Training & behaviour for dogs
Training & Behaviour For Dogs
Dog Training Pads, Potty Pads and Pee Pads
Training pads solve a real problem and create a smaller one, and nobody selling them tells you the second part. A pad gives a puppy somewhere legal to go before its vaccinations are finished, keeps a fifteenth floor flat liveable, and lets an old dog stay comfortable. It also teaches the dog that going indoors is allowed, which makes the move outdoors slower later. That trade is usually worth making. This page covers which dogs pads genuinely suit, how to use them so the training still works, and how to get a puppy off them and outside.
Who Training Pads Are Actually For
| Situation | Are pads the right call? |
|---|---|
| A new puppy before its vaccinations are complete | Yes. A puppy that cannot safely go outside yet has to go somewhere, and a pad is better than a rug |
| A flat, several floors up, with no quick way down | Yes. A twelve week old puppy cannot hold on for the lift |
| An old dog that has become incontinent | Yes, and this is where pads earn their keep. An old dog leaking in its sleep is not a training problem and should never be told off for it |
| A dog on cage rest after surgery or an injury | Yes. Short term, on veterinary instruction |
| A dog left alone for very long days | Pads help, but they are treating the symptom. The dog needs a midday walk more than it needs a pad |
| A healthy adult dog with garden access | No. You will teach it that indoors is fine and then spend months unteaching that |
How Long a Puppy Can Actually Hold On
Most house training failures are timetable failures, not training failures. A puppy's bladder is small and its control develops slowly, and the usual working guide is roughly one hour for each month of age, plus one. A two month old puppy is good for about three hours. A four month old, about five.
Those numbers are for a resting puppy. Halve them after any of these, because all four reliably trigger a puppy:
- Waking up, from a nap as well as from the night
- Eating or drinking
- Playing, especially anything excitable
- Coming in from outside
Take the puppy to the pad or outside after every one of those, plus every hour or two in between. A puppy taken to the right place at the right moment cannot have an accident, and a puppy that never rehearses the wrong thing learns faster.
Using Potty Training Pads So the Training Still Works
- One pad, one place, and do not move it. A pad that migrates around the room teaches the dog that the whole room is a toilet. Pick a spot away from the bed and away from the food bowl and leave it there
- Take the puppy to the pad, do not carry it there and hope. Walk it over on a lead if you have to. It needs to learn the route
- Stand still and be boring while it goes. Talking to a puppy mid-wee interrupts it, and a half-emptied puppy is back in ten minutes
- Reward the second it finishes, outdoors on the spot rather than back in the kitchen. Three seconds late is a reward for coming to you, not for going in the right place
- Change the pad when it is used, but the first few times leave a little of the scent by putting the fresh pad in the same place. That is what the pad's own attractant is doing
- Do not put a pad next to the water bowl. Dogs do not like toileting where they eat and drink, and you are fighting an instinct that is otherwise on your side
Never Punish an Accident. This Is the One That Costs People Months.
Do not tell a dog off for going indoors. Do not rub its nose in it. Do not drag it to the spot afterwards.
The dog does not connect a telling off with something it did twenty minutes ago. What it learns is that going to the toilet near you is dangerous. So it stops doing it in front of you and starts doing it behind the sofa, in the spare room, on the balcony. You have not taught it to hold on. You have taught it to hide.
It also makes outdoor training much harder, because a dog that thinks weeing near a human is punishable will hold on through an entire walk and then go the moment it gets home.
If you catch the dog mid-accident: one calm noise to interrupt, then straight to the pad or outside, then reward if it finishes there. Nothing else. If you find it afterwards, clean it up and say nothing at all.
Cleaning Up, and Why Your Floor Cleaner Is Working Against You
This is the most useful practical thing on this page.
- Use an enzymatic pet cleaner. Urine leaves proteins behind that ordinary cleaners do not break down. Your nose stops smelling it. The dog's does not, and a spot that still smells of urine is an invitation to use it again
- Do not use an ammonia based cleaner. Ammonia is one of the things urine smells of, so to a dog you have just marked the spot yourself
- Be careful with phenyl and other phenol based floor cleaners. They are the default in most Indian homes and phenols are dangerous to cats, so in a house with a cat as well as a dog, keep the cat off treated floors until they are dry and rinsed
- Blot, do not rub. Rubbing pushes it into the grout and the underlay
- On a carpet, soak the cleaner in properly. Urine goes deeper than the surface and so must the cleaner
Moving a Puppy Off Pads and Outside
Start this before you think you need to. The longer a dog uses pads, the more established the habit is.
