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Piddle Place help

4K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  MarinaGirl 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help: I have had Paddington for 3 weeks and he is now 11 weeks old. He has been successfully using the "Piddle Place" as his indoor toilet. However, yesterday I noticed him starting to dig at the carpet inside his playpen and came home this evening to discover that he had flung his fake grass mat which covers the plastic Piddle Place base and which is part of the toilet system to the bed-end of his pen. A small amount of the corner of the fake grass had been chewed. Observing him this evening, on several occassions he has tried to chew the corner of the fake grass matt and then fling it off as well as dig to lift it.

Has anyone had this problem or any advice re same?

He also has his bed, water bowl and toys (which are rotated) in the playpen.

I have taken the grass matt off for this evening as I am concerned that if I leave it on he may develop a longer term bad habit. I have not yet seen if he is using the Piddle Place without the grass. The plastic base system is riveted so he may not find it comfortable or familiar to use. Any advice would be much appreciated. This issue is important to me as I presemtly live in an apartment and an indoor toilet is a must. Also note that I live in Australia so some some U.S. products may mot be available to me.
 

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#2 ·
I have a friend that uses the wee pads, for her dog, my dog had been trained to use the wee pads when I got him , he now only does it at my friends house, with the wee pads. Even if i have them down my dog doesn't use them, he goes out doors. We live on a 22 1/2 acre farm. alot of poopin and peeing going on out there! Good luck! I hope you get the answers your looking for.
 
#3 ·
not a fan of these things. I would use pee pads. and that way you tend to keep it a cleaner environment. Yeah I wouldn't leave him alone if he's chewing on them.
 
#5 ·
I was very unhappy with the fake grass that came on my Rascal Dogs... Not sure if it's the same. But I was completely unable to keep it from smelling bad. My dogs are all trained to use a grate system of some sort... either the Rascal Dog without the fake grass, or the UgoDog. Either of these systems can be used with pee pads under them, but pee pads are really very environmentally UN-friendly, and I may have a sensitive nose, but even a SINGLE use and I think they STINK! If I had to leave a puppy alone with one for several hours, and had to come home to several pees on a pee pad, I'd want to fumigate the house. ;)

Instead, I use pine pellets (horse bedding) under the grates in both the Rascal Dogs and the UgoDogs. This keeps them completely odorless. Wet spots are easy to see, even through the grate, because the pellets break down into sawdust and swell a bit. I scoop any wet spots at least once a day and replace that part with more pellets. The pellets are completely biodegradable.

Even if I didn't dislike pee pads for other reasons, my dogs are all BIG paper chewers. There is no way they'd leave a pee pad alone if it weren't in some sort of grate system. (there are a number of different brands like this, so even in Australia, I think it's likely you can find something!)

As far as the Piddle Place is concerned... the idea of leaving a thing sitting there filled with pee for several days, with or without their enzyme mix turns my stomach!:sick:
 
#7 ·
I agree with you Karen
 
#8 ·
I use Piddle Place and like it. It had much less odor than pads, and it's much 'greener' than using disposable pads. I add a little white vinegar to the 'tank' to neutralize odors.

Sheldon also wanted to chew on the mat when he was a puppy. I added heavy objects to the sides to weight it down. He eventually grew out of that, so we have no problems any more.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!
 
#9 ·
We too have noticed odors from the various grass-style systems that friends use...

Our breeder had her dogs trained to use grates over piddle pads without any trays.

We have used just the piddle pads without grates or trays. We are usually around to pick it up quickly so we haven't noticed any odors. We've been lucky to not have any shredding problems either (knock on wood!), except once when Farley was left a little too long in his expen and clearly got bored. We didn't figure out where to get the grates early on, and now we find it's convenient to quickly fold up and move if necessary and it's nice to not have to clean grates. We still do like having the backup of the indoor potty since our pup is still learning to signal/his humans are still being trained to attend, lol!
 
#11 ·
We had two Rascals and never used the grate. They were just used as a container to put the wee wee pads in. Once the pad was used I would always removed it. Anyways....Scout never used it and Truffles also now prefers to go outside. She just decided recently not to use it. So far no accidents. :)
 
#12 ·
I can't leave pee pads "unprotected" because Kodi will eat them. :frusty: (even if I wanted to use them!)

And even though my dogs go outdoors MOST of the time, it's important to me that I maintain their interest in/willingness to use an indoor potty, because we live in an area with severe weather at time, and we also often show. When showing, we can be on the 10th floor of a hotel. I'mMUCH rather be able to tell them to use the UgoDog (the Rascals are too big to be very portable) in the corner of the hotel bathroom than to get dressed and take them down and out of the hotel at the crack of dawn.
 
