Using Wee Wee Pads with a Puppy or Adult Dog

Wee wee pads are one of those products that you only think of if you have a) a puppy that needs to be house trained / house broken or b) an older dog that is starting to have incontinence problems. While neither stage of the dog aging life-cyle is one that is particularly easy on your house, the use of dog pee pads can help protect your flooring while helping to train your dog what areas are appropriate for urgent urination.

Puppies

In regards to puppies, wee wee pads are a great way to teach your growing pup where to urinate so that if you are not able to catch him before he has an accident in the house, there is one protected spot he can go without hurting your floors. As your puppy gets the hang of using a wee wee pad, you can start moving the pad closer and closer to the door. Pretty soon, you can move the dog pee pad outside, and your dog will be potty trained! I didn't know about these pads when I was house training my pup - I think the pads would have saved a lot of carpet cleaner, paper towels, and frustration!

Our vet, Dr. Brown, has some step-by-step tips on how to get your puppy used to a pee pad, in addition to the steps out-lined above for using a dog pee pad as a house training tool:

Adult & Senior Dogs

As much as I hear about wee wee pads being used for puppies, I had not thought about them being used for incontinent dogs until my dog-in-law, Guin, starting aging and having some bladder problems. Common among spayed dogs, incontinence can occur when your female dog begins aging. Unfortunately, you never know if the urination problems will occur, when they might occur, or how frequently they will occur. In Guin’s case, wee wee pads are used during the day as a supplement to her regular outdoor visits. At night, she wears a doggie diaper, just to help prevent any potential night-time accidents. When Guin was first introduced to wee wee pads, she was given the adult wee wee pads for her training. She would use the pad maybe 1 out of 3 times when she had an incident. She is a dignified old lady, and we joked that she dis-liked having a pee pad. The reason we joked was because the 2 times she didn’t use the pad, she went right next to it. To prevent this kind of initial resistance, something that might help train your older dog to use wee wee pads is to start out with the puppy version. The puppy wee wee pads have a special attractant to teach young pups to use the pad. If it works with the youngsters, I figure it has to work with the older dogs. Once your older dog learns to use a pee pad with attractant, you can switch over to the adult version, if you see fit.

Comments

[Andrea Scola]

My Chia, a 14-year old Pomeranian was trained to use pads from puppyhood. Now she has problems with her limbs and is not steady on the pads; the surface s too slippery. Are the adult pads less slippery? Is there a product that is less slippery? Sadly, she flops around on the pad and tries so hard to be good, but it's difficult and heartbreaking to see her struggle. Any ideas??
Many thanks.

[Linda, China's mommy!]

Got China two months ago, terrier dachshund mix (high legs) and she needs to use the pee pee pads. She refuses. Shes 4 1/2. Is it too late? I have the ones with the attractant but she just looks at it. Its pouring, shes too little and had pneumonia when the shelter found her. I dont want to take her out. How do I get her to use the pads?

[Jana]

Hi Andrea, I just read your comment, and certainly feel your frustration as ourt pets are our children and we hate to see them struggle! I had the idea that you could buy a square of artificial turf which some people train their dogs to go on in apartments with a tray under them, (then they just rinse them off to clean). How about putting the turf down (with a rubber anti-slip rug pad under if needed), and then put the pee pad on top? I would think the rough grass like surface would keep the pad in place. Or maybe just the anti-slip pad under, or maybe even just scotch tape the edges of the pee pad to the tile or vinyl floor? Good luck!

[jacki]

there are pee wee pads that have tape on them so they stick to the floor they work really good at not moving around