Potty Training a Dog in a Memphis Apartment
Jan 5th, 2008 by Memphis Apartments
Dogs are our best friends and often a Memphis apartment is not complete without having a close friend, in the form of a canine, to share it with.
Of course, that creates a problem of potty training a dog when you live on the 17th floor of your Memphis apartment building. How do you get down the stairs when the puppy has to go pee now? Well, if you try and take them down the elevator or stairs, you will most likely have a mess on your hands around the fifth floor.
Don’t worry though, there are plenty of things that can be done to ensure that the dog you have will not be making messes on your floor, down the stairs, or on you.
If you live in a Memphis apartment, then most likely you have a small dog. As a result, one of the best ways to train the dog when they are a puppy, and don’t have a large bladder, to not pee on the floor is to set up a kitty litter box for them.
Surprisingly, this does work.
You can train the dog to go to the kitty litter when they have to go to the bathroom and you are not home. When the dog starts peeing, put them in the box and then give them a treat afterwards to show them that going into the box will be greeted with a reward from you.
Obviously, it may seem very odd to be training a dog to use what is traditionally something for cats to use, but it can be highly effective for not only training the dog to use something other than the furniture as a toilet when your gone, but it provides you with peace of mind until the dog is to the point where their bladder has become large enough that they can begin to hold it until you can come back to your Memphis apartment and take them downstairs.
Eventually, you will want to wean the puppy off the kitty litter box, but this can be done through slowly taking it away from them as the weeks go on, praising them the longer they hold their bladder
Of course, if training the puppy in using kitty litter is not something you want to try, and you want the puppy to go outside, things will be a tad more difficult.
First, you have to make sure that you set the ground rules early and stick with them. Peeing on the floor is unacceptable and you must show them who is boss. This does not mean you hit them by any means, but do scold them. Then take them all the way down the stairs and outside and put them on the grass. Once you have done this, praise them and give them a treat.
There will be several accidents before they get it and their bladder grows, but by being persistent, they will eventually realize that going outside means a treat and they will learn to hold it. However, if you leave them inside for 12 hours while you are gone, and you have a puppy, then the blame is only on you.
Having a pet in a Memphis apartment can be a difficult experience early on with noise, potty training and teething, but the rewards are great. They are our best friends, they guard us and they give us companionship, so it should be no big deal to go the extra mile and give them a hand when it comes to going to the bathroom.
If you are not prepared for the work of caring for a puppy, even through potty training, then you should not get one in a Memphis apartment.