I've read a number of posts lately that almost seem to suggest that using newspaper or training pads for puppies makes house training more difficult.

I've always used paper in conjunction with frequent taking the pup out, including at night. The paper is there as a fail safe and a convenience (I have BIG pups :) ) and also so that the puppy is less likely to 'make a mistake' even if it is caught short. I always put a small bit of used paper down on the fresh papers and praise both the use of the paper and of outdoors. Very occasionally - and usually in bad weather - a pup has seemed to prefer the paper to grass. Then I've taken some paper (plus the used bit) outside and gradually decreased the size. But in the vast majority of cases I just remove the paper when the pup gets better control and is used to going outdoors.

I've used this method both with pups that have a crate and those that don't and it has always worked very well. Even if the pup sleeps in a crate I put a couple of sheets on the floor when it is out playing. Obviously if I see the pup investigating the paper it is a cue for a trip outside.

This has always worked very well for me and only problem I can remember is one 6 month deerhound who was caught short on a wet day - and wee'ed right across the Sunday Times I was reading spread out on the floor. :D

Any opinions?

My feeling is that when you use newspaper or pads you are infact training your dog to go "inside" rather than where you ultimately want him to go which of course is "outside".  Think of it this way, you train your pup that it's OK to go inside on paper then you have to re-train him that that is no longer right and you now want him to go outside on grass etc. so the training takes twice as long.  If you train him right from the start that the only correct place to go is "outside" then you cut your training time in half.

But, paper training has the advantage that you can sleep at night knowing that your tiny pup has a place to go and you don't need to be getting up half a dozen times a night to insure your pup doesn't have an accident.  The same applies if you need to go out, puppy has a place to go on the paper if he suddenly finds himself desperate, so it certainly has it's advantages.

"you train your pup that it's OK to go inside on paper then you have to re-train him that that is no longer right and you now want him to go outside on grass etc. so the training takes twice as long."

I'd agree with that if the pup was first trained only to use paper, and then re-trained to go outside, but I'm talking about parallel training for both with the option to use the paper withdrawn as the pup gets the idea about particular places to toilet and gains some control over bladder and bowels.

Hi Jas,

Coming from a very novice puppy owner, we have managed to get Jed dry in less than a couple of weeks, day and night, with out the need to use paper. How much of this is down to Jed, and how much of it is down to us and our ever eager eyes I don't know, but I would have thought that to use paper just makes things more complicated, and if it can be done with out, I can't see a use for them. I haven't got a clue on this, but I am guessing that when you first bring your puppies home, they don't instintivly go on the paper, so do you not have to train them to use the paper as well as then having to get them to grasp the idea that outside is for doing their business? To me, it sounds like you are saying 'dog you must go outside, but if not then use the paper', I would have thought that if all dogs had a choice of inside on the floor, or outside in the cold, wet, windy weather, they would choose inside everytime!

As I said, I know nothing except what we have done, and this is obviously what has worked for us, and when we get puppy no. 2, we will be using the same method as we used with Jed.

Nat :D

Congratulations on getting Jed clean so fast. :)

"To me, it sounds like you are saying 'dog you must go outside, but if not then use the paper' "

That's more or less it :) At first I don't mind if the pup performs on the paper or the grass. As long as it is getting the message that it is supposed to go in particular areas, not all over the place, then I'm happy. Once the pup has that message, I find that investigating the paper is a good signal that we should go straight outdoors. That way the paper gets used less often, and I find in a fairly short time it can be removed completely.

Weather is a factor, especially as my breed is convinced that it dissolves in the rain. But I find that an untrained pup taken outside in miserable weather often sits there looking unhappy until it gets indoors again - where it promptly performs. At least with paper it is learning that there are special places where it should go.

"I am guessing that when you first bring your puppies home, they don't instintivly go on the paper, so do you not have to train them to use the paper"

Home bred pups have been used to papers on the whelping room floor, graduating to an area of paper on the kitchen floor, so they already have the idea and many breeders use the same system. But I find that pups are very quick to pick up on using paper, probably because when they are tiny and have no control at all they can be popped straight on to it without the inevitable delay in going out.

>especially as my breed is convinced that it dissolves in the rain

LOLOLOL Well maybe that is why Jed still picked it up fast - he isn't bothered in the slightest!! He wasn't even put off by the fireworks! :D I suppose whatever works is the right thing to do, what's not broke all all that! :D

Hi Jas,

I don't think it's necessarily a huge detriment to house training if someone wants to use paper as a back-up, especially in larger breeds, and certainly not for overnight mishaps nor in the way you describe yourself doing it. 

Personally I prefer not to use it and haven't done with any of my dogs over the years except when I had my litter they had paper in their open pen area overnight away from their bed.  But from the usual 8 weeks I just get up for them overnight as often as necessary as that suits me and seems to work very quickly with my medium sized breed  :)

I think some guests / new owners are confused at how to deal best with house training as often many mention having paper moved around different areas of the house etc and then being annoyed if the pup basically squats anywhere and everywhere indoors.  More experienced owners won't make that faux pas of course but in those circumstances I've always advised they abandon using paper/pads etc as I believe used that way they can confuse a puppy and slow up proper training.

Regards, Teri 

Hi Teri, I'm not saying that paper is essential and do take the point about it's use possibly leading to confusion. :)

What I don't understand is, how does ANYONE manage to keep paper down WITHOUT it simply being chewed to confetti and dragged all over the place? :D

When I tried it, apart from the ripping up, the urine would run underneath onto the kitchen tiles and some of them started to come up, plus your hands are forever covered in newspaper print.