Inside or Outside?

[zuri41]

I have been trying to train my yorkie for a week now to go outside I took the pad outside and he still just sniffs around won't go until I bring him in the house then he goes

[lemonlauren]

I posted this to another thread awhile back, but hopefully it might be helpful to you too.

Hello :-) I wondered about this whole pee pad thing at first too. They sound so convenient! But I ended up choosing to housebreak outside only, and I would have chosen that even if I lived in a really cold climate too. I totally understand why many people use pee pads, and I'm not knocking it, and there are definitely situations where it's necessary (like for people who have to leave their pups alone for more than a few hours every day, or people who live in an apartment where it's a big ordeal to get to the outdoors). But for a regular situation where you CAN train to go outside only, that would be my choice.

First, dogs that are pee pad trained can temporarily (or in rare cases permanently) confuse pee pads with rugs. I'd rather just have indoors be completely off-limits, no exceptions. Pee-pad trained dogs, from what I've read, also seem to more commonly have trouble in other people's houses, just like they will tend to have trouble if you move the pee pad in your house from one spot to another. Add to that the extra expense and waste of disposable pee pads, or the extra time and grossness of constantly having a load of pee and poop cloth pads to run through your washer. Plus, you'll have pee and poop in your house all the time - either you'll be constantly picking up the pads to dispose of them or wash them, or you'll have the smell of doggie pee and poo in the air in your home.

And so, although pee pads sounded convenient, I thought that the cons of pee pads outweighed the pros, for my situation anyways.

[zuri41]

Thanks for the info I am working on training him outside although he is stubborn he does go if I leave him alone but it takes so long.

[DanielleK]

Originally Posted by lemonlauren

I posted this to another thread awhile back, but hopefully it might be helpful to you too.

Hello :-) I wondered about this whole pee pad thing at first too. They sound so convenient! But I ended up choosing to housebreak outside only, and I would have chosen that even if I lived in a really cold climate too. I totally understand why many people use pee pads, and I'm not knocking it, and there are definitely situations where it's necessary (like for people who have to leave their pups alone for more than a few hours every day, or people who live in an apartment where it's a big ordeal to get to the outdoors). But for a regular situation where you CAN train to go outside only, that would be my choice.

First, dogs that are pee pad trained can temporarily (or in rare cases permanently) confuse pee pads with rugs. I'd rather just have indoors be completely off-limits, no exceptions. Pee-pad trained dogs, from what I've read, also seem to more commonly have trouble in other people's houses, just like they will tend to have trouble if you move the pee pad in your house from one spot to another. Add to that the extra expense and waste of disposable pee pads, or the extra time and grossness of constantly having a load of pee and poop cloth pads to run through your washer. Plus, you'll have pee and poop in your house all the time - either you'll be constantly picking up the pads to dispose of them or wash them, or you'll have the smell of doggie pee and poo in the air in your home.

And so, although pee pads sounded convenient, I thought that the cons of pee pads outweighed the pros, for my situation anyways.

I just want to offer a counterpoint:

A dog who is taught to potty outside may have issues such as not knowing what grass is acceptable and what grass isn't. (Same type of issue as having problems with moving an indoor pad or someone else's house.)

As for the grossness factor: whether indoors or out you should be picking up the poop and disposing of it properly (in toilet or bagged up and trashed). If you do this, there isn't an issue of a poop smell in the house or poop in your washer.

If (general) you aren't picking up the poop in your yard, then essentially you've given over your yard to become the dog's toilet. I find that kind of gross.

Our back yard is more than a dog's toilet. We and our DD 3yrs old play outside in the yard almost daily, often with bare feet. I am very proud of my garden and my DH is very proud of his lawn. We entertain out there often.
If my pup starts peeing all over the place the lawn will start to yellow, and that grass we love to walk, play and lay in will essentially be no different from walking over used pee pads. Ick!

Cost factors: Yes, pee pads can be costly. But unless you recycle other baggies for picking up the poop in your yard or on walks, you are buying bags for that as well. If you use reusable pads, they go through your washer and come out clean. They do not contaminate your washing machine.

Just some other things to think about!

[DanielleK]

Originally Posted by zuri41

Thanks for the info I am working on training him outside although he is stubborn he does go if I leave him alone but it takes so long.

Have you tried crate training?

Put him in the crate for a while before he usually has to go - then take him out to where you want him to potty and repeat the phrase you want to use (go potty, or whatever), don't play and don't leave him, just repeat the phrase, and if he goes then give him a treat and lots of praise. If he doesn't go in a few minutes, put him back in the crate for ten minutes. Then take him back outside and repeat the process. Again, if he doesn't go in a few minutes, he goes back in the crate. But once he does go be sure to give him a treat, lots of praise and then let him play for a while.

