use peepads, i also take them out for walks of course.
Darla took to the peepads really quickly and so did Daisy even though she was older and used to going out to a back graden at the breeders.
I dont think she went a lot of walks so it's taken some time for her to get used to being on a harness and peeing outside like that.
She does it now though.
If and when i get my boy chi, he will trained on pads too. xx


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## little_ribbon (Jun 14, 2010)

Ooh!  It's nice to hear from other apartment-chihuahuas! *grin!*

I hope Cherry will be as good as Darla and Daisy!


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## Vivid (Jul 23, 2009)

I just thought about the suggestion i gave about the grassy pee pad. I'm not so sure its a great idea after all. If you have real grass just soaking up urine and the smell of feces i'm pretty sure you will have a problem with the smell rather quickly even if its a small pup. Surprisingly they even have a Large size that i saw a golden retriever going on.

The commercial advertises that its great for apartments but i doubt it. I guess that would be great for someone with a patio or something like that. I've heard something about washable pee pads but i've never actually paid attention to them.

Newspaper was my tool to potty training.


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## Shamelle (Jan 20, 2010)

I litter trained my Jadzia. 
I use a large under the bed type of storage container, cut a small opening in the side for her to get in and out easily and I use 'Yesterday's news' type of litter, (recycled news paper made into tightly rolled pellets).

I keep it in the porch, and odor is not a problem if I scoop it out daily.

Jadzia will also go out and use the yard without any problem.

I love her being litter trained when it's winter or raining and I know she'd rather not go out when it's really cold.


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## YoQuiero (Apr 17, 2010)

I live in an apartment too, and I am NOT taking them out before their 12 week/last vaccines. I won't be taking them out to roam the grass until around 16 as a matter of fact but that's a personal choice. 

I have a pen for my girls, it's THIS ONE and I LOVE it! They also have THIS litterbox... They were both pretrained on it at their breeder's though so my job was already started. What I need to now do is keep up with it!

What I do is keep them in their pen with litterbox and bed and food and water, AND toys to make it nice for them to be in there. You don't want them not having any 'fun' in there or they won't be inclined to like it. When I let them out, they are watched CONSTANTLY and if either one starts to have an accident it's IMMEDIATELY back into the litterbox for them, and playtime is over. I usually let them out at least twice a day like this. When they're in their pen they take themselves no problem but my girls don't yet get that when they are out and about, they can still go back into their pens freely to potty and that's where I'm personally at with our training. 

Also positive reinforcement, treats and lots of praises when they go where you want them to go. Just keep up with it! You could get a second litterbox (or potty pads, or whatever you use indoors) to put elsewhere in the house so basically they would have in their pen potty spot, and outside their pen potty spot. Whatever you'd want.


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