Yes or no to puppy pads?

[Exhaustedpuppymum]

The book I've been reading does not recommend using puppy pads, however, I'm struggling with my poodle puppy who just wants to pee and poop everywhere.

I trained a collie when I was 19 who was potty trained within 2 weeks, using puppy pads, however 4 weeks in without puppy pads and my puppy is not grasping it at all.

I have limited her space in the house to make my life easier and she has almost constant access to outside, I'm going out with her and rewarding her when she does her business outside which she does happily most of the time, but she is still coming back indoors straight afterwards and peeing/pooping a bit more!

I'm thinking puppy pads could make my life easier and then atleast it's all in one place and there are no nasty surprises when I turn my back. I'm getting highly anxious about the indoor toileting despite having no carpets. My plan is to use puppy pads near the back door only. Or does this still just encourage her to do her business in the house?

What are your thoughts?

To add I'm now a 41 year old single mother of two and I seem to be failing this time around!

I never trained them to go on puppy pads but I did lay them down to protect the floor from accidents. I limited outdoor access for bathroom only while very young and didn't leave the door open.
If she has a pattern of going immediately when she comes back in I'd watch like a hawk and send her back outside immediately as she tried.

We didn't use them because we thought it would confuse her and she'd think she was allowed to pee indoors.

At the very start, we left the door open to the back garden all the time but she kept coming in to wee and poo. Someone on here suggested that it was confusing her as she didn't understand the difference. So, we kept the doors closed and just took her out regularly and stayed out there with her until she went, then lots of praise and back indoors. It really worked and the accidents stopped very soon afterwards. HTH

I’m a trainer……
pads and paper confuse the puppies and I wouldn’t recommend them. Keep the back door shut and take pup out after meals,sleeps,play etc and approx every hour over and above that. If they have unrestricted access to the garden there are 2 main problems 1. They don’t learn to hold themselves so are only semi trained longer term and 2. You have no idea when they are going so no clue when you might need to take them out next time
Puppy on lead and not wandering about getting distracted is usually best! Praise and interact after the event but keep everything boring and don’t wander about letting them sniff too much either - pups have the attention span of a gnat and will forget why they are out there!

Should I use a harness if I'm putting her on a lead @Undisclosedlocation ? I haven't used a lead with her at all yet and advice says to use a harness at this age?

I would remove the pads and close the door so she doesn't have constant access to outside. While some puppies can have that freedom, many don't understand why they can pee on the grass but can't pee on the kitchen floor one metre away.

A physical barrier (door or gate) and something like doggy doorbells would be a good idea.

Are you taking her out often enough and keeping a close enough eye on her indoors for any signs?

@Exhaustedpuppymum I always use a harness out and about with a very young puppy but in the garden for toileting duty I use (and suggest to clients) a lead and collar. I’ve never had any issues.
The advice you’ve read is more for if they are on a walk/pulling everywhere and potentially straining in their neck for long periods but thats not what it would be like just standing in the garden so it’s not a problem imo

Thanks so much @Undisclosedlocation I already feel better not having the door open and wondering if she's peed or poo'd and I've not noticed.

She has a doorbell but she's scared of it 😆🙈.

Also any tips for getting them to stop chewing at the lead @Undisclosedlocation it's all she seems to want to do when I put her on it.

Use a chain lead.

Good idea @cinnamonfrenchtoast i used to use one of those with my last dog, don't know why I didn't think of it!

@Exhaustedpuppymum my beagle once chewed through two fabric leads in a day 😱 he ended up on a chain one for about a year to save my bank balance 😂

I have used pads with my pup, he was going to the same spot to pee/poop indoors, and it just made clean up easier, he wasn't encouraged to use them but also not told off if he used them, I removed them when he got to 17 weeks as his brain and bladder started working together and he is 98% trained, he is 21 weeks now and I think the last wee indoors well over a week ago, we did have a code brown this morning but that was entirely my OH's fault as he missed the signs, but he is pretty reliable and clean indoors now.

If you think it will help then try them, they are also easier to use to mop up puddles than kitchen roll.

Yes a chain lead is a good option. The main thing with tiny puppies is to swap their shark teeth onto something more appropriate (a toy). Don’t get into a battle or give much obvious attention for lead chewing either - they are clever little sods and will start doing it more to get you to interact!

Absolutely this!⬆️