Since we moved last week into our new apartment, we decided to get Sammy Sanchez to stop using the wee-wee pads. Well, actually, it wasn’t my decision but I agreed that it would be a good thing to do.

The reason why I like to use wee-wee pads for Sammy is that he drinks a lot of water during the day. He drinks and drinks and drinks, especially on hot days. It’s cruel to make him hold in his pee for as long as Lola. What can you do? He’s a small dog and has a tiny bladder! So shouldn’t we give him a wee-wee pad so he can relieve himself when necessary?

Sammy watches Lola pee.

Instead, we’ve increased the number of daily walks and are now taking him outside at least three or four times a day, at about five hour intervals. There are many benefits to this new routine, the biggest one being that we don’t have to create a space in the new apartment for Sammy’s bathroom, visible to all to experience. We are also teaching Sammy to behave like a big boy and I guess that discipline will extend into other areas of his personality.

So far this experiment is going very well. Sammy has been doing great and hasn’t had any accidents. Like Lola, he waits to go to the bathroom when we get outside. A few times, he peed the first chance he got and I really felt for him. I also noticed a few times when he was wandering around in the morning looking for his wee-wee pad. Still, he held it and didn’t make an accident.

Despite his heroic success I remain apprehensive about Sammy not having a wee-wee pad around. But maybe it’s because I need to grow up a little bit, too, and learn to let go of the wee-wee pad. If Sammy can do it, I suppose I can, too.