I have trained many dogs over the years and they were all outside trained until Gracie. She was trained to potty pads and later she learned to go outside.
At 8 weeks your puppy has a long ways to go until it is totally potty trained. Young puppies need to be near a potty. They can't hold their urine back so they will go where ever they happen to be. Until the pup is around 4 months of age you just have to be able to get the pup to the potty on time. Having a play pen for when you can't watch the pup is really important since it should never be allowed to run around without supervision.
They sell puppy pads that have a hormone on them that attracts the puppy to the pad so it will pee there, but they have to be close by. Some are better than others. They also sell liquid house breaking aids that you can put on the hospital pads.
You can outside train the puppy but it is going to mean you have to get yourself out the door into the cold weather very quickly and very often. It is a hard decision. The first couple of months are the most difficult. |