apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Good for when it's too unwelcome outside for the doggie. Or for if you get stuck at work and can't make it home. Less carpet mess.

Also - urine is sterile...and don't you have to pick up poop regardless?

I have a 12 year old Samoyed dog who has recently started urinating in the house while I'm at work. Something like this would be helpful, but at $150 bucks??? I think there are much cheaper alternatives available...I just need to do my homework. Plus, you would have to wash that grassy cover every day. I would prefer something I could just toss.

My d-i-l uses indoor mats like at the hospital in a plastic liner she does have a small dog and gets chaged very fast house does not smell and when thye just can take him out it helps.......Maj

This looks like a disaster. 2 gallons of urine waiting to be spilled when you try to pick up this tray. Slosh. A mat you have to wash out, that will be soaked with dog pee? The price is also ridiculous. The concept is disgusting, together, it gets a huge not from me.

I prefer the puppy pads....this looks like it would be a bit messy to maintain....it is quite easy to just toss the pad and go (although maybe not so eco friendly)

They make potty pads just for this purpose (also used as training pads for puppies) and you can put them in a big litter box and they're super easy to use. Here they are at Petco: http://www.petco.com/product/9602/Four-Paws-Wee-Wee-Pads-Extra-Large-Puppy-Housebreaking-Pads.aspx

Urine may be sterile when it comes out, but bacteria love it.

gross. get a cat.

ummmmm............that thing looks like it would cost $15 to construct. cat people don't think cats are much better, this is equivilant to a litter box. and impo, cat piss reeks much more than dog. there has be to be better and more afforable options out there. and this is tied into the responsibility of being a pet owner, you have to be on top of taking care of your pet's needs.

Could be useful for those who aren't home often enough to let their dog out, especially those with an older dog that may be starting to be incontinent.

A friend of mine trained her dog to use a cat litter box. This is actually a brilliant idea, provided you don't have an enormous dog, and means you can leave the dog alone for a good span of time without worrying. And when they get older, they can be comfortable. I'd totally litter train my next dog - my old Sheltie is pretty stubborn, but she gets let out quite often as my Mom is home all day.

I got my boston terrier when in grad school and knew I'd not be able to have a constant schedule for her to be trained on. I had also had an elderly coworker who had a tiny dog that used a litter box on nasty rainy days.

So, I decided to try puppy pads (expensive in the long run). Then I tried her own litter box . . . she sure did enjoy doing donuts in it and covering my bathroom with litter. Then I went to a sheet of plastic with old towels. I pick up the poop daily and flush it (no worse than picking up outside or cleaning the cat box) and the towels get changed every 1-2 days and washed with bleach. The smell is mostly non-existent and less than the cat box.

What the hell is wrong with a litter box? If you can train a dog to use a mat or puppy pads can't you train it to just use a box?

i have all of 3 months experience at puppies (my first one now), but isn't the point to teach them not to pee in the house? i just think the faux grass would be confusing to a pet.

i did find biodegradable puppy pads through petsmart! my pup actually preferred them to other kinds i tried and they contained odors much better. puppy pads have to be better than this option, even for older or sick dogs.

and yeah, my cat's box is much worse to me than picking up puppy poop outside.

Walk your dog. S/he really needs the exercise, too.

We were looking into a similar type thing when we were looking into buying condo on a high floor. The condo had a deck and we were considering this as an option for emergency bathroom breaks as well as late night runs and training for dogs and puppies. I think you could do this same idea but use real grass and the tray to keep the pee from running through the wood decking to the decks below. Just my two cents but crate training is a better method for training than puppy pads and better looking aesthetically too.

-cheers-

Also couldn't you just put some cat litter in the tray under the grass and it would absorb the pee? then there's no more sloshing, and it removes the odor for a while anyways.

@jonNjamie:

or put a puppy pad under the tray to absorb, but even though its fake grass, still better to look at then a litter box.

i'd just love visiting someone's home and smelling the refreshing odor of pet pee in a box...
i think it would be just as worth training your pet to pee in the toilet, no?

Ewwwwww.

if you can't even take your dog outside to pee, don't get a dog. get a cat.

That. Is. DISGUSTING.
I hate even having a kitty litter tray in the laundry, this is just revolting.

jonNjamie - I agree 100%. And am also one of the folks who think if you cant walk/ take your dog out... then you shouldn't have one (even if it does fit in your purse).

It's one thing if this is a house training tool; it's another to buy it for permanent use. If you can't make time to walk your dog, you shouldn't own one [period].

Accidents happen.... and when your dog doesn't have access to a yard at the whim of true accidents (think sentative tummy), when you are at work, even when she gets 4 good walks in a day....THIS IS one investment that has paid off - SO MUCH BETTER than accidents on the carpet. I personally wouldn't train a puppy on it- but for accidents it works at my house.

get. a. cat.

Oh My God, my seatmate (a stranger) and I got in hysterics over this in the Delta Skymall magazine in July. I always get in hysterics over Skymall - there is the most random hilarious stuff in there. I think this thing holds like two gallons, which got us laughing even harder, just thinking about the logistics of cleaning it and how gross it is.

Apparently there is a parody called Skymaul that I am dying to get my hands on.