[Britster]

How many stairs? I know it's a total PITA... but Jackson can hold it 8 hours during the day. He wouldn't even go on a pad even I left one out for him. 3 days a week isn't totally abnormal or horrible to leave a dog for 8 hours a day or you could maybe hire a dog walker mid-day for a break as I do understand. I prefer not to leave Jackson for more than 6 hours if I can help it but alas, sometimes life/work/school happens. And I mean, really, even if I'm home -- I would say he typically needs to go out 4x a day for potty business. Morning, afternoon, evening and night.

I just... don't like pad training (as much as it would be insanely convenient I must admit!) because I find *most* dogs (not all) do get confused. If you don't mind cleaning up an accident here and there, but I'm not one that enjoys the act of cleaning up poo inside the house. It's one reason I don't have cats, LOL -- I hate litter boxes.

I also think it's hard for some dogs to go from outdoor trained to pad trained. I know Jackson and Lola would look at me like I was crazy if I told them to 'go potty' and pointed to a pad.

The only thing I can think of is to get one of those grass potty patch type things but unsure how easy they are to clean up after.