There are no perfect pets in the world, even though we love our puppies a lot, there are times when they cause a lot of mess in our living space. Luckily, puppies are very smart and they can be potty trained to prevent any mess in your apartment.
Let us now learn about apartment puppy potty training and keep our living space mess-free and happy for both pet parents and puppies!
A. Establishing an outside routine
The world is not as wide as it used to be, not everyone can have their own garden, back yard or even garage. Due to the increased number of people living on our planet, compartmentalized living spaces are more common than grand gardens.
This changed the lifestyle of people everywhere, including the lives of pets. Puppy potty training in an apartment should now be done by pet parents in order to prevent “accidents” in their living spaces.
The best place for puppies to relieve themselves would still be outside the apartment, as it is the natural way dogs do it. Since they are still young, they can be easily trained to follow the commands of their dog parents.
Let us look at the different tips that dog parents can use in order to do apartment puppy potty training.
How to potty train a puppy in an apartment? The first thing that dog parents need to remember is that the best option for puppies is still to do their “business” outside.
Apartment owners do not really have yards or gardens, but luckily there are “dog parks” that can be considered as an alternative.
Going outside where there is a bigger space would mean a lot to puppies. They will have more time to do their “business” and even use this “outside” time to get regular exercise.
In order to create a more structured “outside routine” for your house training a puppy in an apartment activity, follow these tips to effectively teach your puppy to do their “business” well.
1. Let your dog outside frequently
Young puppies are not able to hold their pee or poop in as well as older dogs, according to the American Kennel Club. Puppies can hold their bladder for one hour for every month they age.
For example, if they are 8 weeks old already they can hold their pee for at least 2 hours. That is why it is advised to take your puppy outside frequently so they know that they are supposed to do their “business” outside and not inside your home.
Make sure that your puppy will understand that going “outside” means relieving themselves and not going for a walk or playing. Puppies need to learn this, the best way to teach them the difference is to be consistent.
When the “outside” activity is for them to pee, then make sure that after they pee they will be going back inside.
This is to help them learn the schedule of when they are allowed to pee outside. Once this becomes a habit, your grown dog will learn to call your attention when they need to pee before peeing.
2. Schedule your puppy’s meals
Puppies need food to grow, and be healthy. Since they are unable to hold their pee and poop because they are still young they often need to relieve themselves after eating or drinking water.
It is best to schedule the meals of your puppy properly. For example you can have them eat breakfast at 8am, and then after 30 minutes they will go outside in order to do their “business”.
As this is done regularly, your puppy will get used to doing their business every 8:30am – 9:00am. This will be the perfect schedule to take them outside and have them pee and poop then.
Having a fixed schedule will create the consistency that is needed by puppies to learn. They will associate the food with the time they eat and will now regularly do their business after eating.
Thus you won’t be surprised with sudden accidents anymore. And your puppy will do this regularly now and you will have regular schedules of your dog’s potty activities. Even if you live in a high rise building and you do not have a garden.
Proper scheduling is definitely one of the best ways to potty train your puppy. It has the biggest potential of creating a habit that will be consistent and rewarding at the same time.
3. Find your puppy’s special place
In an apartment dog potty can be challenging since you cannot bring your dog outside all the time. Especially if you live on the 30th floor; but practice, consistency and hard work can help solve this!
Whenever your puppy goes outside to do their “business” you need to designate a “special” place where they should do their “business”. This is to continue training your puppy to have an outside routine.
Having their own place for their “business” will reinforce this habit of going out and finding this designated place.
Since the common areas where puppies can do their “business” in apartments would most likely be common gardens or dog parks which can have “rules” about dog disposal, it would be best to read up on the guidelines in these parks and gardens before assigning a designated place for your dog to relieve themselves in.
It is best to follow these guidelines to prevent penalties or punishments to the dog parents. Another important thing to remember when designating your puppy’s special place, is that it should not be where flowers are.
