The Pros and Cons of Using a Puppy Apartment for Potty Training

I recently adopted a dog who is around 6 years old but their previous owner never bothered to potty train him. Would the puppy apartment work for an older dog?

I purchased a puppy apartment for my 9 week old Shih Poo who we a re picking up this weekend. Thanks for this feedback. I will submit my own when we see how this works. We are using the puppy apartment because we both work but plan to train her to go outside as well. Wish us luck!

I have a large crate, with two doors.Made a divider from card board box and attach it to inside with ties added a doorway to divider placed divider in middle of front door wait and see, box was free. We still have to do everything else including clean-up

You don't need to buy an expensive Puppy Apartment crate. Just buy a standard crate sized suitable for the fully grown size of your puppy and put a puppy pad in the crate. Stand by the entrance of the crate and put your puppy on the pad and say go potty refuse to let the puppy out until they done their business and when they do praise he/she. The walls of the crate forces the puppy to go on the pad. After doing this several times hopefully your puppy will go on their pad by themselves. Praise when that happens.

When the dog is older they may grow out of using the pad, I think this may be normal.

I used a regular crate for my puppy as a bathroom with a large pad down and I put my puppy in there and said go potty and stood by the crate door and refused to let my puppy out until she did her business. She grew out of using a pad around 1 year old and only does her business outside now. Which is great as the pads were expensive to buy. So it worked for me.

I was interested in purchasing the Puppy Apartment until I saw they wanted almost $80.00 to ship it to me. That fee just didn't make sense.

Hello! I **LOVE** the puppy apartment. At first the apt was divided into 2 spaces - one for sleeping/one for pottying. When the puppy was old enough I shoved the Ppartment potty area up against the doggy door with the crate door open so he could go potty in the potty area of the crate or go outside (where I put up a penned area with puppy pads) -- this way I got him to move it outside. My dogs are Boston Terriers and both potty trained. They sleep in the puppy apt at night and I removed the divider so its now their sleeping area only, still shoved up against the doggy door to go outside at night, works like a charm! If we go on a road trip vacation where I need them to have a potty area I put the divider back in for travel (just in case - of course making potty stops for outside as well). Im very happy with how it worked for me!

My 9 week old puppy pees and poos on the pad side but if left in crate too long while we are gone, we find that she has steps in the poo and tracks it into her bed. Using the apartment there is about a 70 percent chance that the puppy will step in the poo while walking around pad side, then track poo back to bed.

Thanks for the valuable Article

I would like to know what are the three stages to process with the potty training apartment

Thanks

Read all of the above comments and I think I am convinced to get the puppy apartment. I will be getting a yorkie the end of Nov and plan to have the house set up and ready for her arrival. Here's to hoping the Apartment theory works since it is an investment.

This worked for my twin chihuahuas. They love going out to pee and poo but while im asleep or at work, id find they went in their crate and were covered in it. It was horrible. I bought the crate and they love using it. When im home i take them out, but if they need to go and they cant wait, they happily trot into their bathroom and go on the potty pad now. It actually taught them to hold it longer because now they sometimes dont go until i come home from work. I let them out and all the excitement and movement prompts them to go potty, and they run right back in and use it before i can even blink lol I let them sleep with me now too and if they need to potty they get up and use the crate and then come back to bed with me without disturbing my sleep. Best investment i ever made. Not one accident in 2 years since my purchase. *tip* every time they used it voluntarily the beginning, i praised them excitedly and gave them a treat for doing a good job.

Puppy apartments aren't needed if owner doen't mind getting their puppy on an fortnights annual leave and pulling it out on a walk 6 times a day.

We got a Australian Cattle dog Friday and she is 9 weeks old.

First night I had to take her out at 3 and 6 to pee and she cried a lot.

Next night I modified her crate by cutting the divider to make a diy puppy apartment, she only woke me up once.

Third night I moved her crate into a spare bedroom and slept next to her. Got a full nights sleep no whining and two pees in her bathroom side.

We do not have her use it during the day to pee and take her out a lot and when she has an accident.

At what point is a dogs bladder able to go 7 hours at night? I would like to transition her away from it as soon as possible. Has anyone else done this and transitioned to a regular crate after a bit of maturing?

