Housebreaking a puppy in an apartment with no yard is more difficult, but it is not impossible. An area that your puppy can use as a toilet area will need to be found close to the apartment. Since this may be a considerable distance for your puppy to walk, it becomes even more important that you take him out every hour. You will also need to be extra watchful to your puppy’s signs of wanting to relieve himself well in advance.
Different puppies learn at different rates. Some pick up what is required almost instantly, others may take much longer. Some take as long as six months or more. A puppy that came from a dirty or cramped kennel is likely to take longer than one that had a better start.
The biggest influence on how quickly a puppy becomes housebroken is how much time and effort you put in. More input from you will speed up the time taken to become completely clean; while less input will prolong the process.
DogandMaster.com
dogandmaster on January 27th 2007 in Puppy Potty Training
Toilet training should not end with housebreaking. If you want to avoid the unpleasant but necessary task of picking up after your pet in the street, it makes sense to train him to go before you leave home. This is not as difficult as it may seem but requires a fair amount of patience in the early stages.
If you have been successfully working at the housebreaking process, you will, by the time you are able to take your puppy out, have a particular phrase that your puppy will associate with going to the toilet.
You should also have a fairly regular routine and will have some idea of when your puppy needs to go. Try to arrange your first walk to coincide with this time. Go out to the yard as usual, repeating your chosen phrase until your puppy does what is required. Praise enthusiastically and then take him out for a walk. If he does not go to the toilet, take him back inside for a while and try again later.
If you take your dog out for a walk only after he has been to the toilet, he will eventually begin to realize that producing the required deposit results in a walk.
DogandMaster.com
dogandmaster on November 26th 2006 in Puppy Potty Training
