Pet a Potty & Housetraining

[Kirby]

Hi! Just wondering if anyone has tried this product out and if so, what they thought of it as a solution for apartment dwellers facing lots of stairs and elevators. Thanks!

http://www.petapotty.com/

[miss heather]

YES YES AND YES!

It cost a crazy fortune (after shipping, brokerage fees, etc)... but I can NOT IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT IT!

a lifesaver for housebreaking!

I cannot speak highly enough about it! appicon

[miss heather]

:D
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e135/heather1stella/Stella%2006/IMG_6290.jpg

[Kirby]

Wow...now I just have to convince my husband! I think it will be worth every penny. Too bad there are no Canadian distributors.

What size did you get - medium? Did you get the one with real sod or synthetic grass?

[miss heather]

we have the "Petite", which is, I think, their medium size.
They can't ship the real sod across the border (plant product), which would have been my preference, so we have the synthetic.

the only crappy part (forgive the pun :rolleyes: ) is cleaning it.....
but still TOTALLY worth it.

I bet hubby will come around when Kirby pees in elevator! :lol:

[LNsBeatles]

The peeing in the elevator is the worst!!! Scrambling back to the apartment for paper towels and spray, shoving the pee criminal in his crate while you see to his mess, running back to the elevator, then trying to call the right elevator (my building has three) so, OF COURSE the other two come before the dirty one arrives, PRAYING no one has encountered the mess yet -- riding up and down while you frantically spray and wipe -- then trying to appear calm and poised while exiting with yellowed paper towels and large spray bottle, returning home to your impish friend . . . :lol:

[Kirby]

Oh my gosh! :lol: Such a funny scenario really when you think about it...though not funny at the moment!

[LNsBeatles]

It's one of those moments that are just so exasperating you have to laugh :lol: During this crazy potty training period, I am always rushingrushingrushing to get Louis out the door (especially first thing in the morning) and I know he's trying to hold it, so how could I possibly get mad :rolleyes:

My copy of How To Housebreak Your Dog In 7 Days (Kalstone) just arrived -- I'm anxious to read more urban housebreaking tips. ;)

[Kirby]

Heather, do you remember what the shipping charges were for your Pet a Potty? I am trying to decide what shipping method to choose and the company is taking forever to respond. Their website only has estimated costs for shipping within the US. Thanks :)

[miss heather]

hmmm... I'm not sure...
what are the options?

all I can say is DO NOT GO UPS (United Postal Service) .... they charge rediculous amounts in brokerage fees evilicon

best bets are USPS (United States Postal Service), although it takes longer
or even FedEx is better than UPS

[miss heather]

oops.. that United Parcel Service :o

[Kirby]

I agree with you there! UPS is definately not the way to go...been caught with the brokerage fees before! Ugh!

I will hopefully be placing my order tomorrow :) CAN'T WAIT! It is an expensive item but oh the joy of having our own private patch of grass so closeby!

[Kirby]

Thought I'd make one last post on this subject because...I just ordered my Pet A Potty and am very excited!!! :) It will be such a luxury!

[miss heather]

woooo hooo!!!! fiestaicon
you'll love it! appicon

[imogene]

Or even better, if you know someone that live in Washington State have it sent to them, and get them to ship it to you via (USP) or even go and get it. Several of our friends have even rented PO boxes in Bellingham - the amount they save on shipping more than pays for the monthly rental on the PO box.

Belzie has a new morning ritural now that she has bladder control- she comes out of her crate, and goes to make sure her bed and bullystick are still in the living room. She has to walk all over and sniff everything, all her toys - search for the cats - and then she will go to the door and ring the bell. appicon She has also decided that she is not going to eat breakfast until after 9 am evilicon even when she get up before 7 am! She wines to come out of her crate - so we let her out to relieve herself and then she comes in and flops on her bed in the living room until almost 9 am. If we go and get her food she will sniff it then go back and flop on her bed. Silly puppy. She must take after Mike or something!:lol:

[Kirby]

WOW! I am SO impressed with Belzie! And you for doing such a good job of training her! She is 6 months old? She is a sweet little puppy - I was so happy to meet her since I had seen her pictures! :) After all that I have read on bell training I think that we might start, especially if these Frenchies are notorious for not giving signals. The only thing we were concerned about is if he will be confused about the bell when he is at doggie daycare or at someone else's house for an evening.

