[wingsandpaws]

My toy poodle is indoor pee pad trained, and she potties on the pad in our balcony.(Of course, she goes outside for exercise daily, just not for potty breaks) I was wondering if big dog breeds like spoos, or GRs could potty inside. This is not an issue of mine, I’m just curious lol.

 

[cate&clair]

I also have an indoor potty for my toy poodle. She loves to go outside too, but it's easy and convenient to have her go to the potty place in our garage at 5a.m., or when the weather is bad. It's been great to have this option recently during some very wet windy weather.

.Because of the volume of waste, I imagine people don't train large dogs to use an indoor potty. However, there is no reason that any dog couldn't be trained this way.

 

[Dechi]

Anything is possible, but I wouldn’t think it’s mentally or physically healthy for the dog. And the smell...

 

[cate&clair]

.Dechi...I'm not sure what you mean by "I wouldn’t think it’s mentally or physically healthy for the dog. And the smell..".

Just as we clean up after our dogs outside, an indoor potty must be kept clean. If potty breaks outside are a dog's only exercise, that wouldn't be physically or mentally heathy either. All dogs need physical exercise and mental stimulation that they get from activities not related to toileting.

With an indoor potty, solid waste is easy to pick up with toilet tissue and flush. I wouldn't put an indoor potty in the living room, but it's not a problem in the garage.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

As a puppy, Annie had a litter box indoors. (spoo- I used an underbed storage box with newspaper litter). Beyond the convenience of it, we have had several dogs return to the surface that they were potty trained on as puppies when they become old and could no longer hold it through the night . For example, one dog who seeked out tile floors. My thought was it would be easy enough to potty train a senior dog on to use a litter pan again, if they were used to it as puppies, and it's a much more economical and less smelly solution than pee pads. Plus, less of a risk of developing a fondness for rugs, etc.

 

[Dechi]

.Dechi...I'm not sure what you mean by "I wouldn’t think it’s mentally or physically healthy for the dog. And the smell..".

I mean any dog needs to smell the ground, move and go back and forth to do their business. A small dog will have enough space to do that on a puppy pad. A big dog won’t, it’s just not possible, his body is longer than the pad itself. Dogs have needs, and yes, it’s possible to train them to behave in ways that are unnatural, but it’s not healthy.

About the smell, I guess everyone has their own sensitivity, but the amount of feces and urine a 50+ pound dog would produce would be unbearable for me. Even if well cleaned, the smell would linger and after a while impregnate surfaces.