- Shrink the target. Once the puppy is hitting the pad reliably, use one pad instead of two, then a smaller pad
- Move it towards the door, a little at a time, over days rather than hours
- Put the pad outside the door, then just outside on the balcony or landing
- Take the pad outside with you to the spot you want the dog to use, so the smell tells it what to do there
- Then take the pad away and reward the same behaviour on grass or paving
- Expect a step backwards and go back one stage rather than starting again
Some dogs never fully transition, and that is a legitimate outcome, particularly small dogs in high-rise flats and in the monsoon, when a dog that hates rain will hold on for hours rather than go out. Keeping a pad as a backup is not a failure.
Choosing Between Dog Training Mats and Pads
| Type | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Standard disposable pad | Puppies and everyday use. Cheapest per use | A determined puppy will shred one. Use a holder if yours does |
| Carbon or charcoal pad | Odour control, which matters in a small flat | Costs more per pad. Judge whether the smell control is worth it in your space |
| Large pads, 60x90 | Big dogs, and dogs that walk while they go, which many do | The single most common reason a pad "fails" is that it was too small and the dog missed the edge |
| Washable mats | Long term use with an incontinent dog. Cheaper over months | They need washing hot and separately, every day |
Buy one size bigger than you think. Dogs circle before they go and step forward while they go, and a pad that catches nothing is the most expensive pad there is.
Compare the price per pad, not the price per pack. Pack sizes here run from fifteen to fifty and the sizes are printed both ways round, so the shelf price tells you very little. Divide before you buy.
Attractant Sprays: What They Do and Do Not Do
A puppy trainer spray carries a scent that encourages a dog to go where you put it. They help. They do not train. Used with a schedule and a reward they speed things up, and used instead of a schedule they do nothing at all.
- A few drops on the pad, not a soaking. More is not better and a strong smell puts some dogs off
- Reapply on a fresh pad until the habit is set
- They do not work on a dog that has already learned to go behind the sofa. Clean that spot with an enzymatic cleaner first, or you are competing with a stronger signal
Muzzles: What a Basket Muzzle Is For
A muzzle is a safety tool and not a punishment, and a well-chosen one changes nothing about how a dog feels.
- A basket muzzle is the right kind for anything longer than a moment. The dog can pant, drink and take a treat through it. Panting is how a dog cools itself, which in Mumbai is not optional
- A closed fabric or mesh muzzle holds the mouth shut. That is fine for two minutes on a vet's table and genuinely dangerous on a walk, because the dog cannot pant. Never leave one on an unattended dog and never use one in the heat
- Measure the circumference of the snout and allow room to open the mouth fully
- Introduce it slowly with food through the front over days. A muzzle put on in a hurry the first time becomes a thing the dog fights forever
- Muzzle training is useful for every dog, not just dogs that bite. An injured dog in pain may snap at the person helping it, and a dog that already accepts a muzzle can be treated
At a Glance
| What is here | Training pads in four sizes, carbon odour-control pads, basket muzzles, puppy attractant sprays, anti-lick spray |
|---|---|
| Pad sizes | 45x60, 60x45, 60x60 and 60x90 centimetres, in packs of 15, 25, 30 and 50 |
| Brands | Basil, M-Pets, Beaphar, Bio PetActive, Zeal Pet |
| Price range | ₹162 for a muzzle up to ₹1,169 for a 30 pad pack |
| Best value per pad | The 50 pad packs. Divide before you buy |
Related: Potty Articles for Dogs · Dog Toys · Leashes & Harnesses · Crates & Carriers · Dog Food
What Training Pads Cost
Prices shown are what you pay on the site today.
| Pack | Roughly | Per pad |
|---|---|---|
| 15 pads | ₹540 to ₹878 | ₹36 to ₹59 |
| 25 pads | ₹612 | ₹24 |
| 30 pads | ₹989 to ₹1,169 | ₹33 to ₹39 |
| 50 pads | ₹1,098 | ₹22 |
The spread is more than two to one per pad, and the cheapest pack on the shelf is not the cheapest pad. A 50 pad box at ₹1,098 works out at under ₹22 a pad, while a 15 pad box at ₹878 is over ₹58. If you are going to use pads for months, buy the big box. If you are trying a brand for the first time, buy the small one and accept that you are paying for the trial.
