Toilet Training Puppies - Ditch the Pee Pads!

Pee pads seem to be marketed as essentials for training a new puppy. Unfortunately they’re also among the leading causes for toilet training challenges, which is why one of my first recommendations on puppy consults is often to ditch them!

Our goal with toilet training puppies is typically to teach them to go on natural surfaces outside. Not to toilet inside the house. When we use pee pads, we are blurring those boundaries - this one artificial surface inside is okay but nothing else. And that’s only until people get sick of the dog toileting indoors and then the rules change again. It’s confusing as hell for the pup.

I prefer establishing a good routine and using a crate to manage pups access to the house.

Take pup out to toilet regularly, particularly when they first wake up, after playing, eating or drinking. In addition to this, if they’re out of their crate, you should be directly supervising so you can spot the signs that they need to go out, eg scratching at a spot on the floor, sniffing and turning in circles. And when they are taken out to toilet, that’s done on lead so they can’t muck around and you know when they are actually going. It takes a little extra effort upfront but as much as it sucks standing out in the rain waiting for a pup to go, the simplicity of it means they tend to catch on much faster.

Puppy pads can have a place in a few situations, for example if you’re travelling in a dodgy area and don’t feel comfortable letting pup on the ground or if pup is super young or unwell. You may also be in a living situation that makes it hard to get pup outside, though in those cases I’d prefer a more natural surface in a litter tray style set up.

The more they practice what we do want - generally toileting outside on natural surfaces - the quicker they’ll catch on. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to be clear to the pup what the expectations are.