So it looks like that quite possibly I will be moving in a friend (its still to early for him to be a boyfriend he says). Anyhow I'm dreading the retaining part with the pups since it will most likely be an apartment. The weather is cold right now and we could get clobbered with no at anytime. Stairs and Leah don't go well since she tries to kill me. I'm toying with the idea of pads but still not 100% about it. So if you live in an apartment what type of system do you have.

The second issues I'm having is that the puppies are almost 5 weeks old and starting to sniff around before going potty. I'm lost at how to start the house breaking since when Leah's puppies got old enough it was still warm out to take them outside. Would fabric pads teach them the wrong idea? Tips appreciated.

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I live in an apartment and there was no point in having to get up at the wee hours get dressed, go down 2 flights of stairs to get her outside to pee, so we use the pads. In the beginning we had pads all over the house till she got the idea. Now we have one just in the bathroom and 99.9% she goes there even at 4 am. No fuss. Rarely she goes to a corner in my daughter's room but I do not put a pad there so she knows she is only allowed to go to one.

I take her out for walks every day but she uses the house pad to go. I have some flower scented ones that smell lovely. She doesn't smell at all, so we have been lucky.

It depends on how the dogs will take to it. Some peoples' dogs get confused and since the pad feels like carpeting under their paws, they will sometimes go on rugs instead.

If you want them to learn to go outside, you have to have a schedule to do that. Specific times, many times a day. Whatever works for you.

Good luck with your move!!

I live in an apartment and Toby is indoor and outdoor trained. He is walked 4x a day and usually does his business outside. At night, if it's unbearably rainy or some other weather condition that makes him not want to go out, he just uses his pads.

Basically, he knows to do his business outside but that if he has to go in the house he has to do it on the pads (I have one behind the bookcase in the living room and one in the bathroom since he goes in there when I'm not home).


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Max was 11 months when we got him and was trained to go outside but as we live in a flat that's not an option for us. We use the Rascal Dog litterbox and he took to it really well (but only for peeing in). We used it with the grass for a while but found it smells even after washing and it was a pain to wash too so now we just use pads in the tray and that works really well for us. I chose this type of tray as he lifts his leg and the sides help to contain it although sometimes it still goes over the edge. I contacted the company who make them about this as Max is pretty small so I'm sure other people must have this same issue. They replied to say they are bringing out an improved version in the new year which will have removable sides which are taller than the current ones. I'll definitely be trying the new one out!

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We live in an apartment. Chloe uses pads in a tray. I highly recommend using a tray! It helps them to distinguish a clearly defined boarder of where they are supposed to go. We never have problems with Chloe walking off the pad while going or tee teeing too close to the edge. When we travel we don't take the tray and we tend to see thing like that more then. I also think it helps them know the difference between the pads and mats. It works very well for us.


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I have a screen porch, Ike either goes out there on a pad or outside. At first I had a pad in the house and on the porch. We live in FL so the cold is not an issue, but bad storms are, so I am glad he is use to both. Good luck, hope the friend likes dogs.

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Ike born Aug 15 2012

We live in a condo, but have our own door outside so we could take Odie out but she pees so often that it's a pain to get dressed and put the harness/leash/sweater/coat on that we just let her use her pee pads. She still goes on walks and will go when we're out too. However, when we take her to someone's house where they have a yard, she is 100% housetrained to go outside. Even if we go travelling and she's in a hotel, we put a pad down and she will hold it to go outside unless she has to go really bad. I don't know how we got so lucky!

It's really about your personal preference. If you want to train the puppies to use pads or to go outside, start now and stick to one method. You can switch from pee pads to outside only, but it won't be easy.

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I use the fabric pee pads made for humans. They are sized to go into the play pen. They go outside also, but mainly on the pads. I wash them mostly every night. I have 3 dogs that use them.