Puppy Pads - Toilet Training

[Guest rhy&ge]

A question regarding toileting pup:

We're apartment dwellers and the grassed park outside is always full of dogs. Therefore when puppy arrives I don't want to take him out there to relieve himself until he's had all his vaccinations. So we're looking at using an indoor system to house train him.

I have been looking at both the pet loos (artificial grass) and the puppy pads. I'm more inclined towards the pads because they're machine washable and I've heard the grass starts to smell.

So my question is - if we train him on pads, when the time comes that he can go downstairs to the grassed area, will he find that confusing??? Or, if we train him to go on command will it not matter what surface he's on anyway?

Any thoughts would be appreciated! (and any comments on pet loos would also be welcome!)

[CollieLover1979]

Hi i have had our french bulldog for about 3 weeks and we have him already toilet trained to use his doggy grass loo but he also goes out his doggy door to the grass. I have to admit i didnt really do much he just started using it he now goes straight to it when his doggy door is shut. I just got the cheap one from the warehouse and got extra grass mats from city farmers, i got the large size then cut them in two! Its so easy to clean and i havent had a problem with the grass bit smelling. Its a great idea for when we do leave him inside and im quite surprised at how quickly he took to it.

I now alot of people think they are a waste of money but in our case its worked great and i only paid about 40 for it. What breed are you getting?

[Guest Panzer Attack!]

What you can do (I was listening to a Dr Dunbar podcast and he put it out there as an option) is get something like a kitty litter tray and line it with turf so the dog gets used to toileting on grass/dirt/whatever. However, I trained my pup to go on grass and concrete at the same time (as I have a concrete back yard and OH has grass) and today we had our first toilet on command! On grass, which he's least used to! Great success!!!

E x

[SmoothieGirl]

Not something I've had to worry about as my team have access to the outdoors, but I've heard good trainers suggest using the closest thing to the real thing when training them. What I mean is, the fake grass of the dog loo will probably give you a better chance of transfering the training to real grass when puppy is old enough.

Can't speak to the smell of them, but there are others around here that probably have some good tips on managing that.

[Guest rhy&ge]

Hi i have had our french bulldog for about 3 weeks and we have him already toilet trained to use his doggy grass loo but he also goes out his doggy door to the grass. I have to admit i didnt really do much he just started using it he now goes straight to it when his doggy door is shut. I just got the cheap one from the warehouse and got extra grass mats from city farmers, i got the large size then cut them in two! Its so easy to clean and i havent had a problem with the grass bit smelling. Its a great idea for when we do leave him inside and im quite surprised at how quickly he took to it.

I now alot of people think they are a waste of money but in our case its worked great and i only paid about 40 for it. What breed are you getting?

Thanks for the replies. I might go with CollieLover's idea and try the doggy grass loo things. They're pretty cheap on ebay and then I'll just buy extra grass from Bunnings

P.s Getting a poodle

[SmoothieGirl]

Hi i have had our french bulldog for about 3 weeks and we have him already toilet trained to use his doggy grass loo but he also goes out his doggy door to the grass. I have to admit i didnt really do much he just started using it he now goes straight to it when his doggy door is shut. I just got the cheap one from the warehouse and got extra grass mats from city farmers, i got the large size then cut them in two! Its so easy to clean and i havent had a problem with the grass bit smelling. Its a great idea for when we do leave him inside and im quite surprised at how quickly he took to it.

I now alot of people think they are a waste of money but in our case its worked great and i only paid about 40 for it. What breed are you getting?

Thanks for the replies. I might go with CollieLover's idea and try the doggy grass loo things. They're pretty cheap on ebay and then I'll just buy extra grass from Bunnings

P.s Getting a poodle

Luuurrrrrvvveeeee poodles - don't forget the photos!!!

[Guest rhy&ge]

Oh don't worry - I'm gonna flood this site with photos when pup arrives

Has anyone used the Barkmate pads?? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3x-LARGE-MESS-MAT-PET-DOG-TOILET-TRAINING-POTTY-LOO-PAD-/150577843899?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item230f238ebb

They look good cos they're machine washable...

[fuzzy82]

Trouble with pads is they are similar to carpet in texture, so a lot of puppies get confused and will use any carpet/rug/mat as their toilet area. Personally, I would either get a fake grass one, or get a kitty litter tray and use turf.

My puppy has gone outside in grass since day one, but when I occasionally put him in the laundry instead of his crate while we were out, I would put newspaper down for him, which he used. I prefer it over pads because he won't find anything similar anywhere in the house.

[Guest rhy&ge]

Thanks Fuzzy - I hadn't thought of that.

Looks like I'm heading back to Bunnings to pick up some turf!!