I did a lot of research on various dog potty products and this was among the best. It is light-weight, portable, easy to clean, and just the right size for my small breed dog.
That being said you must introduce the potty properly to your puppy or dog. We put it over the spot outside that our puppy used and then after a few weeks of him using it outside we transitioned the potty to inside the home.
Our puppy was not enthusiastic about using it at first because the artificial turf is not as soft as natural sod and may have a soft prickly feel that the dog will need to get used to.
Here are some tips that helped us.
*Keep your puppy on leash until they routinely begin to use the potty, this way you can limit the distance they can travel away from the dog potty to do their potty.
* Before making them go potty for the first time on the dog potty, get them used to walking on the new surface by luring them closer and closer to the potty with treats and then lure them on to the dog potty surface with even more treats.
* Immediately after they finish going potty on the dog potty surface give them another treat and lots of praise. They will eventually get the point and understand that they need to use the dog potty and doing so means good things (treats) even if they don't like the feel of the surface.
* Keep it clean! Rinse out the tray and artificial turf with soap and water about every second or third day. Just like cats with a litter box, dogs won't want to use a dog potty that is dirty.
I had initially tried the UGODOG but my dog didn't take to it well. He used it but he never did quite hit the spot, so to speak. His hiney kept hanging off getting poop and urine on the floor. No matter how many times I tried to get him to use it right. This is probably mainly because he's large and I guessed he never felt like he had enough space to use it. I also got tired of dumping the urine in the toilet. It got to be very messy and difficult to deal with.
Ultimately, I stopped using the UGODOG because of that. After months of returning to newspaper I decided to give another pet potty a chance (this one), but I knew I needed something bigger. This is one of the few potties out there that cater to bigger dogs. I mean really cater to them. After doing a mock measurement of their largest potty (30x40) I decided to get it because I was absolutely confident my dog would use it.
On the first day my dog used it with no trouble at all. I put the potty in "his spot" where he normally uses it, put a few sheets of newspaper on top just so he would get the point and no problem. He used it with no second guessing. After that, I no longer used the newspaper because he would be familiar with his scent after that and where he went.
I purchased 2 absorbent pads for it. At first, I thought they looked awfully thin and flimsy and wouldn't do the trick. But boy was I wrong. Those things worked wonders. I think I let him pee on that thing (potty) for 5 days in a row before it started smelling. Lazy I know. I'll be cleaning it about every 2 days from now on but had been so busy I didn't get to it until I had no choice but to.
I should also mention that I take my dog out for a morning walks so he usually only uses it in th evenings. So the 5 days I let him use it aren't really equivalent to 5 actual going days. More like 2-3 days--counting in one of the days I didn't take him out at all.
I am so happy with this product. I've dealt with stinky pee smelling carpet, crapping on the floor and awkward trips to the bathroom to dump other dog potties. I'd even tried dumping the urine of previous dog potties in a bucket. If anything, that was one of the main reasons I purchased this potty. No awkward trips. Just grab the absorbent pads, put them in the washer and clean the artificial turf in the bathtub. None of either were drenched in urine--dripping all over the place (gross right?). I let out a sigh of relief after seeing that and my opinion of this product went up about 2 notches, because when I first got it I was convinced I'd got another UGODOG that I'd have to fight with and ultimately would end up not using.
So summarily, I purchased this potty because it works great for large dogs (the larger sized potty) and because I'm not about to keep having pee splash everywhere and stink up my apartment. Even when he used it properly the urine was just ripe. It would swim through the air and my apartment would be stinking all the time and I had to clean it all the time with the UGODOG. That was disgusting. So like another reviewer said, this potty has been a God send. It has for me too. I'm not a particularly lazy dog walker but you can account for your dog having to go all the time. Obviously there's got to be a back-up system that isn't always a huge amount of work and this potty is heaven for me. It's such a relief to have it.
Lastly, I recommend you get at least 4 absorbent pads for the large sized potty or 2 for the regular sized ones for the normal sized potty, so you can rotate them when you're cleaning them. If you have a dryer, you can get away with one set, but if you're air drying them, you'll mostly need an extra set. Depends on the situation I think, but an extra set will likely make it easier in the end.
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This item has been a God send to us and our puppy! Our puppy is fully potty/house broken, but we live in an upstairs apartment with a balcony. He was paper trained when he was little and before he had all his shots. Once we put this down outside, he took right too it! This was great for the rains that we had. Lazy on our part to not take him downstairs to go potty, but this is the next best thing. I think of it as letting your dog in the backyard to go potty rather than going for a walk.
A little hefty of a price tag, but worth it in our eyes.
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I recently moved to a third floor apartment with my two small adult dogs who are well house trained. When working longer hours i have come home to puddles on the floor as the older dog is a bit incontinent after bladder surgery. I was hopeful that this would work, because when given the choice they will pee on a rug over the bare floor!
It took a bit for the dogs to be interested in it, upon getting the item i put treats on and around the potty and rewarded them for walking on it. The first night they did not seem interested in it, so during their next morning walk i took the grass mat and tried to get them to use it outside. No go, but i figured if i rubbed it around in the actual grass (especially where other dogs peed...a bit gross, i know) they would associate the scent with actually going outside. I also brought a bit of real grass inside to place on the potty.
I came home from work that night to lift up the mat and see that one of them did in fact use it while i was gone! Subsequent days have produced the same results and no puddles on the floor at all! Of course they get their regular walks but it alleviates the feelings of guilt when you have to be gone all day at work and there's no one to let the pets out. I would think that a puppy pad under the grass would allow for easier clean up, i haven't really had a problem without it though. I am very happy with this item!
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Our need: we have somewhat flexible schedules, but the puppy still ends up home alone for way too many hours several days a week.
We wanted something more eco friendly reusable than puppy pads so we tried this based on the great reviews.
Other useful info: we've had it for a month during which time the puppy has gone from 11 pounds to 25 pounds. The problems have been consistent though...but, if you have like a five pound dog, this might be fine.
Pros/Successes: none.
Cons/Disasters:
First, it is not deep enough to hold a day's worth of pee so it overflows.
Second, the various layers do not hold together so when he steps on and off it, they all slide around.
Third, it smells so, so, so terrible. We take it out in the backyard and hose it down regularly, but even if you bring it in that morning, by the time I get home around 4, the entire room smells like a urinal.
Finally, the attractive grass-like top? He chews it. There are pieces of fake grass everywhere.
I have been using an elite-tek ET-9868 remote dog training collar for a year and was very satisfied. I decided to buy this training collar because of the extra features. I train dogs and I liked the anti-bark function and the ability to correct two dogs at the same time. I had some trouble programming the device, but after that was done, I initially liked how it worked. I turned of the anti-bark the first day because my dog was corrected at time I didn't want her to be corrected. This is at no fault of the device, but if my dog would get enthousiastic while playing with a ball and would start to bark I didn't want her to get shocked. The second day the receivers started to go off without us touching the remote. This was extremely traumatic to my sensitive dog and I returned the item. I have decided to continue to use the ET-9868 (now Aetertek 216S-550S) which I highly recommend.