The urine of dogs are not good for flowers. This can lead to the flowers wilting and may lead to the owners of the garden to deny both dog parents and puppies entry to these parks or gardens.
Potty training for puppies should not be complicated. Simply follow the rules and guidelines in place for their outside areas and train your puppy to not do their “business” on flower beds.
4. Associate a command
Puppy training involves commands. This would help them recognize the behavior that is expected of them and to avoid confusion on what they should do.
A confused puppy will not be able to understand what their dog parents want from them. It would be best to associate the desired activity with a specific command that will be consistently associated with the desired behavior.
Create a command that will be used exclusively for when your puppy will pee outside. For example, you can tell them to “go potty” or “potty”. And these simple commands will make sense for puppies once they understand its connection to peeing.
Consistently give this command whenever you take your puppy outside to pee or poop. That way they will associate the command words to the activity of peeing or doing their “business” outside.
In order to avoid confusion for puppies, there should be another command for doing their business inside the apartment.
Dog potties for apartments are not good, other than creating a bad smell in an enclosed area it can also be unpleasant for your puppy.
Since the apartment is their home as well, and puppies would not want to create a mess in their living space as well. That is why it is always better to let puppies relieve themselves outside.
5. Give your puppy rewards
All dog training involves rewards, aside from commands. This is another effective way to make dogs remember the desired behavior that dog parents want from them.
This is the easiest way for dogs, especially puppies, to put two and two together. When they pee outside and they receive rewards, then it means that peeing outside is a good behavior and it should be done all the time.
Providing rewards is very effective and can make living in apartments easier for both dog parents and their furry friends. Dog parents need to be very consistent in rewarding the desired behavior in order for puppies to remember.
This tip should be done in addition to associating commands to the activity. According to preventivevet.com, these 4 steps can easily teach your puppy to pee and poo on cue:
• Take your dog to their designated special potty place
• Say “go potty”
• Once they finish, give them the reward (play, toy, food)
• Consistently do it until your puppy associates the potty place, the command and the reward to the desired behavior which is to do their “business” outside
These 4 easy steps are the combination of the tips indicated in this article. Which means the more steps and tips you follow will help reinforce the desired behavior in your puppy.
Puppies are generally smart and easier to train versus older dogs, since they are still learning. This makes it easier for them to receive apartment puppy potty training.
And this makes it easier for dog parents as well as it will not take a lot of effort, but a lot of patience and a lot of consistency.
In this video, famous dog trainer, Zak George shows you how to potty train a puppy in the apartment.
B. Establishing an inside routine
There are times when going outside for puppies to do their “business” is not an option.
It can be because of the weather or because it is already midnight. For these cases and many others, there should also be an “inside” routine for puppies to follow.
Creating an inside routine will serve as the back-up plan for dog parents and pets living in apartments. This is somewhat more difficult for dogs since this is not the natural way of how they do things.
Peeing outside where there is soil and grass is more natural and would not need a lot of persuasion, because puppies know that this is how it should be done.
There is also a downside to training your puppy to do their business inside. This can lead them to get used to this routine and they may find it difficult to do this outside from now on.
That is why it is important to create clear distinctions between the outside and inside routine for puppies. Different commands should be used and different rewards as well, so that the puppy will know the difference.
Even though there are consequences for having an inside routine for dogs it is not all bad, it is also an important part of potty training.
And this makes your puppy more prepared for different events that can happen. And it would still serve the purpose of preventing “accidents” that can create a mess in your living space.
These tips will also help you determine the different signs that say that your puppy has to go pee or poop and would help you bring them outside if you still can.
Or if you cannot bring them outside then they can pee or poop while they are inside the apartment.
1. Isolate your puppy to a certain area
Designating a place for your puppy should not be done while they are outside only, this can also be done while they are inside. Create a space for your puppy; it can be done by assigning them a room or using child or dog fences.
This also creates a safe space for them, like their own slice of heaven.
A part of the apartment that is strictly theirs. This can help puppies recognize that this is their room and they should not pee or poop in their room, since this is where they will play and sleep.
