Pee pad training should be considered as an essential part of house training, especially for newly adopted puppies, yet it is one of the most overlooked forms of puppy training. Not so many people ask ” How to pee pad train a puppy?”, but they should.
Why? Well, mostly because you won’t be home all day and all night to take your puppy out to pee or poop.
Instead of coming back from work to see almost everything in your house covered with pee or poop, why not train a puppy to only go to the bathroom on pee pads;aka, puppy potty training pads.
Don’t worry if you’re a huge advocate for reducing plastic waste and being more eco-friendly because I will be talking about reusable puppy potty pads as well!
Table of Contents
How to pee pad train a puppy- Why puppy pee pad training is important.
I will admit that sometimes the advice given regarding potty training puppies, though very effective, it isn’t always convenient. I am talking about a particular advice regarding potty training puppies, can guess what that is?
It is something that so many people often complain about, and to be completely honest with you, these complaints are one hundred percent valid. If you’ve guessed the ” frequency at which puppies should be taken out to pee or poop,” then you’re right.
Now, this advice is still accurate and absolutely correct; however, I am just acknowledging that this isn’t very practical for many pet owners. Not everyone works from home or stays at home for the majority of the day.
Also, some people live alone, making potty training even harder. Now, let’s recall that piece of advice!
How to pee pad train a puppy- Frequency at which puppies need to go the bathroom.
Puppies have small bladders and can’t hold in their pee for long, even if they’re potty trained. Luckily, we have a straightforward formula that allows us to calculate how long should we wait before our puppies need to go out to potty.
We also can get a range from that formula, making the situation a little bit more flexible.
This knowledge allows us to use the puppy’s capability of holding in their pee or poop to teach them where they’re allowed to go to the bathroom.
The formula is simply figuring out how old the puppy is in months, and taking that number as the
To turn this into a range, all that needs to be done is to add one hour to their age in months. Let me give you an example to show you how simple this formula is.
Let’s say that your puppy is three months old. This means that they need to go out on potty breaks every three hours.
Now, to make a range out of this number, we’re going to add one more hour. Thus, you should take your puppy out to the bathroom every three to four hours. See, it is very simple to calculate, yet very inconvenient to implement.
If someone has a nine to five job, and they live alone, then how are they supposed to take their puppy out to potty every three to four hours? It is just impossible. Sure, hiring a puppy sitter is a viable option, but not everyone can afford to do that almost daily.
Not to mention how the puppy’s extensive bathroom break needs
This would seriously disrupt anyone’s sleeping schedule, and make them tired and not have much mental clarity when they wake up.
Some people recommend crate training puppies at night for that reason. They believe that the puppy will hold it in till the morning because dogs don’t like stinking up their sleeping area.
We now all know how that is impossible since puppies can only hold it their pee or poop for a few hours at a time. However, others don’t care if the puppy soils their crate because at least it all happened in one spot and not all over the house.
They also believe that the puppy is safer that way. I have debunked all of these claims in my Why Crate Training Puppies at Night Is Not Preferable blog post, so check it out to understand why leaving your puppy in a crate all night long isn’t a good idea.
However, every problem has a solution and luckily this solution has already been uncovered.
How to pee pad train a puppy- Introducing pee pads
The best way I could describe a pee pad is by comparing it with a diaper that the dog doesn’t wear, yet it still protects the floor because it serves as your puppy’s potty spot. Think of potty pads
Remember what I talked about in my Top 5 Puppy Training Tips You Should Know blog post?
Specifically, how it is always recommended to take your puppy out to the bathroom in the same exact area every time so they understand that there is a specific potty area and that they shouldn’t just do it wherever they want.
When you start pee pad training, you will use the same tactics cause your puppy’s potty area is going to be the pee pad. The training principles remain the same. The only thing changing is where their potty spot is going to be.
This way, when you’re outside working or even just running some errands, your puppy will be able to go to their bathroom all on their own! I have mentioned that the training techniques used will similar to if your potty training your dog outside.
If you’re interested in giving pee pads a try, then check out our Washable Fashionable Reusable Pee Pad here. Later on in this post, I will talk about reusable vs disposable pee pads, so stay tuned for that.
The pee pad will be suitable for small breeds. It will still work for bigger breeds if they’re still puppies.
However, let’s answer the how to train a puppy to use a pee pad question step by step.
How to pee pad train a puppy- How to train a puppy to use a pee pad
How to pee pad train a puppy- Recall positive reinforce ment
Like with any other forms of puppy or dog training, the process that we will heavily rely on is the use of positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement is a behavioral training technique that is used as a way to make your puppy understand what the house rules are.
