shredded puppy pads

Question
We have a 1 year old shih tzu female. We both work so we have tried the crate method for house breaking.  She is small which is why we chose her she weighs about 7 lbs.  Unfortunately we cannot leave her in the yard unattended because she squeezes out of the fence whenever she hears children playing in the neighborhood.  Therefore we have chosen to use puppy pads to house break her.  The problem we are having is that when we let her out of the crate and take her to the puppy pad  which is in our sunroom she will go to the bathroom but when we let  her in to the rest of the house she will go on the floor right after having went to the bathroom on the puppy pad. She acts like the rest of the house is free reign to potty. We put her immediately back into the crate when this happens. If we leave her in the sunroom uncrated she tears the puppy pads to shreds even though her chew toys are right there.  We have tried putting heavy objects on the edges to hold the pads down with no success.

Answer
Housetraining a dog to a wee-wee pad is much the same as doing it outdoors.  The dog must be rewarded by YOU every time it eliminates appropriately.  This means you need to watch the dog, observe her habits of elimination (vis-a-vis, intervals...every three hours, for example) and reward her verbally and with small treat after she has eliminated.  You might connect a phrase, such as "hurry up" or any other, when you expect she will need to eliminate (because you have observed her habits and know it's "time".)  When the dog performs, verbally reward, remove her from the area and immediately offer a followup small food treat.  You also need to know when she needs to poop by having observed her habits so as to be sure she eliminates in that manner in the appropriate place.

NEVER under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use the CRATE as punishment!  You are giving your dog very strong mixed signals.  Most dogs, being den animals by nature, perceive the crate as a safe haven, not a method of punishment.

The fact that your dog perceives the remainder of your house as a place "free to potty" means she has NOT gotten the idea that her "place" to eliminate is in a specific area in your home.  She has begun to generalize the rest of her indoor area and include that, OR...you have simply not given her a sufficient cue that eliminating on the wee-wee pad (or in the sunroom) is THE place.

Never, EVER leave any dog in the yard unattended.  This is simply not acceptable.

NO DOG will ever learn where it is appropriate to eliminate without the active participation of its human cohabitants and that does NOT include punishment or aversive techniques.  It means teaching the dog in much the same way you would instruct a 3 year old child.  It's persistent, systematic, and reward based, laced with a heavy dose of patience and love.

As for the dog shredding the wee-wee pad, that's far from unusual.  Pet Solutions (which has a web site) offers a "holder" for such pads which prevents the dog from shredding the pad.  I'm sure such things are offered elsewhere also.

In order to prevent your dog from eliminating when she is with you in the house, you need to place her on a long, lightweight nylon house leash.  She will be close by at all times so you can observe when she is beginning to show signs of elimination.  Most dogs her age (she's an adult by small breed standards) don't just squat to pee suddenly, as a young puppy would.  They show signs by sniffing persistently and then might tightly circle.  If you know she has not eliminated in the last 3 to 4 hours and you see signs of this behavior, take her immediately to the place you prefer her to eliminate and be prepared to prompt (with your special words) and praise and then reward.

Don't lose patience with your dog.  You chose her, not the other way around.  She deserves your loving commitment.