The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi has anyone here used these with their puppies? I plan on using these for awhile while the pups are young and of course bringing them outside often also. Plan on placing a lg one in a lg holder in their xpen area only. Are there any certain ones that anyone here really liked that worked great for their pus? Thanks! Denise

It is confusing for a dog to be allowed to go in the house and then be told they must go outside. It is best to train directly to go outside to do their business either with a doggie door or perhaps the bells on the doorknob method.

My friend has a wireless doorbell on a hollow brick for her dogs. It was very easy to travel with them and just put the brick by the front door no matter where they were.

I agree that it is best to bring outside , but I don't want to have nothing in their play xpen for them . So that is why I ask.

I used to set my timer for my little grand dog when she came to live with me. Every time it went off she went outside. I made a big game of it and reminded her about the doggie door. It was easy to make sure she knew when to stop playing and go outside (many of them forget or are having too much fun and then it is too late). If you are at home it may be a fun game to encourage going outside.

Hmmm , timer that could be a fun game !

I never trained to go inside and took them out every 30 minutes or so, but I did have to work when Karlie was young and she was gated in our master bathroom all day so I also wanted her to have a place to go if she needed to. I tried the puppy pads and holder she shreded them they are paper after all : )) The thing that worked for us was a fake grass puppy pad with a tray underneath. We put the puppy pads under the grass and grass protected them from being ripped up. As our backyard is also artificial turf she knew what is was for. In all fairness to Karlie she rarely if ever used it, and I could tell by the puppy pads if they were stained. As I've said before Karlie was the easiest dog to housetrain she just seemed to know that potty was not done in the house and would ask to go out from about 4 months on. You can find the grass puppy pad at most Petsmarts and Petco's. Now we use the mat when it rains we can put it under the patio cover and the girls don't have to get wet. So all in all money well spent

I always trained to just go out but my schedule allowed for that. While I have never used the "potty pads" (those are the artificial turf in the holder) I do know several people that swear they are lifesavers. As a matter of fact one woman I know has one she keeps in her garage and uses it if it's too wet, cold or snowy to take the pups out.

Wow what an invention to put real grass in a box!

We have doggie doors so all 4 dogs are free to come and go outside from the house, thru the garage, to the doggie run area as they please.
But we also have one of those 'potty pads' in our garage and I know it does get used by Leila if she decides it is too wet outside for her princess toes. Having this 'pad' is sooo much better than how she used to potty on the garage cement floor when it was raining and then having it tracked into the house on wet doggie paws.

When Gromit was a puppy, I would leave her in an ex-pen when I wasn't home and at night. She didn't get free reign of the house until she was about 8 months old. In the ex-pen was her bed, food and water bowls, some toys, and a pee pad. I found if I taped the edges down to the tile, she didn't disturb the pee pad. She actually used the pads very little, after just a couple of weeks she got to where she wouldn't go if she was in the pen. I bought 4 large packages of pads when a local store went out of business, and ended up giving 3 of them away! And the rest of the 4th one my husband used when he would change the oil on the cars

Good idea for use in the RV!

I cant say I agree or not with the different opinions but I can tell just by my experience. When Holly was a puppy we had different techniques: she will stay in a closed covered porch(Florida room) during the day and I used newspapers so she was trained to used them. At night she was crated, taken outside first thing in the morning, and when I was at home she wast taught to sit by the door whenever she wanted to go out. When she was allowed to sleep at night on a dog bed, I put newspapers on the bathroom for her in case of any need to go. When she turned to be an adult then she has no need for newspapers at all. For years she knows to sit at the door when she wants to go out and during the day she learned to hold it as long as 9 to 10 hours with no accidents. As she has become a senior, she stills do her thing outside, sitting by the door when she wants to go out but during the day, as I have to work and be away 9 to 10 hours I restarted using the newspapers(maybe 4 months ago) and pads for any need to do her thing as I dont want her to hold for so long. She has been good but I know is crazy to ask her to hold for so many hours considering she is 12 1/2 years old. I recommend you make the going out to pee a good thing with rewards and structure. Good luck.