Top-Tested Puppy Pee Pads to Make Potty Training Easier

Disposable puppy pee pads aren't for everyone. If you'd rather go with something reusable, consider these washable options:

• A fake patch of grass can reinforce the look and feel of going outdoors, says Annie-Mae Levy, a professional dog trainer who works with the dog-training app Woofz by nove8. Amazon sells the $19 Ottomanson Artificial Grass Puppy Potty Training Pad with Tray. Online reviewers said they clean it with soap and water.

• Pupiboo Washable Pee Pads for Dogs resemble Turkish rugs for a nicer look in your home, and a two-pack is less than $30. Testers were hesitant to try this style because they were nervous their dog would pee on any rug in the home, but there are thousands of Amazon users who are fans, with many placing the washable rugs directly in their dog's pen.

• On Reddit threads, we noticed posts from owners of senior dogs who have to deal with long-term incontinence. Many recommend the same heavy-duty pads used for people, like Improvia Washable Underpads, which are machine washable and less than $30 for a pack of four.

We sought out the most popular and highest-rated brands of disposable puppy pee pads, through crowdsourcing from dog parents and researching online reviews. Each of the five brands was used in at least one home for several days, with testers reporting on odor control, leakage, and ease of cleanup. We then evaluated them in the Textiles Lab for absorbency.

To test the absorbency of each pee pad, we poured a standard amount of distilled water into a targeted area on the pee pad. Then, we timed to see how long it took for the pads to fully absorb the liquid without feeling wet on the surface and judged how far the liquid spread out on the pee pad.

✔️ Absorbency: Don't believe all brand claims. We encountered pads claiming to be "100% leak free" that were not in our tests. But, in general, the more layers a pad has and the thicker it is, the more it should absorb. Most disposable pee pads use an absorbent layer in the middle, similar to baby diapers.

✔️ Size: A 22-inch or 23-inch square is considered regular size. Some brands offer smaller pads, and some offer larger ones. Buy according to your dog's size as well as the space you'll be using it in.

✔️ Odor control: Some brands offer pads with activated charcoal or light floral scents to cover up bad odors, so if you are worried about smells, look for those. However, even pads with these features can only do so much, so you can't rely on the pad to fully mask all smells.

✔️ Attractant: Some pads claim to be scented with a pheromone or attractant to entice your dog over to the pee pad versus, say, a household rug.

✔️ Washable vs. disposable: You might ultimately spend less money on washable alternatives, but you'll spend more time cleaning and you'll need an easy way to get the job done. Certainly you'll end up with less garbage if you go the washable route, but it will require daily care and more commitment.

Vets say no—but with a lot of exceptions.

"The vast majority of owners want their puppies to be potty trained outside, so I discourage the use of pee-pee pads with my patients. Pads might cause puppies to think it is okay to potty indoors," says Dr. Conrad. "Going outside in the backyard is generally safe, at least in my area in Oregon, so potty training outdoors is what I recommend."

But there are cases when dog owners need a pee pad:

• Put the pad by the door, says Dr. Conrad, especially if you want your dog to transition to going outside.
• Hang jingle bells on the door by the pee pad as a way to gradually teach your dog to ring the bells when they have to do their business. This tip comes from a dog watcher in Brooklyn who trained his own dogs to ring when they need to go.
• Restrict the rooms your potty-training dog can enter to prevent accidents where you don't want them, like a bedroom, suggests the Animal Humane Society.
• Consider storing away any throw rugs during early training, says a tester friend who potty trained our tester dog Stella. "At first, the puppy thought anything rectangular and soft on the floor was a pee pad," she says. "How was she to know that a rug was not to pee on?" Pretty quickly, through consistency, Stella learned that she'd hear "good dog" only when she went on a pee pad by the door.

For more than 100 years, the pros at the Good Housekeeping Institute have been guiding consumers to quality products through in-home and in-Lab testing. For dogs, we've rated things like the best dog beds and no-pull dog harnesses.

Contributing Writer Jessica Hartshorn is not a dog owner but splits a home with her dog-owning cousin and is surrounded by dog-loving friends and colleagues. She owns cats, and they help her test items like cat carriers.

Amanda Constantine is a home & apparel reviews analyst in the Textiles Lab, where she tests diapers, which are designed similarly to puppy pads. Constantine tested the puppy pads in the Textiles Lab and used her relative expertise when making updates. She also owns cats who are prone to making messes, so puppy pee pads are an essential for her pets (placed under the litter box).

For this story, we consulted Megan Conrad, M.B.B.S., a veterinarian with Wellhaven Pet Health and owner of two dogs, to understand how puppy pee pad should be used.