# Potty training in a two-story apartment...



## Saraswati

Hey everyone 

So our new pup will be coming home on the 13th (whoo hoo!) and I'm a little confused as to how we are going crate/potty train him in our apartment. Our bedroom is upstairs with a small wood patio and our backyard is downstairs. We plan on keeping his crate upstairs with us but I'm worried about having enough time to rush him downstairs during the night when he needs to go. Will training him to use a modified "litter" box on our patio upstairs hinder him from learning to go downstairs once he's old enough? I'd really rather not keep him downstairs but if that's the only option I may have to camp out on the sofa for a little while.... Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

P.S. And I PROMISE I will have pictures up soon! We've been visiting him and the litter since they were two weeks old so I have a lot of photos to sort through


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## magicre

hi and welcome...if you're planning on taking young pup out on a leash to potty during the day and evening and right before bed, i see no reason why you can't make a makeshift grass wooden potty thingie for your patio for night time 'i can't sleep through the night yet'....

what kind of pup?


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## Saraswati

Well we plan on installing a doggy door downstairs so I'm not sure if that makes any kind of difference? I'd like him to be able to go outside when he needs to once he's old enough. Or perhaps we should just take him out to the sidewalk for pottying.. The breeder bought a "potty patch" and our pup has been using it fairly diligently so I don't see any problems with him using it at our apartment. 

He's a black Labrador


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## magicre

when they are little, training them for a forever type of training, in my opinion, means putting the leash on and taking the puppy out as often as possible, praise with success and use lots of treats, making potty outside a good thing.

later on, putting a doggie door in is fine, but not until the foundation has been laid....


we also live in an apartment, ableit a one story....we used leash training and outdoor potty training on the leash in the beginning and of course, they get walked three times a day.....twice for potty (early morning and last thing before bed) and an exercise walk.....in between that, they can use the doggie door...


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## Saraswati

Okay gotcha. That definitely sounds easier than what I was originally thinking. Do you think handling the stairs will be a problem?


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## xchairity_casex

the thing with teaching a dog to use a little box is if you want them to use both it can sometiems be a bit confuseing. my sister wanted to teach her toy poodle to use a littler box when she first brought her home and she did very well but when we went on trips or went for walks seh would NOT go potty outside it took us forever to train her to use both after only 4 weeks of useing the litter box even now shes been going otuside only for the past year and seh will still relapse for a week or so and refuse t go potty outside only going inside. trust me its WAY better to just teach them to go outside now and save your self years of hassles. when i got my bt puppy we lived in an upstairs apartment complex meaning going out into the hall way of the complex shared by 6 other people then going out into the yard away from other peopls patios did i mention it was the middle of winter? so this is what i found
take your puppy outside BEFORE they squat on the floor to pee somtimes this can be tricky but if you even THINK he might have to go potty take him right out!
keep a pair of slippers or slip on shoes or boots right next to the door alogn with a coat and a leash never move them away from the door
puppies can hold there bladders for a few minutes whil you walk them down the stairs when my 8 week old puppy would squat i would scoop him up slip on my shoes and go down the stairs set him right down and let him finish
my sister used to drive me insane becuase when she was trying to teach her poodle to go potty outside she would take her outside stand there for no more then a single minute get mad and drag the dog back in puppies need more then a second to find a place to go potty even if you caught them mid squat its exciting otuside lots of smells lots of distractions be patient let them get comfortable and relaize "ok i still gotta go"


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## magicre

good point....it might be confusing....but isn't outside outside, no matter where it is?

and three a.m. pottying might be less stressful all around as long as we're not dealing with pee pads....wooden frames with dirt and grass are easy to make especially for a balcony exit....

if you see your puppy getting confused by using both outside downstairs and upstairs only after sleep.....then nix the balcony idea until the puppy gets the hang of peeing outside...which usually happens, what between 16 and 20 weeks, i think....

then once the dog is fully trained, if necessary, at night you can use the balcony.


