So close, but need more answers. Help PLEASE!!!

[JohnJude]

Hi there - I've spent spent several months digging into this amazing site, books, other blogs, etc...and I'm still confused as to how I should housetrain my new puppy (am planning on getting him in the next month or two - basically as soon as I have all my questions answered and I feel completely ready). His name will be Frankie. I would LOVE it if you guys could help me out with some of your expertise.

Here's my situation: I live in Manhattan in a normal-sized apartment on the 5th floor...no elevator. (gotta love NYC, right?). We do have access to our roof which is only 1 flight up from the apartment. My partner and I both work full-time jobs, not terribly far from the apartment, but our jobs aren't the most flexible. I'm willing to work from home for the first week of getting Frankie to devote enough time to him and make sure he's settled.

Should I:

1. Crate train Frankie to go outside, without ever introducing pee pads? So we would figure out a way to come home during the day to take him out (or hire someone). My only worry here is that I know over the first few months, Frankie will need to go every few hours. Even if I stayed at home during the day, going up and down 5 flights of stairs 10 times a day seems a bit much.

2. Crate train Frankie to go outside, without pee pads, but then once he has a handle on this, put pee pads near his crate so he can go during the day when we're not there?

3. What about litter box training? If we decided to do that, would he be able to use the box during the day when we're not around, but then go outside when we take him? Isn't that confusing? Shouldn't it be ALL outside or ALL inside?

4. How about our roof? It's fully barrier-ed - no chance of him falling off. Would he be able to transition from up on the roof to other areas outside? Or will he only associate going potty on the roof and nowhere else?

I've been wanting Frankie for several years now, and I just want to make sure I have all the answers. Please help.

-John

[chachi]

If it were me I would pee pad train him. I didnt have any luck litter box training but I have read on here where others did. I put the pee pad in the litter box. I have one that is outside trained and one that is pee pad trained. I am training the one that is outside trained to also use the pee pad. It just works out best in the winter. You will want to confine the pup in an xpen or gated room when you are gone. When you are home and have time to keep an eye on pup have a pee pad in the room. Keep taking him back to the pee pad and encourage him to go. Especially be sure to take him wwhen he first wakes up after he eats and after he plays awhile. Little pups almost always poo right after they eat. When he goes on the pad praise him and give him a treat. Good luck

[Britster]

What about one of those indoor dog potties? With grass and everything?
Penthouse Dog Potty - an indoor dog toilet | Cosmopolitan Canine for example.
Patio Potty Indoor Dog Potty - all the products you need for potty training your dog or house training a puppy

[sbajaj1]

My little guy is pad trained. When we first got him, the breeder trained him to go on newspaper so it wasn't too difficult to get Charlie adjusted to the pee pads. It helped that the hubby was home for a few days to devote to Charlie's training on the pad use. We restricted Charlie to the kitchen during the day while we were at work, which is tiled and therefore easier to clean up accidents. When we got home, he was allowed to stay with us and we moved his pee pad to a designated spot in the room. We kept a close eye on him and noticed when he started sniffing the floor/circling we would point to the pad or pick him up and place him on the pad. He was pad trained in a few weeks with this method. After about a month of this, we took him outside to a doggy play area in front of the building to play with other dogs and learn to go outside when we were out. He has no problem now with going on the pad and going outside when we're taking walks or at a friend's place. Good luck!

[Juliealfies mum]

Both Alfie and Lottie started on pee pads and then progressed to outside and now both 100% trained for outside Good luck with your new puppy.