Training a small dog in an apartment

Most dog training advice assumes a garden, a quiet street and a door you can open without meeting three neighbours. These guides assume none of that.

Small dogs are not easier in flats — they are often harder. They bark at more things, they are closer to shared walls, and their toilet needs are harder to time because you cannot just open a door. Everything below is arranged in the order most people actually hit the problems.

The guides

• The first two weeks A daily schedule, the settle-on-a-mat cue, and what to buy before the dog arrives.
• Potty training on a schedule Hour-by-hour timing for the first fortnight, plus indoor setups for high floors.
• Crate training A ten-day ramp, and what to do on the first night when nobody is sleeping.
• Stopping the barking Door knocks, hallway noise and the intercom — the three that get complaints.
• Alone time and separation anxiety Building from thirty seconds, and telling boredom apart from real distress.
• Indoor exercise and enrichment Ten-minute setups that tire a dog out without a yard.
• Manners: biting, jumping, leads Puppy biting, lunging at guests, and loose-lead walking on a busy pavement.