If we try going that route the dog will still go to the bathroom inside. We have tried the outside only routine, but I kid you not, we leave for a minute and come back inside and she will have squeezed out the most pitiful little poop on the carpet.

My Wife and I just got a puppy apartment for our 1 year old Dachshund/Yorkie mix.

when she was little she was potty trained to go on a potty pad, but she formed separation anxiety with my wife and now whenever we leave(for maybe 5 minutes) she would instantly poop/pee on the carpet closest to the door (we took her out before leaving). She has no problem with going outside, and she will even go to the bathroom on her potty pad when we are there.

Got the puppy apartment hoping to train her to not make the mistakes when we leave. We have had it for about a week and she refuses to go to the bathroom in it. The other day she seriously held her pee for almost 12 hours and we took her outside because we felt bad and she peed/pooped immediately. Now today we put her in there right when we woke up and after about an hour she peed in her bed over going on the pad. We are a bit lost on what we should do. Any help would be great!

I currently own a potty training apartment. My 12 week old Dachshund refuses to potty in the designated area in her apartment. Me and my wife follow the instructions provided with apartment, but our puppy won't use the bathroom in there. Instead she will just hold it all night and at the first chance she has she will just potty anywhere in my home. This product may work for some but it doesn't work for my dog. I think she doesn't want to be that close to her own poop. Training your puppy to go in the apartment may be a difficult feat to achieve for some dog owners. I have been trying 3 weeks with no success. The infomercial that they have online doesn't accurately portray how difficult it may be to get your puppy to use the thing.

We are getting our first puppy, a Yorkie. We are in a house with access to a yard. I work from home sometimes but in IT I can get into hours-long conference calls. In addition, sometimes I can't work from home on the same day my wife works. What are your suggestions for potty training? I'd be willing to get the apartment if just for nighttime so we don't have to get up a bunch and on days when we won't be home. But we would like to train him to go outside as well. So far it seems like you recommend having the crate/apartment near the door, and maybe placing some grass in with the puppy pad or 'bathroom' side of the apartment? Would you recommend an apartment for us? Other recommendations? Thanks!

Puppy Apt. was huge mistake....good for nite time but that's about it unless your stand over your puppy 24-7 to catch him or her in the act. Been over 2 wks of training as shown in the video (I am exhausted) will not use the apartment to do his business. Thank heaven for wood floors.

Can anyone who has the puppy apartment video explain what the 3 stages are? Thanks!

I am really, really, really struggling with the whole PTPA. This is a great article. I was considering purchasing the PTPA for our miniature schnauzer puppy we will be getting in July and with shipping and getting an online discount ( which by the way happens if you put something in the cart and just wait, they will give you another 10% off) it will cost me $277 plus $48 in shipping for the medium PTPA and Potty Pads. I have seen quite a few of these on eBay and I reached out to a seller and she said she no longer needs it but it was a good investment.

Strongly considering purchasing a 3 door crate and making my own PTPA and then buying their potty pads, that way if it doesn't work, I haven't broke the bank.

Here is my question and or concern. I have a really good breeder who teaches the puppies to go down a few steps and go out the doggie door to potty, so they are well on their way when you get them.

We will be at home with him for the first few weeks, but will be going back to work after that and we don't want him to have to hold it, that is how they end up going on themselves and heck, I can't hold it for 8 hours.

Would a PTPA be counterproductive and confusing for our puppy since she is training him to go outside. We also want him to go outside and in most cases will try to go home for lunch but it is not always guaranteed.

HELP!!

Please and Thank you in advance

I wonder if this would work for an older dog. I have a 6 year old that I am having a problem with now that I have moved to an apartment. I have tried everything and if I am home during the day she usually doesn't go in doors, but if I have to leave for a few hours then there is a 70% chance she will. I have tired limiting her access to water, but really hate doing that. I was hoping this would work, but it is expensive. Any suggestions, because my boyfriend is tired of her going in the house.

