Potty pads, also known as puppy pads or pee pads, are useful tools for teaching your puppy where to appropriately relieve itself. Since using a potty pad isn’t instinctual, training is required for your puppy to learn. Consistency is crucial in this process, helping your puppy eventually transition to outdoor bathroom habits.

Potty training a new puppy can be difficult if you don’t know what to do, but there are several aids you can use to help your puppy go potty where you want it to go.

Choosing a Potty Pad

The idea behind using a potty pad is to provide a visible, consistent area for your puppy to go potty. You’ll want to choose something absorbent, easy to clean up, and large enough for the messes that your specific puppy makes. Large breed dogs may need heavy-duty options compared to toy breeds. Newspapers, paper towels, cloth towels, and store-bought pee pads or indoor/outdoor carpet potty stations are all options.

Newspaper and paper towels can be messy and difficult to clean up after your puppy potties on them, but they are inexpensive. Cloth towels are absorbent but will need to be washed regularly, and your puppy is more likely to try to chew on it like a blanket or toy. Store-bought pee pads are the most popular option due to their absorbency, size options, and ease of disposal. If you plan to train your small dog to use the potty indoors, then indoor/outdoor carpet potty stations specifically designed for dogs are good options.

Introduce Your Puppy to the Potty Pads

Allow your puppy to see and sniff the potty pads you chose. This will help it get used to the new item so it isn’t scared of it at potty time. Let your puppy walk on the pad while you repeat a consistent command that you plan to say at potty time, such as “Go potty.”

Anticipate When Your Puppy Will Potty

While potty training your puppy, you’ll need to keep them close by so that you can anticipate when they are about to go potty. There are a few key times and behaviors to watch for that will help you anticipate your puppy having to urinate or defecate:

• Puppies usually potty after sleeping, eating, drinking, and playing. After your puppy does one of these things, you’ll want to pick it up about 15 minutes later and place it onto the potty pad in anticipation of it having to urinate or defecate.
• If your puppy starts sniffing around on the ground instead of playing or chewing on a toy, this is a good indication that it needs to go potty. You’ll want to pick it up and place it on the potty pad if it starts doing this.
• Your puppy may have to go potty every two to three hours. Get in the habit of taking your puppy to the potty pad every few hours.

Reward Your Puppy

Praise and treats work wonders with puppies. If your puppy goes potty on its potty pad, make sure you immediately praise it. This can be verbal in an excited tone of voice, by petting your puppy, or by giving it a special, soft treat reserved only for potty time.

Be Consistent

Keep your puppy on a regular schedule. This will make it easier for you to anticipate when your puppy may need to potty.

Say the same command phrase each time.

Keep the potty pad in the same place until your puppy starts going to the potty pad by itself. Once your puppy knows what to do on the potty pad, you can slowly move it closer to the door or outside where you want your puppy to eventually use the bathroom without the use of the potty pad.

Training Mistakes to Avoid

Do not encourage your puppy to pull or chew on the potty pad, eat food on it, or play on it. This may confuse your puppy as to what the purpose of the potty pad is.

Do not move the potty pad around until your puppy knows what it is for and is going potty on it consistently.

Be sure to find and use a treat that your puppy is excited about getting. This will help with the training process.

Problems and Proofing Behavior

If your puppy isn’t making it to the potty pad on time, try putting it closer to where it usually plays or eats, and then slowly move it closer to the door if you aim to eventually teach it to potty outside.

If you are having issues keeping an eye on your puppy and it has accidents when you aren’t looking, try the following strategies:

• Add a bell to its collar to help you hear where it is.
• Leave the leash on for the puppy to drag behind it, which will leave somewhat of a trail for you to follow.
• Consider putting your puppy in a crate or exercise pen to nap, which may encourage it to whine if it has to potty since dogs don’t like to mess where they also sleep.

If your puppy seems to be constantly urinating, talk to your veterinarian about potential problems that some puppies are known for having.

While most pet parents associate pee pads with puppies, pee pad training can be a helpful tool for pet parents with dogs of any age.  Learning how to train a dog to use a pee pad can be hugely beneficial, whether raising a young puppy, a senior dog, or living in an apartment without access to a backyard. 

Here, we’ll walk through how to train your dog to use a pee pad. We’ll outline the steps, offer helpful tips, and share methods for house-training with kindness and consistency.

Why Use a Pee Pad?

Pee pads have many benefits, including making it easier to housetrain a pet and hopefully minimizing a mess in the interim. 

Puppies may be most associated with pee pads, as plenty of pet parents use them as a transitional step before moving their dogs to outdoor potty breaks.  

