I will be getting my pup (Vader) on the 22nd of this month, and I plan on crate training him right away. Also I know it is crucial to take puppies out after eating sleeping and at least every hour, but I live on the 3rd flood or an apartment complex and we have no grass or anything around us (College Campus) so I was wondering if I could train him to use puppy pads and also get her used to going potty outside. As long as its not on the carpet and not in his crate or in my bed, I would be a happy camper!!

Just want to hear your thoughts!

I heard puppy pads actually makes training them to go outside a LOT harder because the puppy learns its okay to go to the washroom inside and that its NOT okay to go outside.

We tried puppy pads at first but the pups just shredded them. After some trial and error we decided the best route was to just work on the outside deal. Since then, I've heard (as Elyse mentioned) that puppy pads make houese training more difficult.

My GFs dogs use puppy pads.. However they are the farthest thing from a husky!!! Ive never seen them go in the gras after this though other than when on walks they will.. But if they outside playing in the yard they wont go... I dont really know what to tell you other than that. Goodluck..
P.s. im honestly not saying this to try to be mean i swear, but did u think about this problem when you first decided to get a husky? If you live on a campus dorm, are your neighbors going to be ok with howling, stuff like that? Do you atleast have a good roomate that would be helpful to taking him out and feeding him?

O by the way i love the name vadar.. When i look at ur pups face something jist reminds me of dark vader lol hahaha

Pads will make it harder to train to go outside, since the pads essentially teach them that a certain spot in the house is okay to potty. My boyfriends parents trained one of their dogs with puppy pads (even though I told them otherwise) and he still poops in the house, and he's almost two. They are having a really hard time training him to go outside. Just something to consider.

Onyx was trained at the Breeders to use puppy pads. (I don't mind this as the puppies were kept inside, the first time he stepped outside was at our house.) We didn't use them inside, we made sure that he went outside to do his business. However...they are helpful when they start to learn to go to the door. We had a puppy pad by the door because there was a time or two he would run to the door and couldn't control his bladder and it would just release at the door. In short I wouldn't use them to train, I would just use them as a accident catcher at most.

Like everyone has said, puppy pads make potty training harder. It does exactly what everyone says, shows the puppy a place that is okay to go in the house. When I got my dingo, I was in an apartment with no grass, in a city, and had to wait 6 months for my lease to expire before I made the final move into our kennel-home. Its a pain, but I had to take Soshanna out around the block every hour or 2, I had to crate train her, and I had to best her seperation anxiety in order to do what was best for her. Its twice as much work to train up a puppy in an apartment scenario, as it is bringing them up in the kennel-home. You've got your hands full, don't make iit worse by teaching the dog its okay to potty insiide, when as an adult you will expect differently.

I have not used puppy pads, my friends used them for their corgi and I feel that it set them back a little. The corgi will now peep on surfaces that feel like the puppy pads, they have for the most part trained her out of it but it was difficult.

If you can I would suggest taking the puppy outside, they learn pretty quickly and really its not that much of a hassle.

We used puppy pads for the first month because of our situation we were and that's what worked best for us. We no longer use them as they aren't needed anymore. You have to do what's right for your situation - the majority of people won't agree with you (nor us) but only you can know whats going to work. If you use them be prepared to have to work even harder on potty training and put in the effort, we did and it's paying off now. Ours are both under five months so we still get a few accidents here or there, but that's usually due to us not paying enough attention or not taking them out as frequently as needed. They aren't a permanent measure, and once you get them past puppy stage you don't want them going inside still, so constant training is a must. Good luck!

We use pads for Tyrion.

Under my supervision, he has no accidents in the apartment. The only ones were due to excitement.

Under my room mate's, however, that's another story, but I don't blame them as he is not their responsibility.

Training him was easy, the problem was waiting until he got all his shots so he can even get a chance to go outside. Tyrion's able to hold it for hours. When he wants to go, he sits there staring at me for awhile...kinda hard to miss that..but my fiancee finds a way to.

I use pads when no one is home and to be courteous to my room mates...it's entirely dependent on one's situation. It just happens that I stumbled on a puppy who is very good with house training.

I guess its not fair since I train dog and raise dogs full time, but in my opinion, if you're crate training your puppy during the housebreaking stage, you should be providing such a schedule that the dog goes out before and after crate time, play time, food time, etc. Its damn near impossible to miss an accident

Also, I've worked enough kennels and shows to know that half or more of the serious dog hobbyists out there don't even get all the dog shots. A lot of people only get Rabies shots and deworming meds. Your pup likely isn't going to die from being exposed to the grass. None of the pups I had were ever vaccinated before being outside, and all of them are absolutely fine.

So rather than start bad habits over an overprotective fear that a profit gobbling vet will always try to instill in you, id suggest just taking your pup out, and not letting him eat dog poop, or anything for that matter.

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Also, I've worked enough kennels and shows to know that half or more of the serious dog hobbyists out there don't even get all the dog shots. A lot of people only get Rabies shots and deworming meds. Your pup likely isn't going to die from being exposed to the grass. None of the pups I had were ever vaccinated before being outside, and all of them are absolutely fine.

The only issue with this is that right now in WA there is an outbreak of parvo and it is very scary. It can kill a puppy within days so I would definitely get the shots.

My friend used the pads for her dobe and she said it took her a year to get her to potty outside. I didn't use them and had Karli potty trained within a week. She's had accidents but only when we ignore her "I have to go" signs.

Shiva is almost 2 years and is only pad trained, let me explain:

When I got her as a pup (3 1/2 months) Ive tried to get her to go on grass for 2 straight weeks, constant walks, eyeing her to make sure she didnt have an accident. Nothing. She would sniff the grass and just...do nothing. Then when we get home, I take my eye off her for a moment and she then she releases niagra falls. I finally gave up because she never cared to go on grass, even when I set play dates with other dogs and figured she might get with the program and go on grass when she sees other dogs go on the grass. Nothing. She would hold it the entire time until home. So finally I decided, hell, I dont have grass in my backyard so Ill start using pads. By day 2 she was fully pad trained and only preferring pads. I moved it to outside when she got a little too big (and so did her elimination lol) and shes been on pad ever since. Outside shes not 100% accurate because the area smells like her so she feels okay to kinda miss the pad. Inside (if need be) shes dead on.

Its quite frustrating on vacations because I have to take pads and put them in the bathroom. She still refuses to go on grass and marks a little sometimes while out, but only on concrete and the like. But I like it better because like I said, I dont have grass and I dont need to walk her 3-4 times a day to eliminate, just once for exercise at night. I take her out in the backyard, she goes to her spot, does her thing, and I clean right after. I prefer that.