Once you designate a space for your puppy, you should observe their behavior and recognize when they need to go pee or poop.
The common indicators would be when they circle a single spot repeatedly and when they keep sniffing this area again and again.
These behaviors could mean that they need to pee or poop. Once they start doing this you can quickly bring them outside to prevent any accidents inside the apartment.
2. Provide an indoor spot for your puppy
If there would be instances when it is not possible for your puppy to go out because they really need to go or the elevators are broken; then you can provide an indoor spot for your puppy to pee or poop.
The most common item used by dog parents for this activity is the use of potty training pads or paper pads.
The downside of using these pads is that they are not created using biodegradable materials. It can be bad for the environment if they are not disposed of properly.
According to kaufmannspuppytraining.com, there are now “lawns” or puppy mats made of grass. This can be created by dog parents to create an artificial grass where their dogs can pee or poop.
This will reinforce the idea to do their business “outside” even though they are technically inside. This is a new practice that can be a fun DIY activity for dog parents while serving the purpose of training their puppies as well.
Creating an indoor spot for your puppy is an important back-up plan when going outside is not an option. It is still important to make your puppy understand that doing their business inside should not be done all the time.
Provide ample time for your puppy to still do their business outside, create a clear distinction so they will not be confused. Rewards can still be used to reinforce the behavior of your puppy, when they do their business in their designated spot.
3. Crate training
Dogs have homes too, this can be the shared living space with their dog parent or it can be their own space, or their own crate.
Crate training can either be considered a reward or punishment in your puppy’s point of view. Not all puppies like staying in crates, but there are some puppies that are okay with it, and they even consider it their home.
The purpose of crate training is to create a space for your puppy to sleep in at night when you are not able to guard them since you are sleeping.
This also reinforces their own space as well, puppies do not pee or poop in their living space or home; which is what they consider their crates to be.
Prior to putting your puppy inside their crate they should pee and poop already, since they will not do it while they are in the crate.
Make sure to allow them outside their crate in the morning so they can pee or poop outside.
The crate will serve as their control environment where they should not pee or poop. This further reinforces the idea of doing their “business” in a designated space only.
4. Thoroughly clean up accidents
The sense of smell of dogs is very strong, they can smell a thousand times better than humans. This means they recognize the similar scents in areas, things and even in people.
That is why dogs make good cops; they can smell evidence right away. This also applies to their apartment puppy potty training. They can smell their own waste and this means they know when they last did their business.
If they accidentally did it on the couch, then they will smell that same area and repeat the activity again. Because they consider that their designated place to pee already.
To prevent this unwanted behavior, dog parents should clean up accidents well, to the point where they will not smell the “accident” anymore.
Otherwise there is a high chance of repetition, since they may consider that spot their territory since they can still smell their own pee or poop.
According to kaufmannspuppytraining.com, enzymatic cleansers are better than ammonia-based ones, since they remove odors better.
Conclusion
Potty training for puppies is one of the basic training that dogs need to undergo in order to better develop comprehension and understanding for advanced commands.
This is also an essential part of a puppy’s life; they need to go through this in order to mentally develop and to better their lives with their dog parents.
It is important that dog parents do this with patience, love, understanding and great effort.
Puppies will only learn when they feel the love from their dog parents. Punishment will not create better behaviors of puppies, instead it can have negative effects.
One negative effect would be creating trauma for your puppy, this will make them feel afraid whenever they need to pee or poop. This can also lead them to hide it from their dog parent, since they will be scared to receive punishment.
It is highly recommended to use rewards and not punishments for a successful potty training. Consistency is the number one key to effective potty training.
Once your puppy masters their potty training, this can be a sign of maturity and increased mental capacity which would mean that they are now ready for more complicated commands.
Training with puppies should be done with love. Aside from being a fundamental part of a puppy’s development, it should also be a fun bonding activity between a puppy and their best friend, their dog parent.
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