For anyone else following along too...PetAPotty ships FedEx ground for everything and it costs about $40 to the Vancouver area. To select any other ship method they offer would cost a tremendous amount b/c it would be expedited. $$$$$ So, I have to wait a little while but it will be worth it appicon

[miss heather]

ah yes....
I do remember having it expedited...

no wonder it cost us a fortune :rolleyes:

[slakker]

Now I'm actually interested in building one! Looks pretty cool!

Silly puppy. She must take after Mike or something!:lol:

Hey... I'm getting dis'ed just because I'm in Toronto for a week evilicon

[imogene]

Now I'm actually interested in building one! Looks pretty cool!



Hey... I'm getting dis'ed just because I'm in Toronto for a week evilicon

Mike . . .do I really have to remind you of how much lawn you're supposed to mow!!!!!:lol:

Belzie has more than enough grass to pee on!

BTW Belzie doesn't miss you at all! :P

[Kirby]

Well, thought I would stop in and finish off this thread by saying that I FINALLY received my PetaPotty. 3 MONTHS LATER!!!! (Ordered March 1) I had some problems with their customer service to say the least - they didn't even ship the item until 11 weeks after the order date and that was only after we put the pressure on. For those thinking of purchasing, just make sure to order WELL in advance! Also, they only ship UPS now...a giant pain in the butt with the brokerage costing $45 when shipping US to Canada. They switched my method of shipping without my approval (not happy). Another thing to consider for Canadian buyers...:mad:

ANYWAYS, the product itself is pretty cool and it looks great on the balcony so at least it was worth the wait. I picked up some real sod to use in it for the summer. Kirby has become somewhat stubborn about using it...only peed in it 3 times since we got it last Thursday. Even first thing in the morning, he'll just sit there and refuse to go. He'll chew and roll in the grass but pee on it? Not likely! I KNOW he's holding it! :confused: We've got back to housetraining 101 until he gets the hang of it...treats for going! Heather, did Stella have a hard time getting used to it? :rolleyes:

[miss heather]

grrr... i HATE UPS!
we had it expedited ($$$ PLUS the UPS brokerage evilicon )

but I think it was still worth it because we only had Stella a week before it arrived... she was still just starting housebreaking so she took to it right away...

I'm sure Kirby will come around...

[ashley1135]

Hahahahahah! :lol: It sounds like Kirby thinks you spend all that money to give him a miniature yard to play in. I buy all sort of wacky stuff for my animals and then they never use it like I think they will. I wish I had one of those potties when I lived in an apartment. Sounds like a lifesaver if he would just use it.

[rev1976]

Hi everyone,

This is kinda off topic..well it has to do with potty training. If you carry your puppy while in the elevator will he or she pee or poo in your arms? I hear that they won't but i want a second opinion. I live on the 20th floor of condo....will this be hard to train my little Hoffa? I want to train to potty outside and not on a pad or litter box. Thanks in advance.

[Kirby]

From all that I've read, it's best to start the training outside rather than litterbox or pee pads. :) You'll be taking a lot of elevator rides from the 20th floor but I think it will be harder on you than him especially when Hoffa is young. (Keep papertowel on hand just in case!) I ordered the PetaPotty so that I don't have to venture out in my pj's first thing in the morning or late at night - it's more for me than the dog! :lol:

We carried our pup a lot in the beginning...largely due to the fact that he would try to sit instead of walk all the time so it would take forever to get down the hall. The problem there was that he started to learn that if he sat we carried him. :eek: As he grew bigger and heavier, this became quite a task! Anyways, we shut that down and started getting firmer. Eventually, he learned that if he sat we would position him in a standing position and keep going. We made the "outside" trips very frequent and never had an accident in the hall or elevator. appicon But I always kept a wad of paper towel in my pocket just in case. The exception to not carrying was made in the middle of the night to get him right out and right back in quickly with no doddling.

I don't know for sure if a puppy will make more of an effort to hold it while you are carrying them...it might just get you outside faster though and bypass the people who want to play with your puppy (who shouldn't get too excited on a full bladder)! The only time our dog had an accident while he was being held was in the middle of the night when he had a diarrhea attack and he held it to just before we went through the doorway. He tried, even under those circumstances. :o

Hope my long winded reply is somewhat useful. :)