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#14 ·
When Sheldon was in his mat chewing phase, I bought some metal pipes at the hardware store and placed one at the edge of each mat on the PP. this seemed to help and he eventually left the mat alone. Now it works fine without the pipes. I bought a replacement mat so we cycle through them to always have a clean one on hand.

Any system that uses artificial turf rather than these plastic mesh mats ultimately starts to smell. I've been through a variety, including the expensive Porch Potty. The problem is the backing of the turf.

I share your environmental concerns about the disposable pads. I've also tried washable cloth pads, but worried that they would feel too similar to a rug under his feet, plus they're not travel friendly.

Good luck! I hope you find a solution. I live in a condo high rise in an area with bitter cold winters, so finding an indoor solution was imperative to me. I can empathize with your situation.
 
#16 ·
Any system that uses artificial turf rather than these plastic mesh mats ultimately starts to smell. I've been through a variety, including the expensive Porch Potty. The problem is the backing of the turf.

I share your environmental concerns about the disposable pads. I've also tried washable cloth pads, but worried that they would feel too similar to a rug under his feet, plus they're not travel friendly.
Great idea with the metal pipes!

This was my experience with the grass mats too. I know Tom King tried NUMBEROUS different types, and numerous methods of washing them, and gave up on them all.

And your concern with the washable pee pads is well-founded. I can't tell you how many people start with the washable pee pads only ro find that the dogs can't distinguish between those and any other piece of cloth left on the floor. (Scatter rug, towel or dirty clothes... It doesn't seem to matter!) Then they have what can be a life-long problem.

I suppose that a washable pee pad UNDER a grate would work OK... The dog would still have a very different feel under their feet, but they do nothing to absorb odor... And then you have to put those pee soaked pads in your washing machine.:puke:
 
#15 ·
That's pretty gross that he can lay in his pee from on top of the grate! The grate systems on both the UgoDog and the Rascal Dog have small enough spaces that the dog is definitely above anything below the grate... And, of course, the urine is absorbed below, rather than sitting there as a lake! ;)

Is there any way to modify the piddle place so you could put something absorbent under it rather than the tank system? Since you already own it, that might be worth a try. I think it's pretty common for puppies to lie on thier litter boxes or pee pads... They do seem to grow out of it. One thing you can try is to elevate his bed, so that it is higher than the Piddle Place. Often, a puppy (or older dog) just prefers to rest up off the floor.

The Rascal Dog has PLENTY of space for pellets. The UgoDog, which was really designed for pee pads, holds less pellets, but I have found that it still holds plenty, as long as you scoop out the used parts daily.

I only have the single one, and all my dogs, even Kodi, who is at the top of the standard, size-wise can use it without difficulty. That said, many young boy dogs go through a period where they only get their front feet on the potty, and the important bits are, um, not in the right place. ;) A larger target can help with this. :) also, If you have to order them all the way from the US, I think you'd be wise to order two, and save on the shipping of the combined order. Even when we had just Kodi, we had one litter box in the corner of the kitchen (which he mostly used) and another in my office, where he is gated off when we are away from home.

Now, with a puppy in the house, we have two more... One in Panda's ex-pen and another in the corner of our bedroom, where we potty her just before putting her in her crate for the night. In a smaller house, without stairs or without a puppy, you could certainly get by with less than this, but we belive in setting them up for success... And that means, when theyare young, having a litter box close when the urge suddenly hits! :)
 
#18 ·
That's pretty gross that he can lay in his pee from on top of the grate! The grate systems on both the UgoDog and the Rascal Dog have small enough spaces that the dog is definitely above anything below the grate... And, of course, the urine is absorbed below, rather than sitting there as a lake! ;)

Is there any way to modify the piddle place so you could put something absorbent under it rather than the tank system? Since you already own it, that might be worth a try. I think it's pretty common for puppies to lie on thier litter boxes or pee pads... They do seem to grow out of it. One thing you can try is to elevate his bed, so that it is higher than the Piddle Place. Often, a puppy (or older dog) just prefers to rest up off the floor.

The Rascal Dog has PLENTY of space for pellets. The UgoDog, which was really designed for pee pads, holds less pellets, but I have found that it still holds plenty, as long as you scoop out the used parts daily.

