House training
How do I potty train a dog in a high rise apartment?
Last updated 23 September 2026 · How we write and check this
Short answer
Build extra time into your estimate of how long a puppy can hold on, since the elevator, hallway and lobby all add minutes between the first signal and actually reaching an outdoor spot, and consider a backup indoor or balcony option for genuine emergencies like a stuck elevator. A consistent route from door to outdoor spot speeds up the whole process.
Accounting for the extra travel time
A ground floor dog can be outside within seconds of a signal, but a high rise dog might face a 3 to 5 minute journey through hallways and an elevator, which is a meaningful chunk of a young puppy's limited warning window and needs to be planned for rather than discovered through accidents.
Backup planning for delays
A small indoor or balcony grass patch as an emergency fallback, used rarely rather than as the primary destination, covers the genuine risk of a stuck or busy elevator without undermining the main outdoor training goal, as long as it stays clearly secondary in how often it is actually used.
Key takeaways
- Elevators and hallways add real minutes that need to be built into a puppy's warning window estimate.
- A consistent, practiced route from door to outdoor spot speeds up every trip over time.
- An emergency indoor backup covers elevator delays without replacing the main outdoor destination.