There are several reasons to use a puppy pad for potty training your dog; you may be unable to take your dog outside, live in an unfriendly environment, or your canine is too smelly to be out.
Irrespective of your reason, a potty pad ensures your dog eliminates indoors without making a mess indoors. However, getting it to use a pee pad is tricky as they need to familiarise themselves with the potty area as ideal for urination.
For this reason, this article aims to teach you the important thing to know about training your dog to use a puppy pad. Let's begin!
Teaching your dog to use a Potty Pad
Teaching your dog to eliminate on a potty pad requires patience and skills; fortunately, this section contains the knowledge you'll need to complete the procedure. Here's how to convince your dog to use the training pad:
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Choose a Potty Pad
Before training your dog to use a puppy pad, ensure the option you're presenting is comfortable and ideal for containing the waste. Essentially, I need a pee pad that's easy to clean, absorbent, and large enough to accommodate excesses.
While newspapers and towels can function as potty pads, they aren't ideal due to the potential of being messy and difficult to clean up after your puppy is done. For this reason, we recommend getting the best puppy pads at our store.
Our collection comes in different size options, absorbency, and ease of disposal, perfect for potty pad training your little puppy indoors without leaving a mess in your home.
*Note: Ensure introducing your puppy to the pad, so they aren't scared during potty time.
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Understand their Potty Schedule
Potty training your puppy with a pee pad involves building routines and relying on their instincts for the best results. In this case, you must observe your furry friend and anticipate their potty schedule.
Tracking this behavior allows you to know the right time to position the pee pad and begin their potty training.
However, it's typical for puppies to urinate or dedicate themselves after eating, sleeping, drinking, and even playing. Therefore, after doing either of these activities, expect to pick up the pet and place it on the potty pat to begin elimination.
Another indicator of when your dog needs their potty area is when they drop activity and begin sniffing the ground intently. They may potty every two to three hours, so be prepared to do your duties as a pet parent.
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Teach your Puppy to go on Pee Pads
Now that you understand your dog's potty schedule, take them out of their crate, attach a leash, and guide them to the potty pad area. By now, you should have a command that tells your puppy that it's safe to urinate or defecate.
However, if the command doesn't work, you can close the potty pad area with a pen and only release them once they're done easing themselves. This option teaches it to target the pad during potty time.
Whichever option you choose, guiding them to the potty pad creates an association between the area and elimination. Over the following weeks, the new puppy should be able to head to the pad on its own, completing the puppy pad training.
*Note: Reward your puppy for using the puppy pad with treats
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Ensure Consistency
After successfully making your puppy eliminate in an absorbent puppy pad, ensure to stay consistent by providing the pad every time. This action makes it easier to potty train your dog in the future because it already associates urination or defecation with the pad.
As it grows into an adult dog, you can gradually shift the potty pad outside or into the bathroom, where you command them to eliminate it in the new potty area. Once they associate outside or the latrine with urination, you can move the pad away and complete their training.
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Be Patient
Remember that young puppies can't read minds or follow instructions like bigger dogs, so it's expected to be mildly frustrating to complete the pad training process. Nevertheless, being patient is the best and only option.
Puppy training takes time and extreme patience; don't expect them to meet your expectations immediately. Instead, understand what to expect from a puppy and prepare yourself mentally and physically.
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Accidents Will Happen
House training your dog involves rewarding and punishing certain behaviors to produce the perfect "good boy." However, for puppies, there's a different set of rules; essentially, it's best to reward good behavior and ignore the bed.
This fact becomes apparent when using the puppy pad as bathroom mistakes are inevitable; therefore, you shouldn't punish or react negatively to your beloved dog.
However, there are other recommended things to do when your dog has a potty accident; for example, gently marking the wrong behavior with a clap or "uh-oh" is sufficient to stop them mid-stream.
If the accident happens in your absence, don't react. It's more effective to scold or lecture during the potty process. Punishing your dog only conditions them not to eliminate whenever you're around.
Mistakes to Avoid
Mistakes and accidents are inevitable when training a puppy. Ensure to thoroughly monitor them when going to eliminate in the pad as there's a good chance they may step off and urinate on the floor instead. A pen with a pad can help with this issue.
Furthermore, your puppy might try exploring the pad by playing or ripping it up; this action shouldn't be encouraged as their brains will see the pad as a toy. Besides being a lousy toy option, playing with the pad makes it hard to teach them, and chewing on the material can be problematic if ingested.
Lastly, ensure to keep the potty pad in the designated potty area and not change locations. Dogs don't generalize; therefore, using inconsistent spots can confuse the canine and inhibit their training.
Conclusion
A Puppy pad is an effective way to begin potty training your beloved dog, especially if they're too young to go outdoors. During the learning process, ensure patience, gentleness, and understanding to the little creature. They look up to you for love and affection and punishing them can cause more harm than good.