From Paper to the Potty Patch

Training your pet to use potty patches is a fairly simple process. When dog training began over 50 years ago, owners were paper-training their dogs to potty on newspaper and then eventually transferring the process to the outside. Training a dog to use potty patches is a very similar idea. Owners must be consistent with the potty patch and condition the dog that this is the place where he is suppose to relieve himself. But of course, nothing is ever that simple, even potty patches. Potty patch users often complain that the pooch isn't hitting the potty patch, or is using other areas of the house as his toilet.

   Make sure the potty patch is in a distinct area for the puppy to consistently find. Many companies make trays to hold the potty patch in place so it won’t leak or spill. Another option is to put the potty patch in a litter box or in an exercise pen so there is no chance of the pet learning to pee on a corner of the pad.

   Now you need to find a location for the potty patch and its tray, but it is important to never use potty patches in a crate. Sometimes owners think that by putting a potty patch on one side of a crate and a blanket on the other side, they will be training their dog to use the potty patch. Unfortunately, this is also teaching the dog a very bad lesson: to potty in their sleeping area. Instead, it is better to set up a separate area with the potty so that the dog knows the distinction between where it sleeps and where it goes pee.

   Again, it is important to be consistent with potty patches. Just as with any kind of potty training, you should put the dog onto a schedule so that you know exactly when it will have to pee or poop. Once you establish this, you can easily make it so that there are set times that you take your puppy to the potty patch. You have to establish an association between having to potty and where they should go (i.e. the potty patch). This may mean that every two hours you are putting your puppy on the pad. The more you put your puppy on the potty patch, the less chance of mistakes there will be.