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## Scarlett_O'

Our Brody(22 month old Pug/x) and my Mum's Jazzmyn(nearly 5 month old Frenchie) are both potty trained to outside and outside/inside potty box. My mum has been in a 2nd story apt the whole time of having Jazzy....its been relatively easy for her, as she has a potty box out side on their patio and one inside, she takes her to one or the other...although now Jaz goes out every chance she gets with her "big brother" (my Dad's 3 year old Frenchie)...and she does great both inside using the boxes and out side!!!:wink:


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## magicre

Scarlett_O' said:


> Our Brody(22 month old Pug/x) and my Mum's Jazzmyn(nearly 5 month old Frenchie) are both potty trained to outside and outside/inside potty box. My mum has been in a 2nd story apt the whole time of having Jazzy....its been relatively easy for her, as she has a potty box out side on their patio and one inside, she takes her to one or the other...although now Jaz goes out every chance she gets with her "big brother" (my Dad's 3 year old Frenchie)...and she does great both inside using the boxes and out side!!!:wink:


once the dog is trained.....i think that's ideal...

as long as the doggie knows to go outside, whether outside is a box on the second floor or outside in the grass....i believe dogs can adapt. i really do.


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## Scarlett_O'

magicre said:


> once the dog is trained.....i think that's ideal...
> 
> as long as the doggie knows to go outside, whether outside is a box on the second floor or outside in the grass....i believe dogs can adapt. i really do.


Yes, as do I!:smile:

Brody is a little daft at it...as in he will HOLD AND HOLD AND HOLD when the cold weather sets in, waiting for his "potty box" once again....but once he figures out this year that I dont plan on having one he will be fine!LOL (Or he will refuse to come back home with us when we are in S. Cali for x-mas...one or the other!!!LOL)


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## Saraswati

Thank you so much for the replies everyone! I decided that I would go ahead and teach the pup to go outside and nix the litterbox idea in case it made it confusing for him later, but another concern came up- our apartment is situated on a very, very long concrete driveway with no grass in sight. Would it be better to teach the pup to go outside on our downstairs fenced in stone patio (it's HUGE) or try to walk him down the driveway and find some grass?? I would think if I used a leash he would understand that any time we go outside the house he should potty but I don't want him to only feel comfortable going outside in the patio. Sorry if this all sounds so confusing. I think I may take some pictures of everything so you can get a better idea


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## doggiedad

you could train him to use a litter box. he won't be confused
about going outside. i would be very concerned about a puppy
on a balcony.


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## magicre

Saraswati said:


> Thank you so much for the replies everyone! I decided that I would go ahead and teach the pup to go outside and nix the litterbox idea in case it made it confusing for him later, but another concern came up- our apartment is situated on a very, very long concrete driveway with no grass in sight. Would it be better to teach the pup to go outside on our downstairs fenced in stone patio (it's HUGE) or try to walk him down the driveway and find some grass?? I would think if I used a leash he would understand that any time we go outside the house he should potty but I don't want him to only feel comfortable going outside in the patio. Sorry if this all sounds so confusing. I think I may take some pictures of everything so you can get a better idea


the leash isn't to teach him walking necessarily....it helps him to learn what you want from him...it's a ritual of sorts, i suppose...

when we first got bubba, i'd put his leash on for walking to walk and walking out back to go potty in our tiny little backyard....

it was to teach him that leash meant something important.....i know i looked kind of funny walking him around the postage stamp back yard.....and after he pottied, he got treats and such...

but he learned to potty that way...and when we went on walks which was several times a day in the beginning, it was also on a leash....and he pottied that way too.


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## magicre

doggiedad said:


> you could train him to use a litter box. he won't be confused
> about going outside. i would be very concerned about a puppy
> on a balcony.


why? 

i'm presuming they will put chicken wire or some kind of mesh screening around the lower part of the balcony rails so the puppy doesn't fall through....if not, then i'd worry too


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## Saraswati

magicre said:


> the leash isn't to teach him walking necessarily....it helps him to learn what you want from him...it's a ritual of sorts, i suppose...
> 
> when we first got bubba, i'd put his leash on for walking to walk and walking out back to go potty in our tiny little backyard....
> 
> it was to teach him that leash meant something important.....i know i looked kind of funny walking him around the postage stamp back yard.....and after he pottied, he got treats and such...
> 
> but he learned to potty that way...and when we went on walks which was several times a day in the beginning, it was also on a leash....and he pottied that way too.


That makes sense. I suppose I will walk him down to our downstairs patio until he can hold it long enough to walk to the end of the driveway and use the grass. Hopefully, he won't be too confused  

And if we did decide to use the balcony for anything, it would definitely be protected with some wire garden mesh


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