We live in an apartment and I am preparing for ways to avoid taking my yet -to-be vaccinated puppy to common areas for pee/poop. I raed about "fresh patch" ( we are in US) , sounds like good concept. Anyone else used similar products . I hate the thought of using puppy pads and adding more to our ever growing landfill.
Hi there ! is this a ready made product? Not heard of it myself...in UK. We are fairly rural sonot nneeded to look at other options. There wsd some previous posts about building a toilet area with sand and artificial grass but not sure how it worked out. Would a large cat litter tray work? Is that any better than puppy pads?
Yes, it is a ready made real grass product . It absorbs dog urine for a period of a week or two . We need to replace it frequently depending on usage .Though super expensive, I like that it is earth friendly option to puppy pads . Since I will be using it only for few weeks ( until my puppy gets vaccinated) , I am fine with it. Our apartment complex does have dog parks. Walking area etc but can never match the home with yard for dogs here is link : http://freshpatch.com
Yes , I will be using it in our balcony. Product claims we can use it indoor too , but I want my puppy to relate to going out with potty . Fresh patch in balcony seems closest to going to backyard garden
Then s/he will be able to just use the balcony - if you clean it well with Simple Solution (bio cleaner) or similar there will be no smell and no need for puppy pads. Twiglet goes on stone flags, never grass - and is absolutely fine. If you get newspapers that would be another solution and you can throw them away after every wee. I think you could easily spend a lot of money on something which doesn't live up to the hype, three wees and it would be saturated, you'd need two a day imo!
Gosh, that seems a bit ridiculous to be honest....I'd just use the balcony when absolutely necessary and wash it. Best of luck with it.
I think I need to explain my balcony bit better . They have wooden planks with gaps, below us, is the balcony of another apartment . So, if I let my puppy wee without some sort of absorbant material , it will end up downstairs we can not wash our balcony without taking permission from down stairs ( huh the fun of living in city) news paper might not be enough ? I don't know how much puppies pee . I have been thinking about this from long, any input is greatly appreciated.
Puppies wee a LOT - and about every 20 minutes at first! I would think about a kind of large tray arrangement with newspaper. They need more than a small patch as they circle and move around before they poo. That grass would be fine for a small dog, but I still think it would fill up and smell in less than a day.
Yes, some kind of large liner (depending on the size of the balcony......) - ideally, as large as possible. But what a faff this is going to be....still, I suppose not for long but you'll be taking your dog out 5 to 6 times a day for life. I sometimes live in a place with no garden (yard) and get a bit tired of it. It's worth it, of course....are you always going to live in an apartment?
Julie: Balcony is quite ( I don't know the dimension , but we have table and few chairs on half of it and few flower pots . Other half is empty . Boogie: I thought the same too but few YouTube vidoes say otherwise . I think I will go with this and see , if it does not work , I will go for puppy pads ( my last option) . I am not a fan of cleaning trays and taking out newspaper each time
ooops - another thing, be sure to carry the pup down the stairs for the first few months, steps are not good for their developing joints. (Better start working out )
I have watched the You Tube videos now and I have an idea!! How about using vet bed on a tray arrangement? You would need two a day, I reckon - and they can be washed in the washing machine No - I don't think that would encourage him/her to use their own bed to wee, it's learning to go outside that s/he will need, and they never normally wee on their beds. (The fresh patches were all shown in use by tiny dogs - mine is only small for a Lab/GR and is 8Kg at 11 weeks, she would hardly fit on it!)
I would give the Fresh Patch a go. The grass is alive and it and the various microbes in the substrate will 'eat' up wee smells. I actually don't think it'll get stinky. It's not like weeing on a non-living absorbent surface. I'd talk to the company about the container they recommend though. Seems it comes with a cardboard tray. I guess you need to water the grass as well and you don't want any drippage onto your neighbours below. They may recommend a plastic sheet or tarp under the tray. Plenty of people in cities do just fine with dogs in apartments. Amsterdam, for example, is full of dogs living in apartments. If you find that the Fresh Patch is a solution for life then that's great and easy. But if not then once your dog is an adult a few trips out a day should be fine - morning, late afternoon and before bed. There will inevitably be times when your dog is unwell and needs to vomit or has diahorrea. It might be good to have a contingency plan for those times - maybe that will be continuing to use the Fresh Patch.
The XLarge Fresh Patch is not tiny - 2 feet x 4 feet. I think that'd be fine for a closely supervised, on-lead puppy. They can learn to go on small areas.
I don't mean to be overly critical about keeping a dog in an apartment - it's not ideal though, even if people in Amsterdam manage - but I don't think 3 trips out a day to toilet is ok. I certainly wouldn't be happy with that for myself, or my dog. I'd say 5 to 6 is much more reasonable. That's what my dog gets when I live without a garden - 7am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm and 10pm. Plus, often an extra trip if I'm going to the post box or shop etc. I take him with me. It's perfectly possible, just quite a bit of work that's all.
Thank you Oberon , I am ordering XL size and they do say it is for large dog . But, I am not seeing it for long term use ,only til my puppy gets fully vaccinated . I love going for walks and hikes so definitely , rocky will have plenty of space to wee And carrying him should not be an issue with me either ( I am used to carrying my toddler who refused to walk til she was 16 months and was 30 pounds ). fresh patch is not an alternative to walking our dog it's just for convenience if you do not have a backyard for middle of teh night breaks/ early puppyhood. I hope it works as well as it claims !!! Will surely let you all know . Julie: Apartment living has is advantages and disadvantages I guess . I love our clubhouse , swimming pool , gym and not having to worry about the maintenance of the house . I like the security it provides without having to spend a ton when we travel( we travel a lot) but home with yard will definiely what we want when we retire from our jobs and settle down ( more than few decades to go
Ah, yes - I'm in the city too (London). And looking forward to the day I can leg it out to more rural spaces - and get more dogs (maybe). I have to say, my challenges with the city have been about the density of dogs, the levels of activity and enough R&R and freedom for my dog. I'm lucky, and London is pretty good (by UK standards, excellent by international standards) for being dog friendly. Best of luck with it.
