[MiloB]

Hi!
I'm getting my puppy in two weeks. It's a little mini pomraninan pup, male. I'll add a picture down below. I have a question. I wanna potty train him to go outdoors but also indoor. I want him to be able to walk out on our balcony (4th floor apartment) and do his business on a "fresh patch" or a turf box with fake grass. Basically we are taking him outdoors in the mornings for walk and play, but then when we go to work we want to have the balcony available for him and for him to go potty on there if he needs to and if we run too late to get back in time in the afternoon. In the afternoons or in general when we are home we don't really want him to have access to the indoor potty, this is just available to him when we aren't there.

So my question have any of you some suggestions to how to potty train this behaviour? Should we teach him one way and then transition? In that case what should we start with? Or should we train it simultaneously, and if so, how any suggestions? This is my fourth puppy (I grew up with dogs) but this is my first very own. Hope anyone can come with good suggestions

 

[sydneynicole]

I don't have any real good advice as far as how to train those behaviors, as I've never been in that situation myself. But, I'd suggest you think more about the balcony idea - how will he have access? A dog door? Other critters and/or insects can come in through dog doors. Is it a covered balcony, or just railing? Will all furniture be moved away from said railing? What if he sits out on the balcony and barks while you are away? He will stay small even in adulthood, meaning he will be an easy target for birds of prey. Is your balcony adjoining anyone else's/could anyone reach him while he is out there?

I'm not saying don't do it - just make sure you have all your bases covered! I'd be more likely to use a potty area indoors rather than out on the balcony, because I'm paranoid about things like those that I listed above occurring.

 

[Francl27]

My mom's boyfriend's lost his dog to a balcony so yeah... not something I would trust either. Either way, if you're going to be away longer than 8 hours regularly, I wouldn't even consider a puppy, sorry.

 

[MiloB]

Sydney - Thanks for advice on what to think about related to the Balcony. We have all that figured out with safety net etc. Aswell as we will practice with the pup on being alone without barking. However, even if we'd put the potty inside, I'd like to know what to think about training him inside and outside.

Franci - How did he lost the pup on the balcony? .. And I'm sorry but I didn't ask for opinions I asked for advice.

 

[Kyllobernese]

There should not be any problem teaching him to go inside whether you are home or not. I would just put him in a pen with his place to potty when you go out and his bed and food and water. I don't see that letting him go in there or out on the balcony is going to make any difference in your cleaning it up when you get home and you would know the pup is safe. If you leave access to the pen when you are home he should soon learn that is the place to go. When he has had all his shots and you go for walks, he will still learn to go outside.

 

[Lillith]

I'm assuming you're going to have some sort of "potty area" out on your balcony, right? (ETA: Sorry, I didn't read the first time, lol. I see you're using a Fresh Patch.) I mean, you would have to, otherwise the waste will ruin the floor or drip down to your neighbors! Speaking of that, make sure there are no rules in your building that say you can't leave your dog out on the balcony or have them going potty on the balcony. You wouldn't want to get evicted!

You would have to bring him to his potty are on the balcony frequently, just as if you were pad training, but that might become extremely confusing for the dog if you're simultaneously training him to go outside, which also requires frequent trips outside! Also note, sometimes dogs might not understand the difference between the balcony and the house. You could, possibly, train one, and then the other, but there are also so many opportunities for the dog to get confused.

I mean, I don't think it's impossible, but if you're gone a regular work day (8-9 hours) most healthy adult dogs should be able to hold it if they are sleeping, like most dogs usually do when their owners are gone. While the puppy is small, an ex pen attached to a crate with puppy pads put down is what most people do if they can't get home to give the puppy a potty break.