does anyone use these? i was thinking, when i get my next dog and i was thinking of a small one, will it be possible to house train it but to get it to go on puppy pads at night so i can lock the dog flap? will it do both?

I know there will be many who oppose the use of these pads, however I used them with great success.
My pup was very tiny in the mid winter and I felt it would be to the point of cruelty to take such a young pup outside frequently in sub zero winds and deep snow and ice, hence the use of the pads. I kept a pad by the back door and she learnt very quickly to go there, in fact she would toddle the length of the house to reach the pad and I had very few accidents any where else in the house. As she got a little older and the weather improved I took her out during the day and used the pad at night, but this did not last very long as she quickly learnt to go outside instead of on the pad even during the night. I found that house training was easy and the pads prevented the ordeal of a freezing puppy shivering in the cold and I can't honestly say there was any smell or nasty side to the pads.
Would I use them again with a pup, yes absolutely, the change from pad to garden was easy.
The best ones were the RSPCA pads sold by Argos, much thicker and bigger than the rest

( once my pup dragged the pad out the back door into the garden, wee'd on it and then came back indoors very pleased with herself  lol )

Don't know if it was my dog but my eldest i used puppy pads for and he was about 7 months old before we stopped having any accidents - this i felt was contributed by using the pads so the dog felt he could/should go indoors, despite still doing outdoor training most of the time..

The youngest i decided against and within a very short space of time he was clean in the house.

I'm personally against them, but each to their own..

I don't understand how anyone CAN use them -that's quite apart from not agreeing with them. I mean the logistics of it all. I have a puppy that is 5 months old, she weighs all of 1.5 kg. I didn't want to use puppy pads for HER, but was getting fed up with one or more of my cats (never caught them) who kept peeing in a corner in the hall. Figured at least if I bought puppy pads and put there, the cat pee would be easier to clean up! So bought a big packet, put a pad down. 5 minutes later my house looked like it had snowed as this tiny, tiny pup had carried the pad off, into her bed, and shredded it! Now if a pup THAT size can do it, I'd hate to think what a larger one can do!!

HATE THEM! HATE THEM! HATE THEM! worst thing to come from the USA

Never used then for puppy toilet training but have used them for a bitch to whelp on, fab very absorbant and just throw away , no washing!

Peanuts

now that is a good idea, they do have some uses but house training is not one of them sorry.

> i was thinking, when i get my next dog and i was thinking of a small one, will it be possible to house train it but to get it to go on puppy pads at night so i can lock the dog flap? will it do both?

I've never used them for the exact reason that im going to use to answer this question - asking your dog to wee outside sometimes and wee on a pad indoors sometimes is just giving them mixed messages and in order to quickly and effectively housetrain a pup you need to give clear messages.
I dont think size of dog makes any difference to whether or not to use the pads. Small or big dog - the easiest way to housetrain them is to take them outside every hour to wee and give lots of praise and treats when they do it, after time you can introduce command words too.

the easiest way to housetrain them is to take them outside every hour to wee and give lots of praise and treats when they do it,

In an ideal world this is correct, but not everything is so black or white. What if you cannot take the pup outside every hour.
My pup was just about 8 weeks  and had just come home after spending 1 week in the vets fighting for her life with Parvo. There was no way an already weakened pup could be put outside in minus 5 degree temperatures in 10 inches of snow every hour without causing her more health problems. An alternative way of housetraining was necessary, so for the very first time I tried the pads. I was surprised just how easy they were. By 13 weeks she was 90% outside trained and by 15 weeks completely trained. I had only a couple of accidents indoors and she had no difficulty with mixed messages and changed to outside wees easily. I had never used pads before but if I had another pup during the winter time I would use them again without hesitation.
Until this time I too would have frowned on these methods but having no option I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I have no wish to cause bad feeling with anyone on this forum, however I feel that there are times when these pads are very useful.

Thank goodnes that others have the same feelilng as myself on wee wee pads. To invite a dog to pee indoors is madness!

