Have you thought about teaching him to use a litter box? We started using piddle pads when we first brought our yorkie (Elvis) home. He was never really consistent with using it, but he took to the litter box right away. We just use regular clumping kitty litter in a litter box designed for dogs. We bought the largest size litter box, its deeper and allows him to "hike" his leg on the insde of the box. Initally he liked playing in the litter,but we kept putting him in it when we thought he needed to go and he started to figure it out. He is 10 months old now and we have not had a single accident in months! We also kept him confined to the kitchen using baby gates until we were certain he got the hang of it. Then we'd gradually allow him access to other portions of the house. If he made a mistake. we'd confine him back to the kitchen area (we never did use a crate). He sleeps with us at night and we have a litter box in our bedroom too, so if he needs to use it in the middle of the night he can. Now he has full access to the house and I don't have to worry about him having an accident if I can't get home in time from work.
Just a suggestion--hope it helps!
