People often ask us the difference between the design of our box and the design of some of our competitors' boxes, who use a drain and/or a tray underneath to collect the urine.

I must first say, that I have learned so much more about the differences, since I began to offer a guarantee that covers our competitors' boxes. Basically, how it works is that Pooch Potty stands behind any of our competitors boxes. If anyone, for any reason, is dissatisfied with a box they have purchased from one of our competitors, they can trade it in for a FREE Pooch Potty box in exchange for trying out our weekly sod for ninety days.

As you can probably figure out, this isn't exactly the most savvy financial decision on our part - we actually just break even at the end of the ninety days. However, what we hope for, is to have begun a lifelong relationship with a customer who appreciates that we are honest and up front about how to properly use and care for their dog's potty box. We really just want everyone to have a positive and successful experience and more importantly, we want everyone's dog to have a safe and sanitary place to go potty.

I am beginning to see a pattern that the most popular box that keeps getting traded in to us is one that has been designed with a tray underneath that you have to pull out to empty. I will say that the theory behind this sounds good (sort of a "good on paper" thing). However, in practical usage - the customers keep telling me the same thing that I've heard from other customers who have tried a planter box with a drain. The theory is that you don't have to replace the sod weekly if you water the sod to "rinse out" the urine.

What ends up happening, is the sod gets very muddy and truly, if you want to do a thorough rinsing of the urine & the bacteria, you would have to water it and water it, then walk on it to squeeze the urine out of the sod. Picture a sponge that is filled with urine, running water through it will drain some of it, but squeezing the sponge is really the only way to get it clean. Who wants to do that with a piece of urinated on sod? At that point, you have to then worry about removing the tray of urine/water and wondering where you are going to pour it out.

People in apartments have told me they often can't pour it off their balcony or it will splash their neighbors underneath. One woman told me the hilarious story about how she tried to carry the tray from her balcony, through her apartment to the bathroom where she intended to pour it in her shower - but what happened along the way when she bumped the wall turning the corner to go down her hallway . . . well, you can imagine! Not only was she wearing her dog's urine, but now it was all over her carpeting. (okay, so maybe that wasn't so funny for her, but the story certainly made me chuckle)

I had one customer tell me that the box leaked although in personally looking at the product, I'm not sure where the leaking would be coming from (maybe if the tray isn't changed often enough?). Overall, the other complaints have been overwhelmingly similar - just poor functionality. Rarely do people want to go through all of this in order to reuse the same piece of sod. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that the urine is going to kill the sod anyway? If you don't believe me, here is an article about The Effects of Dog Urine on Grass written by a super smart doctor guy. 

The ideal potty situation for your dog is the combination of two things:
1) Having a potty container that is functional - doesn't leak, holds the grass snuggly in place, and has a surface that won't rot and can be easily cleaned (to prevent bacteria buildup)
2) Using disposable sod that can be easily replaced on a weekly basis. Exposing your dog to soiled sod for much longer (especially when the urine is in such a concentrated area) can pose a health hazard, not only to your dog but to any other members of your household.

All doggies deserve to have their own place to go potty!