I live in North Dakota where it is often 30 below in the winter. People have chihuahuas here, and they go for walks and they go to the bathroom outside. People are hardly getting rid of their dogs because of the cold! That definitely would be VERY lazy.

People use indoor potties, don’t they? Could you imagine if people still used the outdoors for peeing? Well, I use a toilet, INDOORS. As long as a potty is kept clean, I don’t understand the issue. The doggy potties are not difficult to keep clean.

The point of pooping and peeing—I defacate because my body is cleansing itself, getting rid of what it needs to. Dogs and cats relieve themselves for the very same reason. They don’t relieve themselves because they want to get exercise. They relieve themselves because it’s their natural bodily function to get rid of their waste, just like we do. Going potty outside shouldn’t be the only means of a dog getting their exercise. Going outside for exercise should be fun, last a while, and be for other reasons than just potty time. So, if they are taught to pee indoors on a potty, in the same spot every day, several times a day, and they don’t seem to mind it, I don’t see where the problem lies. As long as the dog gets regular exercise every day, why does it matter if the dog defecates indoors in a potty or outdoors? I personally think it’s healthy for the dog to pee when he needs to pee, just like we do. It’s just as unhealthy to hold pee and poo in a dog as it is for us to.

And in case you’re wondering, my dog is trained to do both pee indoors on the doggy potty and outdoors in the grass. He only poops outside in the grass 2 times a day, unless he’s ill,only then will he use the potty for poop. I’ve trained him this for 3 reasons–He is a tiny dog that disappears in the snow, it’s unsafe and uncomfortable for him, and he sometimes refuses to venture out in harsh weather; I live in a condo and need to go down several flights of stairs every time he needs to piddle, which is just about every 4 hours (he is healthy and fine, btw); my fiance and I work and can’t always walk him every 4 hrs and I’m not about ready to make him hold his pee for 8hrs. Do you hold your pee for 8 hrs? I know I don’t.

So, to go back to the comment that we are lazy–it’s actually quite the opposite. It takes time and effort to train a dog to do this cross training. Yes, it is possible to train them to do this, you just need to be patient and consistent with training, and no, not being lazy.