I only have the single one, and all my dogs, even Kodi, who is at the top of the standard, size-wise can use it without difficulty. That said, many young boy dogs go through a period where they only get their front feet on the potty, and the important bits are, um, not in the right place. ;) A larger target can help with this. :) also, If you have to order them all the way from the US, I think you'd be wise to order two, and save on the shipping of the combined order. Even when we had just Kodi, we had one litter box in the corner of the kitchen (which he mostly used) and another in my office, where he is gated off when we are away from home.

Now, with a puppy in the house, we have two more... One in Panda's ex-pen and another in the corner of our bedroom, where we potty her just before putting her in her crate for the night. In a smaller house, without stairs or without a puppy, you could certainly get by with less than this, but we belive in setting them up for success... And that means, when theyare young, having a litter box close when the urge suddenly hits! :)
Thanks Karen, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

It is not possible to reconfigure the PiddlePlace.

It looks like I will get something shipped from overseas. I can get either the Ugodog or Rascal dog. I will be using the grate part of the system only, with timber litter pellets.

I have a vague recollection searching this website over the past couple of days that there was a discussion that the grate on the Ugodog was of better durability than the Rascal dog. I have tried to search for those comments again but can't find them....arggh!! I also recall someone indicating that their dog managed to pick up the grate out of the Ugodog and it just sits in place on top. In contrast, from the pictures on the Rascal Dog website it looks like the grate clips in at the front of the system for security.

I also note that in some of your earlier posts it seems that you had not yet used the Ugodog.

My question is to you, and other members (Tom - I would be interested in your comments) which do you think is better, the Ugodog or Rascal dog, and why?

I also note that Paddington is a big Havanese puppy (he was the largest of his litter) and the vet has said that he is likely to be about 10kg/22 pounds full grown.:surprise:
 
#17 ·
I tried a litter type box with those compressed paper pellets - didn't work. So I went to a flat plastic holder for the pee pads. This worked. But I was doing outdoor training at the same time. At about 3.5 months, I removed the pee pad and holder, and now my 4.5 month puppy is completely house trained - as long as I take him out often. He SOMETIMES indicates, but sometimes not. So I don't trust him completely, but we haven't had an accident indoors for a few weeks (because I take him out often.) I kept the flat tray and some pee pads because I still use that when it is raining. I put them out on the deck, but under an overhang, so they don't get rained on. This seems to work, and it doesn't appear to have confused him, as the pad is really outside, too. I thought about buying the Piddle Place, but it hasn't seemed to be necessary for me.
 
#22 ·
turf

This sometimes happens with puppies, but usually when there is nothing else to play with. The mat is made of PVC plastic, so it won't hurt if your pup chews on it. The few customers that shared this problem with us told us their puppy grew out of it in a few weeks What they did was purchase a c-clamp from the hardware store and clamp the mat to the base. Once the dog realized they could not pull it around, they quite trying. one other customer told me she used a small piece of fishing line and passed one end through the mat, and tied it to the valve drain. She also told me she only had to do this for a few days while her Yorkie realized he could no longer pull on it.

Please let me know what happens with your pup. I learn something from everyone, and its very important that you are happy.

Pet Pacific in AU carries our product if you need additional support, I am happy to contact them

Another thought, I saw on Amazon that a customer took the cover and cut out the middle. That way the cover was in place holding the mat down, and her dog could still use the piddle place

Please let me know

Kathy

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help: I have had Paddington for 3 weeks and he is now 11 weeks old. He has been successfully using the "Piddle Place" as his indoor toilet. However, yesterday I noticed him starting to dig at the carpet inside his playpen and came home this evening to discover that he had flung his fake grass mat which covers the plastic Piddle Place base and which is part of the toilet system to the bed-end of his pen. A small amount of the corner of the fake grass had been chewed. Observing him this evening, on several occassions he has tried to chew the corner of the fake grass matt and then fling it off as well as dig to lift it.

Has anyone had this problem or any advice re same?

He also has his bed, water bowl and toys (which are rotated) in the playpen.

I have taken the grass matt off for this evening as I am concerned that if I leave it on he may develop a longer term bad habit. I have not yet seen if he is using the Piddle Place without the grass. The plastic base system is riveted so he may not find it comfortable or familiar to use. Any advice would be much appreciated. This issue is important to me as I presemtly live in an apartment and an indoor toilet is a must. Also note that I live in Australia so some some U.S. products may mot be available to me.
 
#23 ·
Not a fan of Piddle Place. Not only is their fake grass flimsy (and dogs like to play with it, not just puppies) but the valves leak and leaving the urine in the bottom of it is not very hygiene. Even if you empty it frequently, there is still urine in it. And trying to clean it is difficult.
 
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