For any new dog owner who wants to train their cute little puppy, it’s easy to feel like you’re overwhelmed with options. If you ask anyone or search online about training methods, you’re sure to be bombarded with all the latest crazes in the world of dog-training. Whether you’re enduring gimmicky sales pitches about the holistic value of reading ancient Greek philosophy to your dog or listening to practical advice from professional dog trainers, there’s one thing that’s always consistent — you have a lot of options to choose from, and it can be hard to settle on the best ones for your pup.

If we’re talking about dog training, one of the most important priorities for every owner of a bright young pupper is potty training. There are various ways and methods to train your dog, and it’s understandable for you to be skeptical about them. In your research of potty training, you’ve no doubt read about puppy pads, and wondered, “should I use puppy pads?”

Despite the fact that we sell puppy pads, we want to be honest and say the answer isn’t always a flat “yes.” It can depend very much on your dog and your situation, but for the most part, puppy pads are a reliable and effective tool for potty training. Let’s look at some of the reasons why.

When to Use Puppy Pads

If You Have Easy Access to the Outdoors

The first thing that you should know is that puppy pads are, by and large, a means to an end. Barring special circumstances (which will be covered below), the sole intent of puppy pads is to train your dog to form a permanent habit of peeing outdoors.

In a nutshell, a puppy pad provides a “reliable” spot for your little canine buddy to take care of his business. Puppy pads are typically filled with attractants which appeal to your dog’s superpowered nose, enticing them to pee on the pads. When they do this multiple times, it creates a sense of familiarity and habit for the dog. Being creatures of routine, dogs love to have designated potty spots.

Once they’re used to the pad, you can strategically move it over a period of time closer and closer to the outdoors, until you finally have them leaving through their doggy door and urinating outside. Eventually, you remove the pad altogether, and bam — you’ve got a potty-trained dog!

With all this considered, it naturally follows that puppy pads are a great tool if you have easy access to the outdoors. This is ideal for homeowners who have a doggy door and a yard to which the dog has easy access. If you want to make the experience even more authentic, consider  grass puppy pads!

If Your Dog Has Incontinence Issues

Incontinence is defined as a “lack of voluntary control over urination or defecation.” It’s easy to understand why this wouldn’t be an easy condition for anyone to live with, even an animal as happy-go-lucky as dogs. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for dogs to develop incontinence. There are several reasons why this could occur in your pet:

• Genetics: Unfortunately, some dogs just have less control over their bladder than others. While specialized breeding has allowed us to bring many different types of wonderful dogs in the world, some of them face disadvantages. Just like pugs and bulldogs are known to have respiratory challenges, many small or “toy” dog breeds have trouble controlling their bladder. This is often due to how tiny their bladder actually is but can also be attributed to a weak bladder sphincter.
• Infections: Just like humans, dogs can suffer from urinary tract infections (UTIs). This can temporarily inhibit their bladder control, and sometimes result in permanent effects.
• Surgery: Sometimes surgeries can permanently affect your dog’s bladder. Many female dogs have been known to have incontinence issues after a spaying surgery, for example.
• Diseases and Medication: Certain diseases such as diabetes or kidney disease provoke your dog to drink excessive amounts of water, causing them to urinate more, often out of their control. Likewise, medications can also have side effects which cause the same thing.

We aren’t veterinary experts, so we encourage you to visit your local vet clinic to diagnose your dog if you’re seeing incontinence issues. But, in the meantime, puppy pads can help! Many dogs with incontinence don’t have complete lack of control over their bladder, and will tinkle somewhere familiar if it’s close and convenient for them. That being said, the backyard is usually too far to meet these conditions.

If your dog has urinary problems, puppy pads can be a great long-term solution. To this end, we recommend  washable puppy pads, since you can use them over and over.

If Your Dog Can’t Get Out Much

We said it earlier and we’ll say it again — getting your pup to pee outside is the ideal endgame for potty training. Unfortunately, there are some situations where that’s not practical.

Earlier in this post, we mentioned how easy outdoor access is a good condition for puppy pads. Ironically, the exact opposite is also true. If going outside is a major inconvenience, puppy pads can be a boon in preventing accidental urine spills all over your apartment.

Consider a dog owner who lives in a high-rise apartment, 20 floors up. It’s not exactly fun to leash up, wait for an elevator, stand there in suspense as your dog does the pee-pee dance, and then have an awkward faceoff with a stranger when the doors open and you’re standing there over a fresh pile of dog urine.

The bottom line is that some dogs will wait until the last minute to communicate that they want to pee, and if you can’t get outdoors fast, you’re going to be dealing with potty accidents.

Puppy pads, of course, can prevent this. While you should strive to train your dog in peeing on a grass patch on your balcony and taking them outside when you can, puppy pads are a great solution when you’re unable to get out quickly.

Puppy Pad Caveats

While puppy pads are mostly advantageous, they aren’t foolproof and it’s important to know this going in. If you use puppy pads as a crutch because you don’t want to go through the effort of actually training your dog, they could very well become dependant on the pads. If you don’t kick this habit within a reasonable period of time, it might actually make their training more difficult in the long run.

And sometimes, in rare occasions, dogs just don’t take well to puppy pads. You can never completely predict how a dog or puppy will act in a given situation, and sometimes they just don’t cooperate, no matter how hard you want them to. If you order from New Puppy Pads and the product doesn’t live up to your expectations, we are always willing to  communicate with you personally about the problem!

Disposable and Washable Puppy Pads For Sale

In most situations, puppy pads are a reliable and effective way to potty train your dog. At New Puppy Pads, we’re happy to offer all kinds of Puppy Pad products! Whether you want to order washable puppy pads and reuse them until the end of time, or a big batch of disposable puppy pads for one-time potty training, we know we’ll have whatever you’re looking for.  Browse our selection today!