Repotty training an 8 year old dog

Greetings from Miami, FL. This is Christine from BLOG SISTERS. You may recall last year my dilemma of retraining my dog to go potty in a new "station" since I moved to the 40th floor of a new condominium (click here for the original story).


Well, in following Lauren's advice (one of the commentators), it actually worked. I no longer have to wait and ride the elevators three times a day which can take anywhere from five to ten minutes!

Indoors, I replicated the outdoors and collected small bags of mulch and dumped it into a cardboard box where I cut out one side as her entry. Even though the mulch was "used" mulch from our previous home with dog scent, she did not take the bait. However, after riding the interminable elevators with frequent stops on the way down and up, and the slight altitude pressure for a 10 pound dog, she quickly decided she hated this new routine of going to the bathroom. So I still took her to the doggy replica bathroom station everyday until one day, she relieved herself.

What was the actual trick? Well in my previous condo, I lived on the fourth floor, also the first residential floor of the building. This meant I either took two flights of stairs to descend to the street level or rode the elevator. Ma Cherie was accustomed to being the first one off the elevator in a matter of 5 seconds. Also, on rainy days, our building had a canopy covered station.

However, at our new home, 40 floors high, we both feel the altitude. She is no longer the first one off the cab, no longer the princess of Brickell.

So on rainy or very cold days (below 60) and in the morning and at night, I walk her one door over to the stairwell where her doggy station is set up. You might think this is rude to neighbors. Honestly, no one takes the stairs in a high rise condo building. I always change the liners and paper. The place is clean and never smells. Ironically our indoor potty is cleaner than outdoors where residents are frustrated from the handful of dog owners who never pick up after their dog--a Florida law. Hence my solution is safer for my dog. Besides Ma Cherie is inherently clean. Even when outside, her nose in the air and leg slightly lifted and bent, she gingerly places down her paw on spot with least amount of traces of dog urine.

So when we walk out our front door, she runs out and automatically heads to the stairwell, her preferred spot. Except I do take her out once a day after work so she gets some exercise and accompanies me when feeding the outdoor neighborhood cats, my daily charity of love.

Just when I doubted myself, this city girl could teach her 8 year-old dog a new trick!