everyone says that their dogs that are pad trained
som'how generalized the behavior to peeing on
anything soft. I read this all the time on forums....heres my take on that.
Personally I've had no issues teaching Chili that you pee on pads inside and grass outside...
My aunt who bred toy poodles did the same thing...no issues with the dogs peeing on soft stuff.
Dogs don't generalize well...if they can't learn imediatly that a word means the same thing everywhere I have real trouble believing that they will generalize a puppy pad to mean "pee everywhere soft" dogs brains don't work like that.
That would involve them imediatly learning (on their own) that everywhere=ok to pee and "soft" (which is a tremendously variable word) = pee here.... dirt is soft...I don't know what kind of pads people are buying but they aren't exactly pillows...in fact I think my outside dirt is softer. So will peeing on dirt teach my dog to pee on a dusty floor? Or on a soft rug? I doubt it.
The texture of carpet is very different from a towel or a mat or a pee pad...also the odor and color is different....the dog knows its different just like you and I do.
So if you teach a dog to pee on grass shag carpet is now game? Nope. IN fact...in that thread...how many dogs pee ONLY in one area of the lawn? Thats because the reinforcement history (for whatever reason) is in that area...the dog hasn't generalized that the whole yard is rewarding to pee in....following me?
I think peeing on carpet and towels and clothes have their OWN reward/reinforcement history that happend to develop at the same time pads were being used. Perhaps more supervision is simply in order to prevent peeing on anywhere but the pads.
If they have an accident, its reinforced to pee where they were (bladder release is reinforcement) by properly managing the dog (supervising) and rewarding heavily for peeing ONLY on the pad will give you a dog without issues.
just my .02
