I'm gone long hours for work. Need help potty training 4.5 mo old puppy!

Hello!

I am a new dog owner. I adopted a maltipoo puppy who is now 4 1/2 months old. I work long hours and have a long commute. Therefor, I am away for most of the day and my puppy needs to be house trained. He is great about eliminating on the potty training pads with about 85% accuracy on target (haha). However, when I take him outside he is not as comfortable going poo as he is inside my apartment. I live in a small studio apartment and no outdoor access for him. I am away about 11-12 hours so it is too long to keep him in a crate. Can anyone give me helpful and practical tips on how to potty train him effectively with my busy schedule?

Thank you!
Stella Lee

I honestly would not have a dog if I was you. This little guy is only 18 weeks old, and you are expecting him to be home alone for 11-12 hours! Forgetting about house training for the moment, this really is not on. Even if you had two pups, I would say the same thing.

When you say you have no outdoor access, does this mean you never take out for walks? He needs to socialise with other dogs, he needs exercise, he needs to be trained - not just house trained, but obedience trained as well. Do you just take him outside to urinate and defecate, and that's it?

I am not surprised he doesn't like to "go" outside - the bulk of his time he is performing on training pads, so that will be his preference - just like my dog Ben who was kept tied up on concrete for 3 years and now only likes to defecate on pavements or his favourite ... the road!!

It sounds to me as if you have a "flat dog" - similar to a "flat cat". If this is the case, then you seriously need to consider his future, because it is just not an option to have a dog who is confined indoors and alone for 12 hours a day.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I don't know how else to say it. Forgive me if I have got the facts wrong x

My thoughts exactly, what does she expect the puppy to do for 12 hours a day, not a wind up toy you can pop in the cupboard and take out when you eventually arrive home. Serious destruction or worse, self mutilation, will be the next thing that happens. I am amazed you were judged able to look after a puppy in such circumstances. I grill my potential owners over an open fire before even allowing them up my path and I would never let a puppy go anywhere to be left alone, coming from a busy household with family members and siblings to loneliness.

I do think it's a long time for him to be home alone but you have to work. Can you not get a friend or family member to pop in and interact with him for part of the day?
Toilet training is usually achieved by owner vigilence you watch them and as soon as they squat etc you either take them outside or place them on the pad, he seems to be self taught or his breeder taught him to use the pads. I found the only way to progress from pads to outside was to place the pad outside as that's what they are familiar with, or they copy another dog in the house. Youngsters generally like somewhere private to go to the toilet, one of mine always goes under an overhanging bush and another used to hide behind a sun lounger to go as they need to feel safe and not vulnerable. You don't say where you take him to go outside.

Words are beyond me.How thoughtless can some people get.

Thank you for all your opinions and I understand the concerns. I take him outside in the mornings and evenings when I get home. My work hours are temporary until end of this year. When I say no outdoor access, I mean I do not have an outdoor patio for him to use while I am away. I live in the city and dog owners like me are not uncommon, but I understand your bias. I have a dog owner friend who works with me and lives in my same neighborhood. He has had his dog for over 5 years. My dog is actually the son of his dog. I suppose these are the kind of answers and judgement I will get and I will end the question thread here. Thanks anyways.

My puppy is a really happy puppy and well taken care of. I don't work weekends and he has plenty fun on the weekends. He does not have any separation anxiety and there are some days I leave him with friends while I am working. When I first got him I had a dogsitter for the first month and a half. I take him for walks outside the building every morning and night and I play with him with every free moment I have. I live in a city where dog owners like me are very common.

My puppy is a really happy puppy and well taken care of. I don't work weekends and he has plenty fun on the weekends. He does not have any separation anxiety and there are some days I leave him with friends while I am working. When I first got him I had a dogsitter for the first month and a half. I live in the city where dog owners like me are very common. Thanks for your contribution, really made me present to the ignorance of radicals.

Hang on a minute - you said in your original post that the little guy is left home alone up to 12 hours a day. Now it has changed, you have friends whom you leave him with whilst you are working, and in addition to had a dog sitter.

Sorry but I sense a wind up ... I'm out of this thread.

When I do not have arrangements to have people watch him yes, I am gone for as long as 12 hours on work days. The arrangements are not consistent because they are just when friends are available. Sometimes there are two work weeks when I am gone for up to 11-12 hours a day and sometimes I have a work week when I can leave with with a friend for a day. I mention 11-12 hours being the max time I am away from home. I live in the city and there are people in my apartment building who work similar hours and have 1-2 dogs. I have asked them for advice and they weren't very helpful so I came to a forum. Make sense?