My Vet told me to get rid of the pee pad
 

Snickers is about 5.5 months old now is a big boy weighing in at 6.5 lbs (he has some identity issues he thinks he is a very large boxer like his bother:D ). He has only had three accidents in 3.5 months. He will go outside and use a pee pad if he can't get outside. I can even let him have the run of the house when I am not home and I don't have to worry about him going potty in the house. I do plan on getting him fixed in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, at his last check up the vet told me that she does not think much of pee pads and if I am not gone for long periods of time she doesn't see the point of using one. She thinks that a lot of people get into housebreaking issues with small breed dogs because of pee pads. I have no problem with getting rid of them I would much rather prefer that he goes outside. The only thing is that he does not like to poop outside. He will pee everytime I put him out side but will usually poop when he comes back in ( always on his pad). When I removed the pad he still pooped in the same place that pad used to be. I don'e follow him around the house so I don't always catch him. I have decided to leave the pad down so he will have a place to go poop. If I see him pooping on the pad I will have him go outside but he runs around crazy like he doesn't know where to go. I not quite sure what to do. I have got it easy now. He goes outside when he is out and on the pad when I am not home (execpt for the poop thing.) My vet just feels like no potty inside should mean no potty inside.

I'm not a fan of potty pads either...I think they just teach dogs that it's okay to go in the house. But it works for some I guess...every situation is different

Try putting the pad outside.;)

Well, I can tell you from experience what worked for us. Buddy came from the breeder trained to use newspaper. I continued to keep the newspaper down so he would not have accidents in the house. At the same I was really working with him on pottying outside. But I thought having the newspaper down only confused him. One day my DH said, lets get rid of the newspaper and see what happens. From that day forward Buddy never pee'd or pooped in the house again....he would hold it!!!! Having the newspaper down only told him it was ok to potty in the house. The same goes for pee pads....as long as they are down your furbaby will continue to use them. Perhaps you could only put the pee pad down when you are going to be gone for an extended period of time.
By the way, he must be a great little guy that you can let him roam the house at his age!!!! What a sweet boy he must be!!!
Best of luck to you!!!!

Pee pads work for me, and there is no way I would ever go back to the outside stuff...heck, the last 2 days one of these dogs has had diarrhea, and luckily, the pee pad was down, sure made it easier than cleaning it up off the carpet. Plus, I like being able to come and go as I please, heck, when I had 2 dogs, I could go for one night and stay in a hotel, and with clean pee pads down, food and water, they were fine..can't do that if you have to get home and let them out..plus, oh how they stink when it rains...I think if my vet told me that, I would be looking for a new vet!!

I leave the peepads down for mine day and night. But we dont use them so we dont have to take them out, They go out every day . the pads are only used at night and when we are not home. Im so glad that they do both. I would not want mine just peepad trained. So Im very glad mine got use to both.

I have one who only goes on pee pads, or the carpet and one who is trained only outside (my pom) and Pixie who wasn't getting the hang of the pee pads so she now goes outside most if the time. I definately feel in my case the pee pads do make them think they can go anywhere if they feel like it.

Mine also use pee pads and go outside too. If I don't put down the pee pads they will go in the same spot that the pee pad was in. They will poop outside if they are left out there long enough but they don't like to. I tried crate training for a while but it didn't work out very well. And if it is raining or wet outside I would rather them go on the pee pads anyway so they don't get dirty paws and carry that in the house. I have just decided that it make life easier with the pee pads at certain times. Good luck with wahtever you choose.

**also wanted to add that my dogs will only potty on the pee pad or if the pee pad isn't down they will potty in that same spot that the pee pad is supposed to be in, they will not potty anywhere else (they did when they were younger but not now)

We are also dual-trained - potty pads and outside. Our older dog's potty pad is downstairs in the basement. He will go to the stairs and "ask" whether he should go outside or downstairs. He would much rather go outside. If we say "outside", he runs to the door. But if there is 5 feet of snow or it's a tornado outside, all we have to say is 'downstairs" and he runs down. Coby's getting to be the same way. He would rather go outside but having him potty pad trained has saved us from accidents. He just isn't trained to ask what we prefer yet. ;)

Also, we can leave Reggie for extended periods of time with no worries. Coby is still in a crate when we're gone, but hopefully one day, we'll get our freedom back!

I used them for Deiter. I still leave them down, for that just in case. Sometimes I may not see where he has to go, beings he just doesn't bark to let you know. He just gives you a look. Plus with Cozmo not that he even knows what it is for. Sometimes I think he is just untrainable. But Dieter hasn't used them in a while.

I agree.

My girl is a winter baby and came trained to use pine pellets in a litter box but I switched her over to litter crystals and wee wee pads. She didn't want to go to the bathroom outside until late spring now she has lots of options.

This year I also introduced a new product called pup turf; you put it in a litter box, it looks just like grass, it's washable and is supposed to last about 7 years... she loves it. (I retail it, if you want more info check out my site)

Alana

I use pee pads and would much prefer not to, but in our case, that's the best solution. We live kinda out in the country and we're in what is called the "secondary snowbelt". We get TONS of snow in the winter, and it's COLD. I don't want to take my babies out when it's so bad out. We have a friend who plows our driveway for us, but I am unable to shovel snow by the door or shovel a path to the backyard. So, it's just much easier for us to use the pee pads. Jake rarely has an accident and has been extremely easy to train. Jackson is still young yet, but he's doing really well too. I don't have many accidents, so this just works for us.

You know what......I think I may try that too!!! Mojo and Lily are good about going outside (we stay home), but I have them down (in case they need them at night or something)...but I think I might take them up and see what happens!!!!

Each house/dog/person is different......so what works works!

My sister has 5 little ones in the house, they have always been trained to go outside, but, they still pee and poop in the house, and she's had them on the same schedule for years..So, even outside trained dogs will still go on carpets, and kitchen rugs..:)

Ali, there is one other thing you can do, start gradually moving the pee pad closer to the door, that's the way you're supposed to go from pad to outside..
Also, you said he has run of the house when you're gone? Does he not chew? I had a little dog years ago that I thought because she was housebroken, she could have run of the house, well, when she was 7 or 8 mos. old, I didn't see her anywhere(and I was home), I went in the bedroom and she had chewed an electrical cord on our lamp in 1/2. How she kept from being electrocuted is beyond me, but, that's something to think about when leaving him have run of the house..