Potty Training in Condo

[Stefan]

We are picking up our doodle on June. 21st and as we get closer to closer to the date I am beginning to panic more and more about the little things.  My partner and I live on the ground floor of a condo facing a treeline which I thought would make it easier for potty training because we won't have to use puppy pads and/or run downstairs every 1/2 hr to bring her outside.  We live about 25 feet from the treeline and it is separated by a fence, and I also do not see many dogs walking around outside our deck.  Is it ok to use this grass outside our condo?  Parvo is my biggest fear at the moment so I was wondering if it was worth it to invest in one of those fake grass patches for the puppy to use outside on our deck?  I did look around the grass this morning and I couldn't see any animal feces out there (plus our condo has a strict policy on cleaning up after your pets.. They even take a DNA sample from your animal so they can charge you if you don't clean up after your dog)

I would really appreciate your guys input!  Thanks in advance.  

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

I would be extremely careful. Just because you are not seeing feces, does not mean that the virus is not there. Parvovirus can live in dirt/grass, etc for 6 months. Read more about it here: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_dg_canin...

I have a friend in Canada,who in the winter months, buys pieces of sod for her dog to relieve himself on. You could do the same out on your deck. Puppy pads are just another habit to break, so I would not recommend using those.

[Joan Bollaert]

I live in a condo as well and I just took my dogs out to the grass but either into the wooded area or fence line because pee will burn out the grass and leave yellow dead grass circles.  The condo assoc. won't appreciate that especially since they're already doing DNA testing on your pets!!  I never heard of that.  Unreal.  I'm always paranoid about where my dogs go potty because of the condo situation.  I pick up their poop every time I go out and as mentioned, never allow them to pee on any area where it will mess up the grass/landscaping.

I never worried about Parvo...didn't think of it actually and I have the only dogs in the condo building I'm in.  It's tucked back into the woods so no other pets come back here to potty..  Maybe I was just lucky that they didn't get Parvo.  ?  I had no idea it can live in the dirt and grass.  I was only aware that I shoudn't take my puppies out in public before all their shots were finished.

[Stefan]

Thanks, this is very helpful!