Hi all!

I am getting my pup in about 8 weeks (should be born any day now) and I need a little advice on the potty-training issue. For the first 3 months I'll have my pup I'm going to be living in a 3rd floor apartment. This means climbing up and down 3 flights of stairs every time the puppy will have to go. Should I forget that idea and use the balcony with a puppy pad instead maybe? I feel like that might be smarter considering its much quicker but wanted to get input from others. If anyone has any advice please let me know! Thanks

My take on this follows "Raise your puppy now to become the dog you want." You've chosen a high activity pup, so you may as well get used to those trips up and down stairs, yourself, now.

Dogs and balconies don't do well together. Dogs who like to jump and see what's on the other side (a Husky) will *not* do well if the balcony becomes their primary (or any unsupervised) "outside time."

From what I've seen, here and elsewhere, teaching a puppy to use a puppy pad is teaching your dog to do the exact opposite of what you want. You will eventually want your dog to do his "duty" outside - starting off with puppy pads doesn't aid that.

Thanks for that answer! I'm not worried about myself going up the stairs all the time, just more concerned about reacting quickly enough so that the puppy knows what's going on! I fostered a Norwegian elkhound recently and he had no training whatsoever. He didn't understand that he needed to do his business outside, and he was scared of stairs as well so that made potty training a complete nightmare. I definitely agree though puppy pads aren't a great solution. I just want to give my dog the best chance of success with training in its early months

Since you've fostered one dog and have done your homework ( I hope!) you'll know that for the first couple of months you'll need to carry him (her/it) up and down. Stairs are *not* good for developing bones.

Since he's going to have to travel to "get outdoors" it may take longer for him to get the idea - but if you make the effort to get him out when you first see signs of "nervousness" (circling, looking for a potty hole, etc) and then praise him to high heaven for being a good boy and doing his duty outside, in the long run I think you'll all be happier.

While it may seem counter-intuitive at first, you want to make your trips downstairs specific "go potty" (or whatever) -or- "play time." Mixing the two can lead you to a dog who indicates that he *really* needs to go out when what he wants is some play time -or- inversely, a dog who shows symptoms of wanting to play right up till the time you have a big brown spot on your rug.

Okay that definitely helps a lot! I'll be in a house with much quicker access to a yard in August thankfully. But yes I've done so much homework before taking the plunge and getting one of my own I'm just so excited! Thanks for all your help