I purchased the puppy apartment for my new 9 week puppy (Malteepoo). I am going on 2 weeks with the puppy home now. Both my wife and I are diligent in watching the training video, reading articles and even a dog training book. This is definitely not been an easy task. The puppy apartment is great for overnight use since the dog has no choice but too use the potty area and it has worked perfectly. But during the day I would say this is not working the way that I anticipated and I know I need to be patient. The puppy does not have any urge to utilize the puppy apartment potty area when he needs to go. You have to literally catch him in the act, pick him up (make the noise of no or ahah) and place him in the potty area, shut the door, walk away and wait (could be a while for him to do his business)....if or when he does...giving him a treat and making a big deal of his accomplishment (every time). In reality though.....if you cant be with the puppy every second (which working from home, or anything else), you then need to place the puppy in the cage ...locked...and if not I am treated with a surprise.....I have a n indoor fence around his puppy apartment as well and gives him a nice large area to move freely in...play, etc) god forbid the phone rings or the doorbell rings and I leave for 45 seconds and I come back with pee or poop on the wood floor. Frustrating after 12 days and not much has changed. I hear this process of training (3 levels) and I am at level 1 can take 2 weeks....to months. Literally 4 minutes ago, he was sniffing, I put him in hi cage, he peed after several minutes, I let him out, gave him a treat....praised him....then went to put something in the trash, came back and surprise....a tootsie roll size present. I look at these dogs in the video choosing to use the open apartment as their personal potty stop and I can only think these are older dogs and I am just in for a LONG haul. Help!

I have a Rottweiler puppy and toy poodle puppy and the poodle is older than the Rottweiler and every time we take her out of her crate she pees on the floor and Rottweiler will stand in front of the patio door what do I do for the toy poodle

Hi! I know I want a younger dog around 8 to 10 weeks. But I do have access to a yard! Thanks :)

I loved this read! One question: Would you, yourself, use or recommend puppy apartments to new dog owners? I'm planning on getting a puppy soon and am not sure what would be the best way to potty train him/her. It seems that if they get use to the puppy apartment then they won't know where to alleviate themselves when in the open. Would you suggest a "wee wee pad" instead?

The concept for a Puppy Apartment to Potty Training Puppies is a great one it gives the puppy an area to sleep & eat in one area and poop in another also the owner has piece of mind knowing that the puppy is not messing up his place.

I think the pee pad is too close to the dog's bed. It goes against it's natural instinct not to soil near where it sleeps.

I bought a 3-door 30" crate online for under $50US. It came with an insert to divide the crate. The side is off-center, just like the one the puppy apartment people show. Using a grinder, I made an opening in the insert and hooked it into the crate. With a cushion on the small side and a potty pad on the other side. It is nearly the same crate as what they're selling for $200US. My puppy is sleeping in it now. It seems like he likes it so far.

Was not happy with the crate. I watched the video and put the crate together and had purchased the bed that goes with the crate. Also had the bed with the scent of my westie puppie's parents with the bed after meeting with the breeder and his parents and my puppy hated the crate. My puppy has not slept in the crate from day one! Or would he pee or poop in the crate after putting the pee pad. I am not a happy customer!

I bought 2 puppy apartments for adopted 5 yr old and 8 yr old chihuahuas. It has been over a week with no luck using the apartment. They have been left in their apartments overnight 8-10 hours after eating dinner the night before and hold their pee/poo till the moment they are let out of the apartment. Looks like they were very well trained to go outside because most of the accidents happen as they are running to the back door to go outside! I have no idea how to make this work. Does anyone have any tips on breaking the potty habits of adult dogs so they are able to use this apartment system?

I got my kennel with.divider on ebay for $32 size large and just cut an.opening on the divider wayyyy cheaper than the puppy apartment same thing just diy and ive had it.for a couple.of.weeks and nope.its.not working even.though i followed.instructions from theyre dvd...

Big waste of money! I purchased one for our Yorkie and he refused to pee in the puppy apartment, the pee pad is still to close to his bed. Tried using an xpen and further distanced the pad from his bed and no issues. Wish I would have tried this before purchasing, would have saved me $500.

I like the idea of the puppy apartment but for me the price is prohibitive. They have regular crates available in stores that have 2 and 3 doors and most of them are sold with a crate divider. The only issue I see is the divider does not have a door opening. So if you have the ability to cut a door in the divider and make sure the cut edge is smooth and safe for the puppy, I don't see any problem with "creating" a puppy apartment system in order to save yourself money and still be able to potty train.

I don't think you looked at the DVD and followed the directions, there are 3 levels, Level 1 you wouldn't leave both doors open or any door open since you are training the dog to initially have only two choices, use the potty in their sleeping area OR on the potty side.

