Apartment Potty Training - Help!

[Lauren Hughes]

Hi all!

We've had Penny for a month now, and potty training has been pretty successful so far. We're in an apartment on the 5th floor, with a walk down the hallway to get to the stairs or elevator. When we first got her, the easiest and fastest route to go outside involved carrying her in the hallway, down the stairs, and straight to the grass outside. Since she was so little, we found it best to just carry her quickly to the potty spot.

With the crate and keeping her on a schedule, I can tell that she is grasping that she is definitely not allowed to potty in our apartment. So, this brings me to our new problem... As you know these puppies grow rapidly and obviously we're not going to be able to carry her outside for much longer! I've tried putting her down right outside our apartment door and walking her to the elevator or stairs, but she has peed in the hallway several times! It's almost like she doesn't know the difference between outside our apartment (the hallway) and outside outside... Any advice?

[Maris]

Hi Lauren,

We also have a 12 week old pup and are in an apartment (3rd floor).  We did the carrying thing for about a week or two but now we just RUN down the hall and stairs with him fast so he literally doesnt have time to stop and pee.  He definitely has had some accidents though and we just tell him NO very firmly and pick him up at that point and bring him at least to the stairwell where its not on the carpet (sorry building).  He's getting a lot better at it and can usually just walk now and not pee until outside except for first thing in the morning. 

Good luck!!!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I have no experience with this, so hopefully someone who does will respond.  As a practical suggestion, I would start putting her down once outside and urging her over to the grass, then with only one flight of stairs, then 2 etc.  

and of course, lots of praise when she gets it right! 

good luck! 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi there I'm an apartment dweller too, I never carried my guys because they are both huge and grew so quick but I would use a small training treat to have them focus on to get them outside without stopping for an accident. It seemed to work well for my guys, they are extremely food motivated. You could also try taking her out more frequently, like every 20-30mins, briefly so she is comfortable holding it until your outside? Just a suggestion. Good luck!

[Joann Valerio]

Jessica, Curious ... Do you hold the treat in your hand so they can see it and then give it when they're done with
their business? Or is the treat for not peeing in the hallway?

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

I just held it in my hand and ran quickly to get out the door. I would say things like "let's go outside for treats!" And once we got outside then I would say "go potty" that way he associated potty with outside. And gave it to him once we were outside on the grass. He would always squat down mid hallway but he's so food driven if I just ran with a treat he was right there focusing only on the treat lol. I'm sure there are better ways to handle this than bribery but it worked!

[Jess]

Run run run! Be excited! Without scaring your neighbors lol
I take my ten week old outside and want him off the deck quick so I run and say "come come" and it not only gets him to the potty spot quick but he is learning to "come" when I say it!

[Lauren Hughes]

Thank you all for the excellent suggestions!