Potty Training Advice – Ground Floor Appartment

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on potty training our puppy—we’re a bit unsure if we’re doing things the right way.

We live in a ground-floor apartment, which makes things slightly tricky. Unfortunately, we can’t take him out for walks yet because he hasn’t completed all of his vaccinations. To work around this, we’ve bought a grass patch and placed it outside for him to use as his toilet area.

So far, it’s been a bit of a mixed experience. Sometimes he’ll go outside on the grass patch on his own, which is great. Walking him out to the grass mat works sometimes, and placing him directly on it also works sometimes—but it’s not consistent. He’s had a few accidents inside: he’s pooped on our kitchen floor mat twice, just outside the mat twice, and used the grass pad properly a couple of times as well. Pooping seems to be the bigger issue compared to weeing.

We do try to stay on top of it. We take him out frequently, and we usually leave the door open so he has access to the grass patch. When he needs to wee, we take him out of the crate and straight outside to go, then back into the crate afterwards.

We’re trying to figure out the best way to teach him to only go outside. Would it help to put him on a lead and keep him on the grass patch until he wees or poos, then reward him with a treat straight after? Or is there a better approach we should be taking?

Any tips, routines, or training methods that have worked for you would be really appreciated. We just want to set him up with good habits early on.

Thanks so much in advance!