Then little by little you go to level 2 then level 3 finally which will automatically have them go into the Puppy Apt, Now if you have a huge home I can see where you're coming from about the fact the puppy may not make it on time so that's why you also purchased the puppy play pen which will section off a small portion of the home and confined the dog only to that area so voila, they should make it there on time and the purpose of the playpen is to confine them into a much bigger area and not just in that puppy apt and not soil your home.

I bought one of these and it was awesome! I used it for my miniature dachshund and she learned quickly. I started out leaving her in there most of the time when she was a puppy. I'd let her out about 3 or 4 times a day while I had time to watch her and if she acted like she was going to wee I'd take her and put her back in and close the doors. If she pottied in there I'd reward her with the use of treats for going potty. I also had the problem of her chewing up the potty pad but I fixed that with tape. All I did was tape the potty pad to the crate tray on the side she used to go potty on and that worked really well.

I believe that this is not a magical potty training device like it is advertised to be. I agree with all the points listed in the article. We are getting our third dog (though I have potty trained 5 total). Each dog is different. Some learn faster than others and some take longer to have full bladder control. This, in my opinion, is great for at night or when you cannot be home. But you would still beed to constantly watch your dog and direct them to their potty area when you see them starting to go or looking . And of course positive reinforcemnt. I will still take my dog outside as much ad possible because that is the goal. But, along with the puppy apartment I would still place some potty lads throughout the house to give our puppy a place to go if they have to. Our second dog learned much faster with potty pads combined with outside than our first dog did with just going outside. However, I will not spend the money on this. I will buy my own crate divider and have my husband cut some bars off instead. Much cheaper but same thing!

i loved my puppy apartment but would recommend users be a puppy. My puppy chihuahua took to it great. Very helpful for winter in CT. Had her for a year and to the point where she had full reign of the house while we were at work. If she need to go while we weren't home she would use bathroom on a pad in a designated area outside of her apartment. Otherwise she would wait until we got home and let her outside. Best potty training I ever had. Once we adopted a dachshund her potty training went out the window and the new dog which was supposedly already potty trained has been driving us crazy. We originally bought a medium apartment think once trained both dogs they can sleep together.. I will be purchasing another small apartment and start training from scratch with the new dog. Already see positive results from regular crate training but like the option of a bathroom if we can't make it home in time. Based on my chihuahua I would highly recommend the puppy apartment. The disruption with her I feel was because of us bringing a new dog into the house.

I'm having a problem with my puppy playing in the potty side. Playing with her puppy pad and pulling it into the bed side. ??? HELP !!

I found a brand new identical crate on eBay with 3 doors and a divider that I made my own out of foe only $40! Only problem is that it may be to big

rescued a couple of Dachshund Terrier mix breed (we think). They are brothers from the same pack. The foster mom basically let them run all over her house and pee on newspaper. We are in a small apartment. Didn't get any advice as to whether 2 brothers from the same litter are a good idea. Anyway, that's on us. These little cuties love to be together 24/7. We have crates and a fenced area. They escaped while we were at work (we check on them at lunch but it's still too much separation for them) and trashed the house. After a few nights of this type of antics we are considering an enclosed apartment such as the reviewed. We need peace of mind while at work and to know that at lunch time, they will be there waiting inside their area. For what I pay in pet rent for the apartment complex I live in, I don't care about whining if we aren't there. These doggies are about 6lbs. I think 20 lbs max. You think I should spend the $470 for two of these things? I've dropped 2K already for all the supplies and toys/chew toys and vet shots. I just might go broke if I don't do something. I would hate to buy these and have them hugely fail. Anyone heard of a money back guarantee?

I go through 150 pee pads a week btw and my once beautiful apt is falling to chewing and poop and pee.

I have a 3.6 pound yorkie and use the puppy apartment and I love it. I am getting another puppy and will use it again.

This article was so helpful!

I purchased a regular crate with a divider and cut a hole in the divider and filed down the edges so they were not sharp. It is exactly the same idea and the puppy apartment but way cheaper. Anyway... I have a 9 week old shiba inu boy who loves his crate. That's his safe haven, however he will not go to the bathroom in the "potty" area. I watched him run around and whine for about 30 minutes once waiting for him to go potty. When I open the door out he goes and goes potty right away. He will pee in there but will not go #2. I know he is a puppy and this all takes time, but I was wondering if you had any pointers?

