Using puppy pee pads to housetrain a puppy might be an easier way, especially for those who live in a high-rise apartment, but many people fail to perfectly train them.
They don’t fail because the pee pads are not letting the puppy poop on them but because somehow they are allowing their puppy to pee and poop within the house.
And if you fail to make him completely understand the meaning of pee pads, your dog may go anywhere into the house.
So, when you are potty training a puppy using pee pads, you need to be extra careful.
Tips for successfully using pee pads to potty train a puppy.
Here are a few brilliant tips to help you and to save you from failing your puppy’s potty training plans.
- Make it smell like urine
- Get the sticky ones
- Prefer grass pads
- Stick with one place
- Keep the surrounding clean
- Place it where he could see the sky
- Choose the large size
- Don’t change brand over brand
- Supervise and supervise
- Set realistic expectations
1- Make the pad scent like urine:
Puppies and dogs are naturally coded to go there to relieve themselves where they smell pee.
So when you are beginning potty training.
Many pee pads available in the market are already scented to attract the dog, but it is best to use a puppy potty training spray.
You can also do this by not replacing the pad after one pee. It may sound (and feel) yuck! But it may help initially for your puppy to understand that this place is to “go potty”.
Read more: What will attract dogs to pee? – (Best Puppy dog pee attractants)
2- Get Grass pee pads:
If you are planning to transition your puppy from a pee pad to going outside, even if you are not!
Using grass pee pads may really help your puppy to be comfortable with going outside.
This is a very common drawback of using puppy pee pads!
People object that your dog will not pee in a new place or outside when you are on a walk, you will always have to carry a bunch of pee pads with you.
By using grass pads, you are solving this problem.
You can use Fresh grass patch too. Porch potty offers a lot of great products for your dog’s potty training, Including fresh grass patches.
3- Buy the sticky ones:
At an early age, when these naughty puppies don’t understand, what a pee pad is? They may use it as a toy and chew them.
Using pee pads that are sticky from the bottom is a great way to save them from chewing.
4- Stick with one place:
When you are using puppy pee pads, you can’t just move them from here and there all around the house.
Say, you are shifting the pads wherever you are going in the house.
THIS IS A HUGE MISTAKE people make while potty training their puppies using pee pads.
By moving the place of the pee pad, you are actually confusing your puppy as to where to go.
And if he gets confused, there are huge chances that he will start “going” on any soft thing in the house.
5- Keep the area clean
The area around the puppy pad might become smelly, and it may confuse your dog “where to go?” as we said earlier that dogs are attracted to pee on “pee smell”.
And this mistake can be a huge hurdle to successfully potty training a puppy using pee pads.
Always clean the surrounding area with a suitable enzyme cleaner.
6- Keep the pad near the window or balcony
Another problem that arises when you train your puppy to use pee pads, he becomes uncomfortable while peeing under the sky.
So it is best to place these pads where he can at least see the sky. Like near a window or on the balcony.
This way it will be easier to get him to pee in a new place, like on a walk, while traveling, or visiting someone.
7- Choose a bigger size
Always get a bigger size of the pad, especially at the beginning.
If you choose the size that is small or just fits your dog’s size, you are doing it wrong.
If your puppy moves a little bit back or front, the mess may go out of the pad and that is not what you want.
Usually, the pads available in the market are bigger in size but you should choose the large breed dog pads even for small puppies or small breed dogs.
8- Don’t change brand over brand
When you are starting puppy pee pad training, always do good research before buying the pee pads.
You should not change brand over the brand, select one good brand and stick with it.
Changing the company, again and again, may cause your puppy to get confused and start peeing on other soft things in the house.
9- Supervise, Supervise & Supervise:
When people train their puppies to go on pee pads, they become comfortable and lazy that their dog is not going out.
They don’t realize that supervision is as important here as it is while training the puppy to go outside.
Your dog is staying within the house and his potty training can’t be messed up so easily.
Using pee pads to potty train a puppy is a sensitive process, if gone wrong, it may fill your house with dog urine smell.
10- Set realistic expectations:
While using puppy pads, you need to set realistic expectations for your dog. If you have shown him that the pads are for the toilet, Expect him to get confused with other soft things in the house.
Expect that he will at least try to chew it.
You need to understand that he might be having a tough time while peeing outside because he is trained to go potty indoors.
Setting realistic expectations will help you to keep up with patience which is the key to housetraining a puppy or dog.
Conclusion
While potty training a puppy using puppy pee pads, things are even sensitive.
If you are not careful enough, it might ruin the process of potty training.
So do as much as you can to save your puppy/dog to be confused that what a pad is, how it is different from other soft things in the house and he is only supposed to go toilet on these not everywhere in the house.