I have used them with 3 out of my 6 dogs and I can honestly say there was no difference in time it took them to get clean than the 3 who didn't use them, I found with all the girls the accidents stopped around 7 months after first season until then then could be unreliable.
P.s I did find my ragdolls quite liked to tear them to pieces so stopped usingthem as was getting fed up of picking up the innards.

I have only ever used these in the bottom of a crate when travelling.  Tried one in the kitchen once only to return to confetti. 

Worried me that they might eat the gel granules, and these might do harm.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO don't use pads

I was very vigilant with my pup during the day, out every hour for a toilet break in addition to toilet breaks after waking, eating, drinking & playing (phew, a lot of toilet breaks!!), with lots of praise & a biccy for weeing in the garden. But during the night I left pads down for him to go on. He went on them, bless him, but all he learnt was that it's OK to pee on absorbent stuff if nobody is around to let him out :( :(

This means that my now, nearly 3 year old dog, will still pee on my sofa, his bed or door mats - I've thrown out 2 large rugs that have been ruined with wee :( :( It's getting less frequent now, with a lot of hard work, but still an adult Mastiff piddle puddle is a lot of wee!

My theory was, if he had an accident during the night, it would be easier to clean up on a pad - didn't think to look at it from the dogs POV untill it's too late.

I will never use pads for any future doggy additions to the family, I will set my alarm clock and get up several times throughout the night instead/sleep on the sofa with them - in the long run thats much less hassle than trying to re-train a dog thats learnt to pee in the house.

> I had never used pads before but if I had another pup during the winter time I would use them again without hesitation.
>

Why? Pups should be learning to wee outside in all weathers. Its not v nice for the owners :-) standing outside in gales and rain but thats part of taking on a puppy and training them.

Interesting to read such mixed reviews tho

I had never used pads before but if I had another pup during the winter time I would use them again without hesitation.

>

Why? Pups should be learning to wee outside in all weathers. Its not v nice for the owners  standing outside in gales and rain but thats part of taking on a puppy and training them.
.............
Because I have spent getting on for 70 years standing outside in all weather with various pups, but having used the pads once and found them to be very good and easy I really would use them again, this does not make me a bad or lazy owner, just one that has found a good alternative that trained my pup extremely well.

i agree all my dogs carried on peeing on occasion in the house till aorund seven months and the ones i used puppy pads with have never took to peeing on sofas or anything else, i still use them in crates when puppies are young but not on fllors as the cats demolish them.

When i got Penny i thought i'd give them a go... even bought this pad frame to keep it in place... BUT Penny did anything but wee on it... she thought it's great to tear apart and mess about with... i tried it on the first 2 days when i had her and then just gave up... waste of money... taking the dog outside after every meal, drink, sleep, play etc and getting it into a routine is much more worth while...yes, it takes some time but this is the fun of having a puppy :-)

Why would one want to have the pup wee in the house in the first place if you want it to be house trained and go outside for a wee?

I wouldn't recommend these pads...

i wanted to be able to lock it safely indoors at night. if im in bed asleep it wont ask me to go out will it?

It will if you're sleeping close by, within earshot.

both of mine used to bark/cry really loudly when they needed a wee at night time. have you thought of maybe crate training it? Usually, unless they have no other choice, they won't soil their crate and should cry if they need to go outside. I never really slept too deeply during the first few nights anyway as I always kept one ear listening out for them.

mine dont ever make a noise to let me know trhey want out, they hope that staring at me will wake me up, they dont even cry at the back door to let us know they want out and thats all 7 of them.

Tried using a pad for my pup for the first time today and she tore it to shreds, actually when you think about it 'of course she would', she's a puppy! Ok now revert to plan A.

> Ok now revert to plan A.

which is standing outside with her, with an umbrella saying please hurry up.

lol Brainless that is so true

If I were a puppy I would tear the puppy pads up also! this is one of the most horrible thing to come from the usa

no belly bands are worse ! lol