I used a nylon tie out cord inside the house with Lola when she was a puppy. I did not want her to always be in her crate but I wanted to watch her. I got soooooooooo lucky with Lola she took to going potty outside right away. Oddly enough I wanted her to go on pads in my laundry room just like my last dog. But she would have none of that, she would go for hours in the morning holding herself locked in the laundry. I would be checking over and over and sometimes it would take three hours for her to finally go. Then what a mess it would be, she would go off the pad and by the door and she would walk and jump through it, it would be on the walls and the molding. A neigbhor that is a retired vet told me put her outside, he said it's not natural for a dog to go on paper and after several friends said the same thing I finally tried it. But since I do not have a fence and in MI we get a lot of snow and rain I thought inside was easier. But I was wrong this is much easier but my set up is good, we can go right out the front door to grass and I can stand in the doorway or under the porch while she is on a short tie out. I was determined not to have to stand outside forever walking her around while she sniffed every bush. I have a neighbor that has two dogs and no fence every time they take their dogs out to potty they have to take them for a walk separately, that would drive me nuts, especially late at night, in the rain and LOL especially after a few glasses of wine in my PJ's. I often wonder what my other neighbor thinks, in the summer his bedroom window is not far from the fence line and I am out there with a deep loud voice telling Lola to pee and to poop, thankfully she goes pretty fast
This is one of the main reasons I will not get another dog. Lola has been the only one out of 5 that I can say is 100% housebroken, so I don't want to upset the apple cart.