Puppies have a way of bringing an immeasurable amount of love into a home, filling a void in an otherwise lonely person's life or giving a child a friend to love for years to come. Despite the joy they bring, they're also notorious for a few less positive aspects. They like to eat shoes, toys and even the occasional homework assignment; what's more, they tend to spill their water, scatter food and "go" wherever they feel the need.

During the first few weeks of life, puppies simply have no control over their tiny bladders. They also have a limited range of motion other than scooting around a few feet in any direction. At this point, placing them on washable pee pads can help contain their urges, but these need to be changed out often. Sanitation is vital to raising a healthy puppy, and allowing them to remain in contact with their own urine could be hazardous to their health as well as that of your family.

Once they're a little older, potty training efforts can begin, but newspapers are not the answer for a number of reasons. First of all, they offer absolutely no absorbency. Anything making its way onto the paper simply seeps through onto your floor and spreads outward from there. Again, bacteria and odors run amok. In this case, dog training pads are a more viable solution.

In one respect, they're adequately absorbent. They soak up urine, locking it away within seconds much like disposable diapers. As an added bonus, they wick moisture away from the surface, so your puppy doesn't track his business throughout your home, which would eliminate the purpose of potty training in the first place. Newspapers can't boast that same practicality, and what happens when you try to roll up a newspaper to toss it in the trash? All the moisture within tends to run out all over you and your floors, furnishing another hour's worth of mopping and disinfecting after the fact.

While pee pads for dogs help keep sanitation in check and prevent your home from smelling like you have a new puppy, they also serve another purpose: they give puppies an established potty area. Dogs are intelligent. After showing them the pad is the appropriate place to go a few times, they'll recognize this fact and return to the pad for future needs.

Patience, love and guidance are crucial in all aspects of bringing a puppy into your home. Kind but firm discipline can help reduce the loss of furniture and personal belongings while making life with a dog much less stressful for your family and your four-legged friend. Along those same lines, keeping a dog pee pad on hand aids in the process of potty training as well as keeping your home clean and fresh.