Reusable bed pads are an awesome puppy or dog potty training option. The term "piddle pad" is a cute way of describing this use of underpads. These pads are heavy duty enough to withstand those claws and paws and have the ability to soak up urine quickly. Most of all they help protect floors and carpeting from smells, stains and messes. These pads were specifically designed to be used to cover beds and seating surfaces to protect them from human urinary incontinence leaks, but we have personally found that they also work great to help keep our floors and carpets protected from pet messes and accidents.
Many people prefer disposable underpads for this task. In fact, many pet stores carry pads specifically marketed to use with dogs, but they appear to me to just be a moderate to heavy absorption disposable underpads with special K9 specific packaging and marketing. I think that for many people disposable pads are very convenient and will work fine for dog potty training, but we found that we prefer the reusable pads.
First of all it is important to point out that we are a dog family. We have two wonderful 60 pound mutts that have access to the outdoors though a doggie-door. We have also recently adopted a 14 pound Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that we have named Abbigale, or Abby for short. Due to her size we have decided to not train her to use the doggie-door and get free access to the outdoors.
She was a rescue dog and although she is not a puppy she was never properly potty trained. We honestly have no idea what her background was like, but she is kind and sweet and pretty much rules the household at this point. She fit right in with the other dogs without a problem.
She is doing really well, but when we do have to leave her alone we have chosen to put her in an extra bedroom with her bed and toys. Rather than closing the door we have a see through/ walk through baby gate in the doorway so she can see the other dogs and what is going on in other parts of the house. We leave the reusable underpaid in doorway on her side of the gate and it works perfect when she can’t hold it any longer. We have had no accidents on the carpet and the when we come home the pad is never crumpled or bunched up even if it has been used. Luckily she is never alone for long, but when she needs to go and there is nobody home we can know that she is not destroying floors or carpets.
We prefer the Plaidbex Plaid Reusable Pads from Beck’s simply because they look a bit nicer than a white surfaced pad for this purpose. The top absorbent part of the pad is a very nice looking plaid pattern and the vinyl waterproof backing on the bottom is blue. They are also very high quality and withstand the abuses of the dog as well as being washed over and over again. They are designed to be washed by industrial laundry services, so they can easily withstand the heat and washing provided by our home washer and dryer.
Directions for washing Beck’s Reusable Underpads are simple:
- Machine wash in normal setting
- Don’t put bleach directly on pads
- Don’t use fabric softeners
- Dry on normal settings
We have washed our underpads many times now and they do not show any signs of wear and tear. I have heard that some lower quality pads start to having problems with the vinyl material used in the waterproof backing after multiple washings, but we are not seeing any of this type of issue.
We keep three pads on hand so that we always have at least one that is clean. They are relatively inexpensive, especially when considering the lifetime value of these well made pads. Beck's Pads are made in the USA of high quality materials.
If you have puppies, dogs or even cats and have concerns about floor messes then the reusable bedpads might just be the solution you are looking for to protect those surfaces. Here's a photo of our camera shy model Abbey posing on her Paidbex Plaid Underpad.
No comments:
Post a Comment