The first day or so of this you may feel like he's spending so much time in the crate (in and out and in and out) and it is a bit time consuming. But, it doesn't take too long for them to figure out that the key to getting the treat and praise and some freedom is to potty.

(This worked for my twelve week old pup, he learned in two days that he needs to go potty right when he comes out of his crate in order to get playtime.)

[Erin]

Originally Posted by DanielleK

I just want to offer a counterpoint:

A dog who is taught to potty outside may have issues such as not knowing what grass is acceptable and what grass isn't. (Same type of issue as having problems with moving an indoor pad or someone else's house.)

As for the grossness factor: whether indoors or out you should be picking up the poop and disposing of it properly (in toilet or bagged up and trashed). If you do this, there isn't an issue of a poop smell in the house or poop in your washer.

If (general) you aren't picking up the poop in your yard, then essentially you've given over your yard to become the dog's toilet. I find that kind of gross.

Our back yard is more than a dog's toilet. We and our DD 3yrs old play outside in the yard almost daily, often with bare feet. I am very proud of my garden and my DH is very proud of his lawn. We entertain out there often.
If my pup starts peeing all over the place the lawn will start to yellow, and that grass we love to walk, play and lay in will essentially be no different from walking over used pee pads. Ick!

Cost factors: Yes, pee pads can be costly. But unless you recycle other baggies for picking up the poop in your yard or on walks, you are buying bags for that as well. If you use reusable pads, they go through your washer and come out clean. They do not contaminate your washing machine.

Just some other things to think about!

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how that is the same at all. My dogs ask to be let out no matter who's house they are at. No one I know is going to prefer I put a pad down and let the dog potty in the house, rather than let them out in the yard??? When they had an accident as a puppy, you could SMELL it , it stunk up the whole house!

The grass thing totally depends on your setup at home - If I had a house (we have a townhouse, no fence) I would totally have a separate "dog run" area with a doggie door so they could let themselves out. They could run around in the yard but then the majority of the cleanup could be contained. They only go in a small portion of the yard now and I pick it up every day or two. They don't use the large part of the lawn where our patio is. Besides, I try to walk them every day and they poop on their walk so really we are talking about once a day when they go first thing in the morning, that is not difficult to keep clean. A friend of mine trained her dog to only go to the waaaaay back of her yard where they don't walk.

(Also, people always say they use pads because they are NOT home, which means they are NOT cleaning it up right away anyway...)

My dogs have gone outside for 4 years in the same 10x10ish area and we've never had a yellow stained lawn.

I'm not saying you are wrong - it obviously works for you - I just don't want people who are new to house training to think that Yorkies must use pee pads. People who have never heard of it before come to this site and see that all of the dogs use pee pads and think they did something wrong. It's so strange. It's by far harder to teach because it's not as natural for dogs, they don't pick it up as quickly because there is little differentiation. (Dogs get stimulated by sniffing where they went last, or where another dog went, a fresh pad every time messes with this!) Besides, if they were any bigger we wouldn't even be discussing this. Plus, it totally depends on your setup at home - some people have big screened porches or laundry rooms where they can have pads and they are separate from the house. We would have to put one in the kitchen (eww) or the bathroom (eww) and I'd rather they just go outside. They don't *need* pads. They are a convenience for people (which is fine, as long as people know it's more difficult to train with them and why.) Plus, Loki for example pees a RIVER when he goes. He also walks and pees. He would soak through a pad 20 times a day. And he has bladder issues so he is the pee expert, and trust me he would rather go outside. He would really prefer to be able to let himself out!

My point is that even if some dogs take to pads and they work well for some people, MOST dogs are going to benefit from sniffing the grass, walking around and selecting a spot (and walking around while they do their thing, mine walk and pee, walk and poop... so do all the neighbor dogs so I know they aren't so strange) The routine of going outside gives them a clear indication of where they need to potty. You lose some of that with pads, especially when people just put them down and expect the dog to figure it out like a cat would with a litter box.

P.S. You don't have to train your dog to use grass - you can train them to use something like mulch - as long as it smells and feel different and you teach them to associate it with pottying. I know it works because I had to teach Loki that it was also OK to go on the mulch (not just the grass). You can reverse this and teach them mulch is OK and grass is not, for example, and still have the benefit of them going outside.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Erin

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how that is the same at all. My dogs ask to be let out no matter who's house they are at. No one I know is going to prefer I put a pad down and let the dog potty in the house, rather than let them out in the yard??? When they had an accident as a puppy, you could SMELL it , it stunk up the whole house!

The grass thing totally depends on your setup at home - If I had a house (we have a townhouse, no fence) I would totally have a separate "dog run" area with a doggie door so they could let themselves out. They could run around in the yard but then the majority of the cleanup could be contained. They only go in a small portion of the yard now and I pick it up every day or two. They don't use the large part of the lawn where our patio is. Besides, I try to walk them every day and they poop on their walk so really we are talking about once a day when they go first thing in the morning, that is not difficult to keep clean. A friend of mine trained her dog to only go to the waaaaay back of her yard where they don't walk.

