Training puppy to use "puppy pads"

[mousetravel]

Please give me some advice on getting a puppy trained to use the puppy pads. I pretty much know the basic concept of it, but I'd like to know some secrets or special ways to make this work!

 

[monkey68]

My puppy hated them. She would rip them up, play with them, and pee right next to them, but never on them. Our vet told us to paper train her first, and then keep moving the paper closer to the door until it was outside, and that's how we'll get her to go outside. We tried regular paper, it didn't work. We tried those wee wee pads, and she would just tear them up. It was easier just to train her to go outside from the get go.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I'd skip puppy pads and go straight to outdoors....otherwise you will have to train her twice and I think it's more confusing.

 

[DrCavin]

Friend of mine started this with his puppy, says it was the worst thing he ever did. Now he is stuck buying those things for the life of the dog... I would recommend crating.....

 

[Sleepy]

I agree with crating and making them go outside. A dog is less likely to use the bathroom near themselves when in a confined area. They will learn to hold it and immediately when you open the crate door, steer them directly out the door. Don't let them back in the house until they use the bathroom. They will get use to this routine.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I'd skip puppy pads and go straight to outdoors....otherwise you will have to train her twice and I think it's more confusing.

I so AGREE!
Why teach a puppy to pee on Paper...then teach them to go outside???
And be mad when they later go on your floor or paper that was lying around (its bound to happen)
Why the confusion, I understand the need perhaps if you're in a second floor condo or apartment building or something, but otherwise....I'd really consider .....
put your puppy on a leash right after feeding him/her take them outside to the SAME place each time (if you can) and the use the same "word" ....they do get it
My dog used to go on the leash, we'd walk to a small area in the yard, he did his business , he'd be praised and we'd leave.
Hes 9 now and STILL goes to that area when he goes out (he is not leashed anymore obviously)
I tend to leash him and walk outside our home now (for exercise) and he still responds to the "word"....it worked for us!
Good Luck!!

 

[Pakey]

I agree, I've adopted two dogs that were pad trained as puppies and all I can say is thank goodness I have tile floors. I've had to remove all rugs from the house. I even dropped a washcloth on the floor last week while doing laundry and one of them peed on that (I've had these dogs for 2 years now). They have a doggie door and go outside fine unless there's something on the floor that they think is a pee pad and then look out.

 

[mjkacmom]

Using those pads is a mistake you only make once. Not only did it cost me a fortune, my dog was never 100% housebroken.

 

[puffkin]

We used puppy pads and they worked great for us with our Beagle. He was a breeze to house train and we had barely any accidents.

We both worked full time when he was a puppy. We gated off our kitchen so he had that area to "roam" while we were away. The pad was in the back corner near the door. We took him to the pad constantly the first 2 days he was home. Every time he squatted anywhere else we made a loud noise (coins in a can work) and took him to the pad. When he went on it he got tons and tons of praise and treats. We used the pads so that he had a "safe" place to go while we were away, since there is no way a puppy could hold it for 8 hours.

When he was a bit older, we put the pad closer and closer to the door. Eventually, we took the pad away and when he went to that spot we took him out. It was really, really easy. We left pads down for the first year or so (until we were sure he could hold it) while we were at work, but put them away when we were home.

The puppy pads worked great for us with our work schedule and house setup. Our dog is now in a crate due to him having problems accepting our move and birth of our son when he was about 3 (he got very destructive but still no house accidents). My only advice with the pads is to weight them down with something heavy. That helped discourage the shredding and playing with them.

 

[mousetravel]

It was easier just to train her to go outside from the get go.

I'd skip puppy pads and go straight to outdoors....otherwise you will have to train her twice and I think it's more confusing.

I agree with crating and making them go outside.

I so AGREE!
Why teach a puppy to pee on Paper...then teach them to go outside???

Using those pads is a mistake you only make once. Not only did it cost me a fortune, my dog was never 100% housebroken.

I guess I should have added a few details: I do live in an apartment and we're not allowed to take pets out into the "courtyard" area. And at the front door, we're only about 15 feet from major traffic, so I'm kinda worried about taking him out front.

I know I've got to do one or the other, and not both. Trying to figure this out while he's new to his home.

 

[java]

Your place will stink with those pads and honestly my dogs ripped them to shreds. So it didn't work for us either.

I have seen this
http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102628291&c=

But still I think the smell would be awful. Keep him on a short leash(less than 15 feet) and take him on walks.

If you teach him to go indoors I think you'll regret it. What kind of dog is it? Small? You can just pick it up and carry it to where you want it to go.

 

[mousetravel]

Your place will stink with those pads and honestly my dogs ripped them to shreds. So it didn't work for us either.

I have seen this
http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=102628291&c=

But still I think the smell would be awful. Keep him on a short leash(less than 15 feet) and take him on walks.

If you teach him to go indoors I think you'll regret it. What kind of dog is it? Small? You can just pick it up and carry it to where you want it to go.

It's a chihuahua.

 

[monkey68]

I guess I should have added a few details: I do live in an apartment and we're not allowed to take pets out into the "courtyard" area. And at the front door, we're only about 15 feet from major traffic, so I'm kinda worried about taking him out front.

I know I've got to do one or the other, and not both. Trying to figure this out while he's new to his home.

You can still take him out, we live in a busy area as well, and my dog will absolutely refuse to go in the backyard. She knows it's her home, so she won't go there. Just put him on a short leash, and stick to the sidewalks. I take my dog out for walks where she does her business. As a puppy though, you do need to take them out quite often if that's what you're going to do.

 

[jrmasm]

It's a chihuahua.

I'm getting an old Chi puppy in a few weeks and she's litter trained.

 

[arminnie]

I live in a high rise with a balcony. I have a dog door and tell my boys to "go outside", and they go use the pads on the balcony. The underpads for adults are much cheaper than doggie pee pads and are much larger. It's just kind of embarrassing to shop in the adult diaper area of Sam's.

I walk my boys too - but I really don't want to have to go out at 2 am by myself.

I had to leave them for 4 days with friends coming by multiple times a day when a friend was deathly ill in another city. They chewed those pads up big time over being left alone. Nothing causes more lint and dust than one of those pads. Fortunately that was a one time thing.

 

[dec5girl]

I have an 8mo old chihuahua that I have pad trained......almost. She is great about the pad when she is confined to the room that the pad is in. And she will go outside when the door is open and we are out on the deck or in the yard. But if the door is shut and she is not confined to the room with the pad she will go on any area rug. I totally see why that is confusing to her. An area rug and a puppy pad seem about the same to a dog I guess. But I can't seem to train her to stop that.

When we first got her she went under any furniture that she could get under. She has rarely done that anymore, but it was pretty messy at first. I have heard that chihuahuas are very hard to train and often are never completely trained.

I recommend confining your puppy to the room with the pad and giving lots of praise and treats when he/she goes on the pad as much as possible. I find my dog sometimes is going on the pad and she is looking around to see if I am noticing so she can get a treat! Sometimes she will also go on the pad and then come find me and yip and bark until I go look at the pad and see it and give a treat. I think I'm going to be giving treats forever!!!

 

[java]

It's a chihuahua.

So pick that little thing up and bring him outside! place him on a spot that you want to be "his spot" like an area near a tree. He'll be easy to just pick up and place where you want him to go.

They are so cute. Enjoy the puppy(I keep saying him is it a him? and what's his/her name?)