Apartment dogs - tips, please! (Cita)

I think the apartment sounds do-able from what you're saying about Rascal's habits.  A few people have touched on it, but as long as you know Rascal's bathroom habits, you should be fine.  You just really have to anticipate when he has to go out, and take him with enough time to make it down the elevator. 

As for training in the elevator, practice going down alone first.  When I was first teaching Honor about the joy of the elevator, I had her sit-stay all the way up and down, just the two of us.  Then I borrowed some friends, so we all could practice sit-staying with people getting on and off (I'm sure the other apartment dwellers really appreciated us hogging the elevator that day!).  Now, Honor is an elevator veteran with no problem.

My apartment is on the third floor, and I potty trained Honor here (granted, 3rd is a lot different from 23rd).  To be honest, I'm not such a fan of the puppy pads only because I wanted Honor trained to go outside.  That's stood me in good stead so far, as I can take her to anyone's house, and she'll wait by the door to go out.  Having said that though, the puppy pads work really well for some people/dogs.  It's all based on preference.  If Rascal's trained to go outside, I'm not sure if I would do the puppy pads, only because it could be confusing.

The apartment sounds really nice from what you said, and I think you guys will do well in it.  

 Thank you so much for all the tips, everyone!!! I'm sure we'll find a way to make it work if we really want to. Another big plus of the apartment is that it has 3 elevators (but 30-some floors though! yowzers!) and is mostly business people who work downtown, so it's rarely crowded. Perfect for elevator practicing. The apartment manager also told me confidentially that there are a couple of potted plants in front of the apartment complex that are designated specifically as doggy potty spots, lol!