This might be the best doggie "accessory" we've bought so far! We've had the Petmaker Puppy Potty Trainer for just over a month now, and it's proven absolutely invaluable for our 11-lb miniature poodle.
We bought this potty -- as opposed to the many other potty options -- because it was the only one that would fit inside of a 48" crate and still leave room for a doggie bed and water bowl. When we're out, we can leave our dog in the crate and not have to worry about making her hold it too long. We also had a problem with our dog getting up in the middle of the night and pottying on the living room carpet, and this has completely solved that issue.
TRAINING
For training, when she started doing her "potty dance" late at night, we'd set her inside the crate and then physically block her in with our body (instead of closing the door), so she didn't feel locked in. The first several times, she'd wander around the crate confusedly, push at us with her nose in an attempt to get out, and then finally relieve herself on the potty. Each time, we'd give her a ton of praise and petting for using her potty. Initially, she really did NOT want to use the potty and used it only because she was trapped and had no other options, so we spent a lot of time sitting in front of the crate waiting for her to go (takes patience!), but the waiting time got a teensy bit shorter each time. After two weeks of doing this at night (we take her out during the day), she started wandering over towards the potty when she needed to go but she wouldn't actually use it unless we put her inside and waited for her to go. Now it's been a month and she just uses the potty when she needs to -- with ZERO accidents in the house!
USAGE / CLEANING
The Petmaker potty has a layer of faux grass that sits on top of a raised plastic drainage tray, and both of those fit inside a larger black tray. The grass and the drainage tray aren't "locked in" and could slide around if you push them, but this hasn't been an issue for our 11-lb dog. We put a potty pad underneath the drainage tray, which makes clean-up MUCH easier. Our dog uses the potty multiple times per week and we haven't had any issue with smell. We change the pads every 1-2 days and then clean the whole potty in the tub with a diluted bleach solution about once a week. Our dog has shown zero interest in chewing on the grass or the pad, but she isn't much of a chewer in general.
PROS
- Fits inside of a 48" crate with plenty of room for a doggie bed
- Big enough for an 11-lb dog to sniff around / circle around / find the "right" spot
- Faux grass layer is raised and drains quickly -- does not stay wet after use
- No issue with smell when using potty pads + cleaning 1x per week
- No more spills or misses (compared to potty pads alone)
- NO MORE ACCIDENTS IN THE HOUSE!
CONS
- Grass does "shed" -- we're still finding stray strands all throughout the house
- Grass takes a while to dry after cleaning -- we may buy a second one for use while the first is drying
- Bottom tray is shallow -- if you're not using pads, it would be very easy to spill pee everywhere when emptying
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