Is it ok to have my dog only paper trained?

Question

I have an 8 month old female maltese, and she has to go to the bathroom very frequently being that she weighs 7 lbs
While I'm not home I usually will leave a training pad in the room where she plays so that she can go while I'm gone (I'm usually gone for about 4-6 hrs everyday)
My parents say that I should have her trained to go outside only like my other dog, but I don't think she could hold it for that long
Plus when I let her outside to go to the bathroom she usually gets very muddy and full of grass and it takes longer
Is it ok to only let her be paper trained or is this not fully training her?

Answer 1

What you need to do is train her to go outside where ALL dogs should. The first way to obtain this dream is to change her food. She should only go once a day, twice at most. If she is doing more then that, then her food is grain filled crapinabag.
Find a food that is high quality with no more then 2 grains listed in the first 5 ingredients. Or buy Innova EVO.. It has NO grains. This will cut back on her potty issues a ton. (litterally).
Its an expensive food but so worth it. You will feed less and less will come out the other end. Grain filled foods create tons of poop and other poor health that is not always evident.
If she is peeing a lot, then have her checked for a urinary tract infection.. But even the food change will help her pee less because she won't need the huge intake of water that it takes to get a bunch of corn and other grains to break down.
Don't believe me?? Take one of her meals and put it in a bowl of warm water and check back on it tomorrow. Check out how much it swells, how much water it absorbs to break down and how much larger the volume is compared to what it looked like when you first dropped it in the bowl of water.

Answer 2

I have to agree with the the possiblilty of the food being a problem. When I first got my little cocker she went a ton. They had her on Iams puppy,,she was over a year old. I checked that food & the number 1 ingredient is CORN! I changed her over to Eagle Pack Holistic Select: Anchovy,Sardine & Salmon, and it cut the poop way down less than half. They have other flavors of food. you can find it near you by using this locator: http://www.eaglepack.com/index.html It will take her a while to get use to going outside less often, but it will also give you a little more freedom to live the rest of your life. Face it, we can't always be there to take them out,,,school, work, life happens. I think some folks on here carry their dogs on their backs,,,but most of us can't do that! When she gets older, she can also "hold it" longer, so don't worry about that.

Answer 3

As long as you clean up after her and the house doesn't smell you can do whatever you want with your dog. Its much more acceptable and hygienic to have her do her business outside but that's really up to you. Some dogs aren't totally trained until they are over a year old so you still have time to make up your mind.

Answer 4

i guess it could work but as older she gets get her closer to outside then she will automatically go outside when shes due

Answer 5

dogs get muddy! she still needs exercise!

Answer 6

you should do what you think is best for your dog