Should I Use Puppy Pads?

Puppy pads are a reasonable tool when you can't get your puppy outside often enough. That covers long workdays, high-rise apartments, very small or senior dogs, and the weeks before your vet clears outdoor spots.

If you can get outside every couple of hours and outdoors is the goal, you may not need them. Puppies form surface preferences early, so whatever you reward first tends to stick.

Neither choice is wrong. Here's what the veterinary guidance says, and how to use pads well if you decide to.

What do vets say about puppy pads?

The veterinary sources treat pads as one option among several. The Merck Veterinary Manual describes giving a dog an indoor elimination area, "eg, paper, indoor puppy potty", inside a confinement area for the times nobody can supervise.

The ASPCA is just as relaxed. Its house-training advice notes your goal may be for your dog to go on pee pads indoors or to go outside, and asks for the same praise either way.

What the sources agree on matters more than the pad question. Supervise closely, reward the right spot straight away, and never punish an accident. Merck explains that a dog punished after the fact will not connect the punishment with having gone in the house.

In the veterinary sources we checked, we found no study comparing pad training with outdoor-only training. Nobody has shown that one route is faster.

Why does the surface matter so much?

Here is the part most new owners never hear. Puppies learn where to go and what to go on, and they learn it young.

AAHA's behavior management guidelines say housetraining is most successfully learned at about 8.5 weeks. That's when a puppy's brain has developed enough to make an association with a preferred surface, and to understand that holding it may be a good idea.

A WSAVA congress paper by veterinary behaviorist Dr. Moses Heiblum puts the window for forming surface preferences at 7.5 to 8.5 weeks. He notes that location and surface preferences are common in dogs.

Now think about when most puppies come home. Merck gives 8½ weeks as the first age a dog can choose to hold it. So the surface a puppy is rewarded on in its first days with you carries real weight.

Merck describes housetraining as two jobs: teaching a preference for a surface such as grass, and teaching the puppy to wait until it gets there. Pads build the first habit indoors. That's useful if indoors is where you need it.

When do puppy pads make sense?

Pads earn their place whenever the gap between trips outside is longer than your puppy can manage. A few common situations:

• You're out for longer than your puppy can hold it. Merck's approach is a pen or small room with the pad at one end, so there's a right place to go while you're away.
• Getting outside takes too long, such as from a high floor. AAHA notes that puppies with small bladders and fast metabolisms may need to go out hourly, even once they're housetrained.
• You have a senior dog. The ASPCA suggests newspapers, a dog litter box or potty pads for older dogs who can't wait for frequent trips out.
• You're building an emergency kit. The ASPCA's disaster-prep list suggests pee pads for puppies and smaller dogs.

What about puppies who aren't fully vaccinated?

This is a fair worry, and a common reason people buy pads. Merck notes that parvovirus spreads through contact with infected feces, and outdoors, out of sun and drying, it can survive for many months.

The usual answer is care about where, not staying inside. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior calls early socialization, before vaccines are complete, the standard of care. It says the risk of infection is relatively small compared with the risk from behavior problems.

Ask your vet which outdoor spots are sensible for your puppy right now. A quiet corner of your own yard is very different from a busy dog park.

When might pads slow you down?

If the long-term goal is outdoors only, pads ask your puppy to learn two toilet surfaces and then give one up.

Timing is the other catch. Merck's housetraining plan is to go outside with your dog and reward the moment they finish. A pad used while you're at work earns no reward, so the lesson it teaches is weaker than a well-timed trip outside.

That doesn't make pads a mistake. It means the outdoor trips still need to happen, with rewards, whenever you are home. Our guide on how to potty train a puppy walks through the full schedule.

How do I use puppy pads the right way?

Treat the pad as a fixed toilet spot, with the same rules as an outdoor one.

1. Put it in the confinement area, away from the bed and the food bowl. Merck notes dogs tend not to go where they eat, play or sleep, which is why a small pen works.
2. Keep it in one place. Moving it around makes the location harder to learn.
3. Take your puppy to it at the predictable times. Merck lists after meals, after waking and after play, and suggests going 15 to 30 minutes after eating.
4. Reward on the pad, straight away, while your puppy is still there. Praise and something tasty, as the ASPCA puts it.
5. Change soiled pads promptly and clean any misses thoroughly.

A crate fits into this plan for shorter stretches. Our guide on how to crate train a puppy covers how long a puppy can stay inside one.

Regular meal times make toilet times easier to predict too, which is covered in our guide on what to feed a puppy.

How do I switch from pads to going outside?

Think of it as shifting where the rewards happen. The habit follows the payoff.

Start taking your puppy outside at the exact moments they'd normally use the pad: after meals, naps and play. Go to the same outdoor spot each time, and reward the moment they finish, as Merck describes.

Keep the pad available for the hours you're away until your puppy can reliably hold it that long. Nights take longer. AAHA notes it may take several months before a puppy can hold it through the night.

Expect a few setbacks. If your puppy goes indoors, clean up calmly and head out sooner next time. The ASPCA points out that a dog learns nothing from being scolded for an accident it has already had.

Call your vet promptly if your puppy:

• was reliably using the pad or going outside, then starts having accidents again
• strains, cries or seems uncomfortable when peeing or pooping
• is peeing much more often, or in larger amounts
• dribbles urine without seeming to notice
• seems unwell after a trip to a public outdoor area

Merck is clear that any medical problem causing more urine, more frequent trips, discomfort or loss of control has to be ruled out before house soiling is treated as a training issue.

Questions new puppy parents ask

Are puppy pads bad for potty training?

No. Merck lists an indoor toilet area as an option for unsupervised hours. If outdoors is the goal, keep rewarding outdoor trips every time you can.

Should I put a puppy pad in the crate?

Usually not. Merck groups the crate with places a dog won't eliminate, because it's where they sleep. For longer stretches, Merck's approach is a larger pen with the toilet area inside it.

Can I use pads at night and go outside during the day?

Yes, and many people do. AAHA notes it can take several months before a puppy holds it all night.

Do puppy pads work for older dogs?

Yes. The ASPCA suggests potty pads, newspapers or a dog litter box for senior dogs who can't wait for frequent trips out.

Sources

• Merck Veterinary Manual: Behavior Problems of Dogs
• Merck Veterinary Manual, Dog Owners: Behavior Problems in Dogs
• Merck Veterinary Manual: Canine Parvovirus Infection
• Hammerle M et al. 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines. JAAHA, 2015
• Heiblum M. Elimination Behavior Problems in Dogs. WSAVA World Congress, 2002
• American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior: Position Statement on Puppy Socialization
• ASPCA: House Training Your Dog or Puppy
• ASPCA: Behavior Problems in Older Dogs
• ASPCA: Disaster Prep Kits, What You Need to Keep Your Pets Safe

This article is for general information and is not veterinary advice. Talk to your vet about your own dog — they know the animal in front of them.

Choolip products are food supplements, not medicine. They are not intended to diagnose or manage any medical condition. If your dog has been diagnosed with a condition, their diet should be set by your vet.