[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