Properly Train a Puppy When Living in an Apartment

[Tony Avisato]

Are you thinking about adopting a cute puppy? There are a few things to consider before making such an important decision. One of these is where you live. Do you own a home or live in an apartment building? Is your neighborhood or apartment complex dog-friendly? These are all important questions that need to be answered if you want to give your puppy a happy and comfortable home.

Raising a dog isn't easy. You have to deal with house-training, behavior coaching, and taking care to constantly monitor and prevent any type of damage. Here are some of my personal tips on how to raise a happy and healthy dog when living in an apartment building:

Learn about the dog supplies you'll need, especially dog crates for potty training. The dog's crate will be its home in your home. Try to keep it in one place all the time. Most people put their dog's crate in the busiest rooms of the apartment so the dog is close to someone all the time. The crate will serve as the dog's place to sleep, relax or simply hang out when it wants some alone time. A dog won't make a mess where it sleeps so you want to keep it in its crate until you get a potty schedule going with it. Once the dog becomes more comfortable with going outside to do its business, you can allow the dog more and more time outside of the crate.

During the early stages of owning a puppy, it is important that you pay attention to any signs the puppy may be sending. Dogs communicate a great deal through body language. It will let you know when it need to go outside, seems afraid, lonesome, stressed, or wants to play. The dog will respect you more if you give it the care and respect it deserves. By paying attention to its body language you can know full well what your dog wants or needs.

Give the dog plenty of attention and treats for good behaviors. Always reinforce positive behaviors and never dwell on the negatives. It just does more harm than good. You should never ever hit, shout, spank or react with physical violence with the puppy about something it did. The dog doesn't know it did wrong. You must ignore the negative behavior and the dog won't probably ever do it again. Raising a puppy takes a good deal of patience and energy.