Congratulations! You’ve brought home a new furry addition of the canine variety to join your family. With the exception of selecting food and toys for your newest bundle of joy, the issue of housetraining is typically the highest priority for new pet owners. Since the new puppy will be spending lots of time inside the home things can get pretty messy until the little guy starts to understand that grass means go and carpet means no!
Dog training pads are a very useful invention that can reduce the mess during the training process. But, not everyone decides to use training pads and there is some vocal opposition to the practice. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of introducing dog training pads to your home during the training process.
It should be noted that dog training pads are a good long-term solution for specific situations above and beyond housetraining. Older dogs who cannot walk long distances or injured dogs may be better off relying on a training pad inside the home where they are safe. Additionally, pet owners in high rises and urban environments who do not have easy access to grass turn to training pads for their dog’s dirty business. And of course, if you are unable to safely go outside due to winter or other weather conditions, then pads may be your only choice.
In this article, we are going to focus on the pros and cons of using dog training pads in the house-training process.
Pros of Using Dog Training Pads
– Convenience for you and your puppy, as you do not need to open the door or walk as many times per day.
– Can reduce the amount of waste that touches your carpets or other flooring which can ruin them or build up odors.
– Safety, as you can avoid walking your puppy late at night if it is not safe in your area.
– Inexpensive compared to constantly cleaning your carpets to get pet waste out of them.
Cons of Using Dog Training Pads
– Using pads can prevent you from spending as much time outside with your dog and getting more exercise for you both.
– Not properly disposing of pads correctly can leave an unpleasant pet waste odor in your home. Use a pet waste disposal system such as Lucky Champ to solve this problem.
– It can be difficult later to take the option of a pad away from your dog and actually delay the training process in some cases.
The end goal is to get your dog to understand where it is acceptable—and where it is not—to do their business. You get to decide on the boundaries based on your specific situation and constraints. If you have the luxury of a fenced in yard, perhaps dog training pads are unnecessary for you. However, if you are gone for long periods of time or do not have grass that you can quickly reach when your puppy starts showing signs of needing to go, then dog training pads are going to be a necessity.