Actually, no, it doesn't work all the time. In fact, it doesn't work ever.

If you'd like to hear the facts, I'll tell you. I'm hoping you'll be open minded enough to listen. Most people aren't. They have their way, and it's their way or the highway. I have to add, that I'm not one of those people. If someone posts something that makes sense, even if it's contrary to what I do, I will listen. But your suggestion doesn't make sense. Here's why.

You're forgetting the most basic principle. You're dealing with a dog. Now you'll probably say "To Alty it's just a dog". Well, you're wrong. My dogs are my babies. They're my family. We just lost our Jasper last Saturday (We had to euthanize him because he had cancer (that was the vets best guess, but still, he was dying, almost dead, but staying alive for us), and he was suffering. He was 10 years old. He's the youngest dog I've ever lost, and I mourn for him like I did for my parents when they died). Five months before that we had to put our Indy to sleep. He was 16 years old, couldn't stand by himself anymore, was in pain, and we had to make that choice for him.

Why did I mention my loss? Because I want you to know that to me, my dogs aren't just dogs, they're my family. My babies. My kids.

The fact is though, when you take a dog in, you can't treat it like a child. If you do, you'll have the worst and most unhappy dog ever. Dogs weren't made to live in homes, live by human rules. It's humans that saw them, decided they must have them, and made it happen. Dogs and humans have learned to co-exist, and they've formed a strong bond, which is why humans continue to bring dogs into their homes.

Here's where it all falls apart. Because dogs have been a part of humans lives for a long time, humans seem to think that dogs should think like humans, and forget their instincts, forget that they're dogs, live like humans do.

A human gets a puppy and thinks "It's a puppy, not a wild dog, so all those instincts (if the human even knows dogs at all), should be null and void. I'm a human, I live in a house, and the puppy should know that peeing and pooing in the house is wrong, because I don't like it. Guess what? Instincts run deep, and every single puppy you bring home, has the instincts of a wild dog. In the wild, dogs don't pee in their den, they pee outside.

So let's break it down a bit. If you're a puppy, brought to a home, and your new pack leader (well, that's being kind, because the majority of people that get a dog aren't pack leaders) lays paper all over your den, never takes you outside of your den, then what will you learn? You'll learn to pee in your den/house, because that's the only choice you've been given!

A dog doesn't know newspaper from gold. Doesn't know puppy pads from carpet. Doesn't understand because you're setting it up for failure. You're allowing the dog to pee in it's den! If that's what you want, then fine. But don't get mad if the puppy doesn't pee on the paper, but pees on your tile floor instead. The inside of a den is the inside of a den, and that's what you're training it to do by laying paper or puppy pads down. Worse, if you rub it's nose in its poo (not saying you do that, but others have suggested it), you're not only teaching it to pee and poo in its den, but you're abusing it for doing what you taught it to do!

Any time you train a dog to pee inside, even with props like newspaper and puppy pads, all your dog is learning is to pee and poo inside. In other words, you're teaching it nothing. Reducing the size of the paper and moving it closer to the door does nothing. Actually getting off your butt and taking it outside to pee and poo, that's training. The rest is just laziness, and fact is, it doesn't work, which is why we get so many posts on this site asking how to potty train a puppy, a 7 month old, a 2 year old, and so on. Lazy humans!

Guess what. Most people posting here have dogs that are over 6 months old, and they're using the methods you suggested, or abuse. None of those methods worked, obviously, otherwise they wouldn't be here asking for help.

It's human laziness, nothing else. If you want a dog, you can't be lazy. If you are lazy, then invest in paper towels, because you'll be cleaning up a lot of shyt and piss! But that's not the dogs fault, it's yours. That's a fact. You can't dispute it, no matter how hard you try. And guess what else, your dog will be miserable, because you taught it to use his/her den as a potty, and gave it no choice for a better life.

You want a great dog, it starts with you. Be a good owner, get of your arse, take the dog outside, praise don't punish, and stop thinking of your dog as an accessory, or something you deserve. It takes work. If you are too lazy to put in that work, then don't get a dog, get a cat. Cat's pee in the litter box, and require very little work. Feed, clean the litter box every few days, and you have a happy cat. If you want a dog, then you'll have to get off the couch and actually put in some effort.

How many times is "every time"? I'm honestly curious. I've had a number of dogs throughout my life, almost all rescues, some from terrible backgrounds, many abused, all of them very loved in my house.

In fact, like Alty, I just buried one of them three weeks ago. She did me the ultimate kindness - she died in her sleep. But that's for another thread.

I don't understand - and I'm not being cute or dense - how a dog connects newspapers inside to pee on, a smaller section of newspapers inside, going outside to pee when the newspaper disappear. How do you make the connection that pee = outside? Why doesn't he connect paper, no paper, pee = the livingroom carpet?

Like everyone else I once thought it was a great idea to paper train a puppy. Until the day he died some 12 years later I never could leave newspapers on the floor. I learned the hard way.