(Also, people always say they use pads because they are NOT home, which means they are NOT cleaning it up right away anyway...)

My dogs have gone outside for 4 years in the same 10x10ish area and we've never had a yellow stained lawn.

I'm not saying you are wrong - it obviously works for you - I just don't want people who are new to house training to think that Yorkies must use pee pads. People who have never heard of it before come to this site and see that all of the dogs use pee pads and think they did something wrong. It's so strange. It's by far harder to teach because it's not as natural for dogs, they don't pick it up as quickly because there is little differentiation. (Dogs get stimulated by sniffing where they went last, or where another dog went, a fresh pad every time messes with this!) Besides, if they were any bigger we wouldn't even be discussing this. Plus, it totally depends on your setup at home - some people have big screened porches or laundry rooms where they can have pads and they are separate from the house. We would have to put one in the kitchen (eww) or the bathroom (eww) and I'd rather they just go outside. They don't *need* pads. They are a convenience for people (which is fine, as long as people know it's more difficult to train with them and why.) Plus, Loki for example pees a RIVER when he goes. He also walks and pees. He would soak through a pad 20 times a day. And he has bladder issues so he is the pee expert, and trust me he would rather go outside. He would really prefer to be able to let himself out!

My point is that even if some dogs take to pads and they work well for some people, MOST dogs are going to benefit from sniffing the grass, walking around and selecting a spot (and walking around while they do their thing, mine walk and pee, walk and poop... so do all the neighbor dogs so I know they aren't so strange) The routine of going outside gives them a clear indication of where they need to potty. You lose some of that with pads, especially when people just put them down and expect the dog to figure it out like a cat would with a litter box.

P.S. You don't have to train your dog to use grass - you can train them to use something like mulch - as long as it smells and feel different and you teach them to associate it with pottying. I know it works because I had to teach Loki that it was also OK to go on the mulch (not just the grass). You can reverse this and teach them mulch is OK and grass is not, for example, and still have the benefit of them going outside.

Amen! Totally agree.

I had never ever heard of people allowing their dogs to use pads in their house until I came to this website.

That's no offense to the people who use them, but I just personally am semi old fashioned when it comes to dogs (I can be over protective and a spoiler but otherwise... lol) and think a dog is a dog, they've ALWAYS gone outside. It's just what dogs do. If you had a Lab Retriever, you wouldn't even think of allowing it to potty in your house. Their poops are massive.

Besides, all the other wild animals are gonna come and poop and pee in our grasses and lawns too in the middle of the night, most likely. It's the outdoors, that's where wild animals live... it's what they're gonna do.

[jacksonsmum]

I like the idea of my dog being outside and inside trained on pee pads. I find it convenient when visiting if in a motel or in someones apt. I just take the pad to their washroom and put it down and he go's. He will also go on the grass as well.

I dont use the pee pads you buy though. I have what is called soakers and you can buy them in health supply stores. They are used in nursing homes on the beds for people that wet the bed. They are waterproof and I just wash them. They can be pricey but at least I dont have to go out and keep buying more.

[Julie1760]

Mine both go outside. I did try the pads with myah when she was little, but she wouldn't go on them. I got both dogs in February, and though it was COLD out, they both were going outside. In all types of weather they go out. We have a bell by the back door and they let me know when they want out. We also fenced in a area for them to go out...I just open the door and out they go. I watch from inside as Myah, comes right back in...Chloe' has to walk around forever before she goes.

We travel a lot with the dogs and even in the motels/hotels we don't have a problem with taking them outside.

I think you need to at least try and see what works out best for you.

[yorkiemomma222]

Thanks guys for all the info!

It was a biggg help.

Tinky just came home last Thursday and she was partly trained to go on the wee wee pads. Sooo it was easier to adjust inside.
She's partly afraid to go outside so she's going to have to get used to it

Thanks again!!

[HarleyHOO]

My 5 month old yorkie female, Harley, only goes outside. She's had about 3 accidents in the 3 months I've had her, which I think is pretty darn good, but thats mainly because she's never left alone. She's either with me & my husband, or she's in her pen so it's easier for me to keep up with. In addition, she's on a schedule for feeding and napping so I've just about got it down to a science as far as when she needs to go. Fortunately, for the last 2 weeks, she's been running to our front door and waiting patiently...LOL...In fact, just 2 days ago I was getting ready for work and she ran out of the bedroom. I told my husband that she was headed his way and she did just that...ran to the door and he asked her "you gotta go potty"? and she did a little turnaround and that was that...he let her out, and she went and came back to the door to be let in. I'm so proud of her....but it wasn't easy...and I still work with her everyday on other things. It takes a lot of patience and consistency....