Mine go outside only. Yes in the snow. Yes in the rain. Yes at 7am. I let them out, feed them and go back to sleep. Sam is 6lbs and Loki is 13lbs. We did not get Sammy until she was 10 months old and we still got her trained in 6 months. They ring a bell. We also have a 2 story house, although no fenced yard (that would be nice!) we have a townhouse and they go outside on Flexi leashes to the tiny front lawn and then on regular leashes for walks (once a day, if I feel up to it and the weather is nice) True, they can't be left alone for more than 5 hours but we are rarely gone that long and if we are, they either come with us, go to grandmas, or someone comes to let them out.
IDEAL would be a doggie door & dog run. Loki goes outside 20 times a day and he would happily let himself out!!!
Anyway, it's possible. And I don't know that dogs actually "prefer" a pad, but can problem be trained to use one. The nice thing about grass is it smells/feels different than carpets, which seem quite similar to a pad to a dog
