Hello everyone!
Submitted by Andrewm6097 on December 4, 2016 - 12:48pmHello, my name is Andrew. My girlfriend and I are soon to be english bulldog owners. We are picking up our puppy at the end of the month and we are both beyond excited. One issue we have but feel we have resolved already is that we both work full time. But we are lucky enough to have a very well liked dog walker in our community who is more than willing to help and we also have family members willing to help. I have also taken 2 weeks off of work right after we get him. With the exception of 3 of those days, i will be at the apartment 24 hours a day with him.
Now another obvious concern i have is housebreaking him. I am more than willing to put the time and effort into it and am willing to be very patient. But we live on the fourth floor of our building so getting him outside will take a bit longer than just opening the door of the house and running outside. Today I timed how long it takes to get outside. Using the elevator with the elevator starting out on the 1st floor it took me 2 minutes 30 seconds to get outside. Using the stairs at a normal pace, where i would carry him, took 1 minute 35 seconds. The time seems minimal but im sure its not for a puppy that has to pee.
We are actually in the process of trying to transfer to a 1st floor apartment, but theres no guarantee that will happen anytime soon. So does anyone have any advice for us? Thanks!
Congratulations!
How old will the pup be when you pick him up? They usually don't have much control over their bodily functions until 4 months and at that point, after that they can usually hold it for an hour for every month they are old. They need to go out after eating for poops and more frequently for peeing. I always used yummy treats for housetraining, lots of praise too but if they make a mistake, unless you catch him in the act (at that point a good firm NO and outside) it should be ignored. Some people use puppy training pads indoors which would make life easier in an apartment, but I'm not sure that's good for the long term.
He will be around 9 weeks
He will be around 9 weeks when we get him. I have read that you should chose either or. (outside or pads) as to not confuse the pup. So i am going to really try to stick to outside.
Wonder-bull to "meet" you, Andrew !!! I am
Soooo excited for y'all to get your sweet puppy home soon! I'll bet you're counting the hours!! hee hee :-)
I LOVE that you have put so much efffort into figuring this out---I wish everybully did! It's great that you
have a dog walker and family that will help, AND that you'll be home with him for a while! I've never
dealt with an apartment situation, and when ours were pupps, hubbs worked the usual 8-5; whereas
I worked 7pm-7am, so they were rarely alone. I'm telling you ALL of this to say---I may not be a lot of help! LOL!...Howeverrr....
.....
Puppy pads could work out well for the short-term. ...they worked great for us for the times we weren't home. Also, I don't know what your weather will be like in the coming months,
but with that, (I'm considering whether your new pupp will be afraid of / not liking snowy, icy, wet grass)....along with you
being on the 4th floor, you MIGHT consider one of those plastic potty things that come with fake grass inside---at least
he'd be used to going on that---then hopefully transitioning to real grass later :-) I just googled, and at Target, they're called
"Doggie Fake Grass Potty"......Walmart, PetSmart, Pet Co, etc----they all have 'em. Hope this helps! Oh, and we all
LOVE photos-----please post whenever you can!! :-) I've been on this wonder-bull site since our Meaty was a puppy
(EIGHT years ago!!!), and I have gotten SO SO much great info, helpfulness, encouragement, etc!!! So happy you're here!
can find them anywhere.
Our sweet Archimedes "MEATY" Bones (or as we say...boneSHHH!) ---born 11/28/08---- our first bullllyyyy!!!
And SOPHIE Bubbles *Rapscallion* (LOL!) ---born 4/3/11----our second bulllllyyyy!!!!
Thank you so much for your
Thank you so much for your input! I am a little worried about the cold weather. I have read that it can actually help in some ways, where the pup just does his business fast to get back inside. I will also look into the grass potty. Thanks again!
Hello, and Welcome!
Sorry, I must have missed this post! I hope you find our site encouraging and helpful!
Amy and Sophia