Beyond puppies, though, there are other situations where pee pads make sense, including: 

• Senior or Special Needs Dogs: Dogs with certain conditions or limited mobility could benefit from having an alternate potty option within striking distance. 
• Extreme Weather: Outdoor training can be challenging for parents who reside in areas with heavy snowstorms, heat waves, and heavy rain. 
• Apartment-Living: Pet parents who reside in urban areas without easy outdoor access or yard access could benefit from a nearby indoor alternative. 

Supplies You’ll Need

Training your dog to use a pee pad takes commitment, but also the right supplies. Some essentials that can set you and your dog up for success include: 

• Leak-proof, Absorbent Pee Pads: These high-quality pads can handle the mess and attract your pet to encourage continued use. 
• Enclosed space or playpen: A space that limits roaming and creates a consistent area for your pet to look at. 
• Training treats: To aid positive reinforcement for successful eliminations. 
• Strong Cleaner: A strong cleaning product (for example, enzyme-based) that can eliminate odors quickly when accidents happen (they will!). Also, avoid ammonia cleaners that mimic the smell of urine to dogs. 

Step-by-Step Pee Pad Training

Set yourself and your puppy up for shared success by following these steps: 

1. Choose the Right Spot

• Find a lightly trafficked location that your dog can quickly navigate to, and keep the pad there without moving around too much. Consistency and building a routine can help ease the process. 

2. Create a Limited Space

• Contain the space around the pad, using items like gates or a playpen, to keep your dog confined to a smaller space so that accidents, if they happen, are easier to spot and clean. 

3. Introduce the Pad

• Show your pet the pad – early and often. Build a routine by visiting the pad after play, naps, or meals, especially if you observe signs like sniffing, circling, or whining that might indicate they need to go. 

4. Use a Cue Word or Easy to Understand Command 

• Every time your pet uses or visits the pad, use a simple command word to reinforce the association between the pad and the elimination. 

5. Praise and Reward

• Praise your pet immediately for successful eliminations by giving them a treat as a reward. Dogs thrive on positive reinforcement, and treats go a long way toward showing approval. 

6. Maintain a Consistent Routine 

• Make visits to the pee pad and the location you have it set repeatedly to build positive habits. 

What to Do If Your Dog Misses The Pad

Accidents happen and are a normal part of training your dog to pee on a pad. When they occur, here’s what to do: 

• Clean the mess thoroughly with the cleaner, removing odors and hopefully preventing future accidents. 
• Calmly lead your dog to the pad, being mindful not to punish negatively. 
• Reinforce success by using treats as rewards for good behavior. 
• Keep monitoring your dog’s efforts. If accidents occur repeatedly, explore a new setup to make the process easier. 

Gradually Move The Pad (Optional)

For pet parents who have access to a yard or other yard-like space, outdoor potty-ing may be a preferable scenario and more suitable to their lifestyle than a pad indoors for the long term.

To get there, first ensure that your pet is comfortable and can routinely use the pee pad in the first location you’ve established. Then, follow the process to transition to an outdoor situation slowly, gradually moving the pad closer and closer to the location you want them to go to in small steps eventually. 

Throughout the process of gradually moving the pee pad, maintain consistency and keep your pet’s routine similar. Use the same cue word, positive reinforcement, and praise for successes. 

Eventually, move the pee pad outdoors, and then remove the pee pad entirely once your dog can successfully navigate outdoors fully. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Cut down on potential setbacks by avoiding some common mistakes that can confuse your dog throughout the process of training on a pee pad, like: 

• Moving the pad around too soon and too often can impact the routine and confuse your pet as to where it should be going. 
• Using ammonia-based cleaners, which smell like urine to dogs and can trick them into thinking the location where they’ve had an accident is actually OK
• Lacking consistency in schedule or with praise/reward won’t allow them to understand the specific triggers that have earned them a treat. 
• Lacking patience or expecting results immediately. Potty training takes time, and patience is a must for pet parents. 

Training Your Dog on a Pee Pad: A Worthwhile Process

Learning how to train your dog on a pee pad isn’t easy. It takes time, consistent effort, and the utmost patience with your pet. But the process is worth it. 

In training your dog to use a pad, you are establishing or building toward a potty solution that suits you and your pet’s lifestyle – whether that’s for eventual outdoors elimination or long-term indoor pad use. Potty training a dog indoors is a start. Continue to reward successes and small wins, and be patient. And know that for the long term you’re building a positive relationship between you, your dog, and the living space you both call home.   

Feature Image by Aleš Háva from Pixabay

Other Photo by Tanya Gorelova/Pexels