Also is it normal for him to want to eat his own poop? He tries to go after it after he has done his business.

Please we need help! We purchased a 3 month old toy yorkie from a breeder that we think just had the puppies in a large area indoors inside a baby playpen like fenced area where he would eat poop and play ! We have tried outside every 1/2 hour , inside on potty pads, outside on covered porch potty pads, and even outside on grass but nothing is working! We are on a schedule with him I'm with him all day & night I take him out in the middle of the night as well ! He doesn't have free roam to the house we watch him very close ! He goes to the bathroom everywhere even his cushion bed in his crate that is an apartment type

crate! When we catch him we praise him & take him to play ! When we let him out of apartment crate we hold him & let him run , & play then we put him up when we cannot watch him like if I need to shower etc. He only barks or whines after he goes potty! What do we do if this puppy doesn't care if he soils his area? He also has his own room but should we put his apartment near us at night or during the day at times when I have to be doing something but cannot chase him around the house so he can see us ! He is happy to be in his crate when he sees us ! Sorry it's so long we are knew at this and we are at our ropes end! Any help much appreciated!

Sorry to be the downer here, but I have a 9 week old English Bulldog puppy, and the puppy apartment was an instant fail for him. Waking up in the morning to the entire place completely trashed, and his poop smeared all over him, all over his sleeping area, all over the sides, bottom, and everywhere in between. Pee all over. More relevantly: When he wakes up, screaming bloody murder, ear piercing freakouts until he is taken out of the crate. He absolutely can not stand being enclosed AT ALL. The whole system works to upset him and cause severe anxiety, which in turn causes him to trash the whole apartment without regard to his feces. This is an extremely docile little piggy 99% of the time. Mornings however, he is overwhelmingly upset by this thing. I am extremely disappointed and upset by this, but the puppy apartment does not work. And one thing I never see proponents talk about, is the fact that the dog should never be trained to urinate inside the house. As they get older this will be their habit, and its not one you want the adult dog doing is it?

Got a 3 lb 10 wk old pup from home breeder. First day the pup ran in & used potty area in the puppy apt. We keep potty area door open & bedroom door open. We limit her to den (where puppy apt is set up) hall & kitchen areas. When she has to potty, she runs in potty room door, does potty & runs out bedroom door. This is truly amazing. We had a pet store dog for 16 yrs before she recently died & she never truly was completely housebroken. We are senior citizens so this is wonderful for us...no late night walks, middle of the night accidents etc. I was very skeptical initially but it really works. The breeder initially started training on pad at night so that also helped. I would recommend this highly for anyone with new puppy or even an older dog

Hi - he did use his toilet area last night but still prefers to go out onto the grass in the day. We live in NZ - cold, rainy winters and would prefer him to use the puppy pads preferably in his toilet area. Do I let him sit in there until he toilets after meals and water? He does not like it and whines a lot. He has been allowed to roam free in the garden at the breeders house. We only have him for five days now. He will also be home alone for a few hours everyday once school starts again and he will need to use the toilet area indoors. Should I restrict his acess to the grass and only use the puppy pads?

Thanks for your awesome advice - it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, weeing on the wee pad is what we want but are we being cruel to allow such a young pup to hold his wee the entire night? Will he just go to that corner if he needs to or do we wake him to wee? He does not sit in the toilet section if it is wet but does enjoy the space when it has been cleaned with a new pad.

Maybe you can help us with our 8 week old schnoodle who has a crate with a separate toilet area (no dvd) . He holds his wee the entire night (11.pm to 7.30am) - no waking - no crying. His crate is in my daughter's room very close to her bed so he sees her as he sleeps. In the morning after much coaxing and excited good morning greetings he will wee on the wee pad in the toilet section. Should we wake him to wee? Also, he enjoys the wee pad side of the apt and lies down in the area in the day.

were do i get them

I would like to second Alexadry, Puppy apartment is only successful if you are a little patient, and will require you spend ample time to train and condition the dog on its use. Thanks for sharing

My kids have been asking for a puppy but I am afraid of the amount of work to potty train a puppy. It is good to know that there are potty training apartments for puppies. Thank you for sharing this useful hub. Voted up! :)