Hello :-) I wondered about this whole pee pad thing at first too. They sound so convenient! But I ended up choosing to housebreak outside only, and I would have chosen that even if I lived in a really cold climate too. I totally understand why many people use pee pads, and I'm not knocking it, and there are definitely situations where it's necessary (like for people who have to leave their pups alone for more than a few hours every day, or people who live in an apartment where it's a big ordeal to get to the outdoors). But for a regular situation where you CAN train to go outside only, that would be my choice.
First, dogs that are pee pad trained can temporarily (or in rare cases permanently) confuse pee pads with rugs. I'd rather just have indoors be completely off-limits, no exceptions. Pee-pad trained dogs, from what I've read, also seem to more commonly have trouble in other people's houses, just like they will tend to have trouble if you move the pee pad in your house from one spot to another. Add to that the extra expense and waste of disposable pee pads, or the extra time and grossness of constantly having a load of pee and poop cloth pads to run through your washer. Plus, you'll have pee and poop in your house all the time - either you'll be constantly picking up the pads to dispose of them or wash them, or you'll have the smell of doggie pee and poo in the air in your home.
And so, although pee pads sounded convenient, I thought that the cons of pee pads outweighed the pros, for my situation anyways.
If you get your boy in early spring, then you'll have hopefully at least 6 months of warm weather to get your dog used to peeing only outside, if that's what you chose. Hopefully by approx 9mo old, he'll be doing pretty well with the potty training. Then as the weather gets colder, he'll just figure out that he should get his pottying done quicker so he can come back inside quicker! Some people even say that potty training when it's cold outside is the best time to do it anyways, so that the pup doesn't confuse potty-time with outdoor play-time!
Anyways, I'll stop rambling, sorry I went on for so long. Just wanted to share the thoughts I had in the beginning when I was considering the potty pads as well.
Lauren & Nikko |