Buy Dog Training Pads in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai
Order online for free delivery above ₹499 in Mumbai and same-day delivery across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Pads are heavy and bulky, so this is a category worth ordering rather than carrying.
Looking for Something We Do Not Stock?
Ask us and we will arrange it.
- WhatsApp +91 90044 85093 with your dog's size and what you are trying to solve
- Email bark@animeal.in
- Call any branch. Parel is on +91 90041 57093, 24 hours
We will confirm availability and price before you commit. And if what you describe is a behaviour problem rather than a shopping problem, we will say so and point you at a trainer or a vet. Most of what people call bad behaviour in a dog is fear, boredom or pain, and none of those is fixed by a product.
When House Soiling Is a Medical Problem
A dog that was clean and has stopped being clean is a vet visit, not a training problem. Buying pads for it without finding out why is treating the floor instead of the dog.
- Sudden accidents in a house-trained adult dog
- Drinking much more than usual, which points at kidneys, diabetes or a hormonal problem
- Straining, going very often, or passing small amounts, which suggests a urinary tract infection or stones
- Leaking while asleep, common in older spayed bitches and very treatable
- Blood in the urine
- An old dog that seems confused, pacing at night or getting stuck in corners. Canine cognitive dysfunction is real and there are things that help
- A puppy that never becomes clean despite a proper routine, which occasionally has a physical cause worth checking
Frequently Asked Questions
Do dog training pads actually work?
Yes, for what they are. A pad gives a dog a legal indoor place to go, which is exactly what a puppy before vaccinations, a high-rise flat or an incontinent old dog needs. What a pad does not do is house train a dog on its own. That comes from the schedule, taking the dog to the right place at the right time, and rewarding it the moment it finishes.
Will potty training pads make house training harder?
Slightly, and it is worth knowing. A pad teaches a dog that going indoors is allowed, so the move outdoors is an extra step you would not otherwise have. For most people in a flat that trade is worth making. If your dog can get to a garden easily, skip pads and go straight outside.
How many times a day does a puppy need to go?
More often than you think. The working guide is about one hour of holding time per month of age plus one, so a two month old puppy manages roughly three hours at rest. Halve that after sleeping, eating, drinking or playing. Take the puppy to the pad or outside after every one of those and every hour or two in between.
What size training pads do I need?
One size bigger than you think. Dogs circle before they go and step forward while they go, so the most common reason a pad seems not to work is that the dog missed the edge. 60x60 suits most dogs and 60x90 suits large dogs and anything that walks while it goes.
What are good dog training pads worth paying more for?
Absorbency and a leakproof backing, which is what stops the floor underneath getting wet, and size. Carbon or charcoal pads cost more and control smell better, which is worth it in a small flat and not worth it in a big house. Compare the price per pad rather than the price per pack, because the spread across our range is more than two to one.
My dog keeps missing the pad. What am I doing wrong?
Usually one of three things. The pad is too small, so buy the next size up. The pad keeps moving, so fix it in one place. Or the dog is not being taken to it at the right moments, so tighten the schedule around waking, eating and playing.
Should I tell my dog off for going indoors?
No, and this is the mistake that costs people months. A dog does not link a telling off to something it did earlier, so what it learns is that going to the toilet near you is dangerous. It then hides to go, behind the sofa or in another room, and it will also hold on through a whole walk and go the moment it gets home.
How do I stop my dog going back to the same spot indoors?
Clean it with an enzymatic pet cleaner rather than an ordinary one, because urine leaves proteins your nose stops noticing and the dog's does not. Never use an ammonia based cleaner, since ammonia smells like urine to a dog and effectively marks the spot for it.
How do I move my puppy from pads to going outside?
Gradually. Reduce to one pad, then a smaller pad, then move it towards the door over days, then just outside, then take the used pad to the spot outside you want the dog to use so the smell tells it what to do. Expect a step backwards and go back one stage rather than starting again.
Can I use training pads for an old incontinent dog?
Yes, and it is one of the best uses for them. An old dog leaking in its sleep is not being naughty and must never be told off. Washable mats often work out cheaper than disposables over months. But get the dog checked first, because leaking in older bitches is very treatable and confusion at night in an old dog has treatments too.
Can you order training pads or training gear you do not stock?
Yes. WhatsApp +91 90044 85093 with your dog's size and what you are trying to solve. We will confirm price and timing before you commit.
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