Since we don’t speak in the same language as our four-legged best friends, we can’t simply tell them what they’re allowed to do and what they’re not supposed to do. Positive reinforcement has the power to do so!
But, how? Well, the definition of positive reinforcement is very simple to understand, but a bit complicated to implement. You’ll now know why.
You see, implementing positive reinforcement means rewarding and applauding your dog for doing something good, and turning a blind eye when they display a bad behavior or when they do something wrong.
Many people struggle with the second part of positive reinforcement.
However, if implemented correctly, positive reinforcement will allow you to effectively pee pad train your puppy. In order to do that, you have to become mindful.
You can learn more about achieving mindfulness and staying patient by reading my Puppy Training Guide: Dog Experts Share 5 of Their Secrets blog post.
Yes, that means that if your puppy has a potty accident and goes to the bathroom somewhere else, which will often happen during the first few weeks, you’re not supposed to yell at or even punish them.
How to pee pad train a puppy- Pee pad training steps.
How to pee pad train a puppy- Pick a location
The first thing you have to start doing is picking the room or the area where you’re going to place your pee pad in.
If you’re living in a huge apartment, then you should consider having multiple pee pads in order to create multiple potty areas that are spread throughout the entire house.
This will help the puppy get trained faster because they might understand that this pee pad is the potty spot soon, but they might not be able to make it to the pad due to their small bladders.
How to pee pad train a puppy- How make your puppy use the pee pad?
Making your puppy use a pee pad is just like potty training them outside. All of the rules used to potty train your puppy are going to be implemented in pee pad training them.
Actually pee pad training yours might actually be a faster way to get your four-legged best friend potty trained! How? Well, when you take your puppy to potty outside in a green area, all of the garden/ grass grown land looks the same.
However, a pad on the floor stands out a bit more, making your puppy’s potty spot look more unique. Here are the steps that you have to follow in order to pee pad train your precious puppy.
- Using the formula we’ve previously discussed, always carry your puppy during their bathroom window, and place them on the pee pad.
- Come up with a command phrase, like Time to Potty, and point at the pad that your puppy is currently standing on.
- If you notice that your puppy is walking away from the pad or is just playing
with with it, then you could use a harness to make your puppy stay on the pad until the pee or poop. - If your puppy isn’t harness trained, you can learn how to harness your puppy by reading my Dog Training Harness: Ultimate Guide blog post.
- When they finish going to the bathroom on the pee pad, pat them and give them some treats. By doing so, you’re implementing the first half of the definition of positive reinforcement.
This might all sound great, but you might be wondering if you can tolerate the mess that is going to be made during the first few weeks when you’re not home to carry your puppy to the pad.
Don’t worry, I have already thought about this and came up with a great solution. To solve that dilemma, you must create something like an indoors playpen for your four-legged best friend
You don’t have to purchase a playpen, though. You can use a safeguard instead that blocks your dog from leaving the area that you’ve chosen for them to stay in based on safety and precaution against any potty accidents.
This is nothing like leaving them in a crate or locking your dog inside of a closed room because not only do they have a huge area to roam and play, but they can also see what is happening outside of the room.
That is because the safeguard doesn’t go all the way up to the ceiling, and it is made of a transparent material.
If you want to leave your dog safely at home without worrying about them hurting themselves or getting the house stinky, then check out our Magic Gate Portable Folding SafeGuard For Pets here.
Inside their guarded area, you can remove the carpets and place their pee pad in there. This way, if they miss going to the bathroom on the pee pad, the mess at least remains contained in a small space.
You can also get multiple pee pads and use them in covering the entire floor, so even the guarded space remains clean.
You should also add a couple of their favorite toys, a bowl of water, food if you’re going to be gone for long hours, and a kong toy! You can also place their open crates inside in case they want to rest inside it.
How to pee pad train a puppy- Sustainable vs disposable pee pads
Using a reusable pee pad is the more eco-friendly option to consider since it is going to reduce your plastic waste. But what about their efficiency, convenience, and cost? Let’s compare
Efficiency: Though reusable pad can hold in the smell much better the disposable pad, we could consider this to be a tie
Convenience: Of course, the disposable puppy pad is going to win this round since, like a paper towel, it will get thrown away after it’s used. On the other hand, one must wash the reusable pads daily.
Price: Reusable pads are cheaper cause you only need to buy them once, while you must continue purchasing
Eco-Friendliness: Definitely the reusable pads are more eco-friendly again. By reusing a pee pad every day, your plastic waste is going to be
That’s it for today’s post. You should now know how to pee pad train a puppy and understand why puppy pee pad training is important.
If you have any questions regarding pee pad training your puppy, or anything else related to this topic, then feel free to leave them in the comments down below.
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