New puppy in apartment

[morganboxwrx]

Hi everyone. My husband Ryan and I live in a one bedroom apartment, top flood, about 700 sq feet, and we have a small balcony. Our baby girl will be coming to her new home in about 10 days (she will be 8 weeks) and we are thrilled!

We are planning on taking her on a Friday so that we have the full weekend with her, and then I will also be taking the following Monday and Tuesday off at work to make the transition a little easier for her.

Does anyone have any recommendations for house breaking such a young puppy? I have read it is not a good idea to take her outside where other dogs roam around until she has had all of her shots. We plan on using the clicker training method which has seemed to work very well for other boxer parents. My only problem is that we both work 8-9 hours a day. I live close enough to where I can come home at lunch to spend time with her and continue the training. What would be the best solution to help get her house trained? Thank you for reading and offering your suggestions!

 

[BT and Ozzy]

Definitely get a crate or kennel for her to stay in when you are gone. She'll learn to love it. I too come home everyday at lunch to let my two monsters use the poty. I think you will be suprised on how quick she will learn.

 

[mini]

oh my god girl, good luck with a boxer in a 700 sq ft apt! That dog will drive you nuts if it doesnt get enough exercise!!

 

[boxermomtoo]

You'll have to watch her EVERY move... You will need to take her out about 10 minutes after she eats and drinks... If you have been playing with her, take her out, if she takes a nap, take her out as soon as she wakes up! When I first brough Zoey home, I was up 3 times a night taking her outside to go potty. Zoey is crate trained. She loves her crate... I definitely suggest crate training your new pup. With in a week or so of having her, you will learn her signs of needing to use that bathroom and that will make it a little easier on you... We put a little bell on our door towards the bottom of the door and EVERY time I would take her out, I would ring the bell with her paw... Zoey is 11.5 weeks old now and hasn't had an accident in the house in over a week!!! She now wakes up 1 time during the night to go potty, she wakes me up by barking to let me know she needs to go potty, then goes right back to her kennel and goes back to sleep!

It will take a lot of patients!!! But be persistant and your new pup will be house trained before you know it!

I can't wait to see pictures of your new baby!!!

 

[Box Boys]

I have to work during the day and my kids are at school, so we knew right away that Buster would be home for 7 hours at a stretch. Crating for that length of time at 10 weeks old (when we got him) was not feasible or fair to him. So, I gated him in the kitchen and put down newspapers by the back door. Worked like a charm. While we're there, the newspapers are NOT and he will stand or sit at the back door when he needs to go out.

You will have the added inconvenience of apartment life and needing to get your pup all the way down the stairs and outside so she can relieve herself. Won't be as big an issue when she's small (and doesn't weigh much), but she'll grow fast. It can be done though...I once had two Chows in an apartment and we were on the third floor as well. Being able to come home at lunch will help tremendously.

 

[BlueEyedGirl]

CRATE TRAIN! Seriously, read up on it.

I would not have gotten any dog if I couldn't have a crate. Dogs instinctively won't pee where they sleep. So when you have her in the crate and she needs to go out she will cry to be let out before she will pee. It also keeps them from wandering around the house at night and chewing on things while you sleep.

I read on a different site that when they are 1-3 months old that they should go out to pee every 1-2 hours. But if the puppy is sleeping she can go longer.

Think prevention! Take her out as SOON as she gets out of her crate, wakes up and several minutes after she eats...and take note of the time. When my kids were helping we would actually set a timer. We'd take him out in an hour if he wasn't napping again by then. Another thing we noticed is that when he suddenly stopped what he was doing (playing, eating, sleeping) and started walking around it was because he had to pee. If you see them sniffing the ground, that is another warning signal.

Sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes of them wandering around outside before they pee. Which gets old when it's 2 AM.

Good luck!

 

[morganboxwrx]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

I think since she will be so young we will have to set up a little area in the kitchen and put down plenty of newspaper for her to use, but once she's a little bit older and can hold it in longer we will DEFINITELY be create training her (and taking turns waking up in the middle of the night to take her out to potty!). Thanks for all your well wishes! I will post her picture as soon as she's home