House training in an apartment & fearful of parvo.

by m.dunn2000
(Colorado)

my new little girl

I just recently bought an english bulldog who's 9 weeks old and won't be getting her second shots for another week.

Any suggestions on where to take her to potty besides the kitchen floor (which is easily cleaned)? I'm totally freaked about parvo virus (something I just learned of tonight) Any help would be so appreciated.


Hi
Congratulations on your new puppy. What an adorable face! She's a beauty.

Parvo is definitely something you want to protect your puppy from, but she's off to a good start having had her first set of shots.

However, until she's had all three sets she may not be fully protected, and you don't want to take any risks. Of course, this does present problems with potty training.

Parvo is transmitted through the excrement of infected dogs, so you need to make sure that your puppy doesn't come in contact with areas where unvaccinated dogs may have been. City streets and public parks and other areas are dangerous to your pup.

If you have a fenced area/yard that isn't accessible to stray/unvaccinated dogs that is the best place to take her to eliminate. Failing that, you could get a doggie litter box, and either use litter (there's some made especially for dogs) or pee pee pads in it.

I'd strongly advise crate training, as it's the simplest and quickest way to housebreak a pup. It does make things a bit more complicated when you have to train a puppy to 'go' indoors, and then retrain them to go outdoors later on. But it's better to do that than take a chance on them getting sick.

As you're a new puppy parent, you might find my New Puppy Care page helpful. It has lots of tips and advice on everything you need to know about taking care of a new pup.

Best of luck with her.