When I said using indoor grass for dogs is lazy, I learned some people are convinced fake grass for dogs is the world’s greatest invention. I disagree. I still think it’s lazy.
Here are 10 reasons not to buy fake grass for your dog. Some of the ideas came from comments on my last post.
1. Owners of small dogs have enough problems with housebreaking.
We all know at least one person who owns a Yorkie, Maltese, Chihuahua or Pomeranian that pees in the house. I’m not talking about old dogs that can’t hold it. I’m talking about 12-month-old dogs that still aren’t potty trained. If the owner can’t train her dog to go to the bathroom outside (one of the easiest things to teach a dog), how will she train her dog to pee on fake grass? This will only encourage the dog to pee on carpet, rugs, couches and mattresses.
2. What about dogs that lift their legs?
Are you going to buy him a few fake trees and bushes to go along with that grass? Or maybe he’ll just pee on the wall?
3. Fake grass is not the same as a litter box.
Cats have dignity and cover up after themselves. Dogs using this product won’t be covering up anything. They’ll probably step right in it.
4. Dogs are not as sanitary as cats.
Cats are naturally clean animals. Dogs are naturally filthy. They are careless, they roll in things and they get in pissing contests. My mutt walks while he poops. If I bought fake grass for him, he would probably walk right off the edge!
5. There are other options if you work long hours.
Dogs shouldn’t be left alone for too long. Many people who work long shifts have dogs, but they come home during their breaks, take their dogs to daycare or hire a dog walker or pet sitter. Dogs are pack animals and need interaction. Leaving a dog home for 12 hours or more several days a week is similar to leaving a dog chained in a yard.
6. Fake grass won’t take away all issues.
The average housebroken dog can go eight or nine hours without going to the bathroom. If you are leaving your dog home for shorter periods and she is having accidents, there might be a bigger issue than her not being able to hold it. She could have a bladder infection or anxiety. If you have recently moved, she might not understand where she can and can’t go to the bathroom. Purchasing indoor fake grass is unlikely to solve these problems.
7. “At least the dog has a home” is a poor excuse.
Dogs need more than food, water and a place to relieve themselves. Some of the country’s most troubled, abused dogs are the ones confined to basements, kennels and backyards. They never get walked, trained, exercised or socialized, but because these dogs live in nice homes (with fake grass!) nobody says anything.
8. Lots of dogs eat their own poop.
Let’s face it, many of them do. I think this would be too tempting for a lot of dogs.
9. The dog will get walked less.
Most dogs don’t get walked enough already. This product will give owners another excuse not to walk the dog. It’s bad enough that so many small dogs get nothing more than a five-minute walk to relieve themselves. Now some will be lucky if they get outside at all.
10. Training a dog to use this won’t be as easy as it sounds.
Owners who don’t have time to let their dogs out are not going to take the time to properly teach the dog how to use the indoor grass. Dogs conditioned to go outside are not going to understand the concept of peeing on fake grass in the house. They will have to be trained, and it could take a week or months for them to learn, depending on the dog and the owner.
What’s your opinion on fake indoor grass for dogs?
Check back next week for 10 reasons people buy it.
(Image from bowhouse.com)
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December 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 am
I’m with you all the way on this one. I don’t know how a dog can determine that the fake grass is ok but the carpet isn’t. They naturally like going outside on real grass or ground and smell seems to be a big part of what attracts them to a specific spot. When we adopted Rosie (a 3 yr old chihuahua) I have a feeling that her lack of housetraining may have been why she was roaming the streets when found by the dog catcher – in other words someone just dumped her because they couldn’t teach her to not go in the house. She didn’t know how to tell us she needed to go out, and would sneak down the basement and go on a throw rug. We worked with her as if she was a puppy just learning the whole housebreaking thing. It took some time, patience and regularly taking her out and rewarding her for going, but she soon learned what we wanted her to do. When you adopt a dog you have to commit yourself to their care and that includes working on any problems they may have. The rewards are wonderful having a healthy, happy and stable dog.
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 am
Yeah, this just seemed really unsanitary to me! Indoor grass sounds to me like lazy people that leave the dog along too long. Not that I am trying to judge anyone…
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Honestly – if people think buying this is an alternative to taking their dog outside, I wonder about them!!
I don’t have a dog at least partially because I know it would spend long hours alone, and that is not fair! I won’t have a dog until I know I can give it the time and attention it deserves!!
Fake grass seems like a very convenient excuse to be lazy to me!
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December 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
I have never encountered the fake grass in a home. I do run across lots of people who are using or want to use litter boxes or puppy pads which is basically the same concept as indoor grass. 100% of the time I encourage them to never do that. So many problems are created when a dog is encouraged to go to the bathroom indoors.
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I actually found one colleague that had a decent excuse for using this. She is a freelancer that stays at home and leaves the house to do errands throughout the day and can’t always take the dog. She has this out on her balcony since she lives in a loft that is several stories up. In her view, it gives the dog the option to always have the opportunity to go if she isn’t home for 2 hours. Otherwise, the dog is always with her or going on walks. That is the best excuse I have found. I didn’t ask her how she cleans it since I didn’t want to know.
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
You know, I never even considered something like this. I also want to say that some dogs are more difficult to house break than others. I have a friend with a pug who has given up. She just leaves papers in one spot. I think the dog has a surface preference for papers. I do wonder how often her whelping box was cleaned as a puppy.
Some does just will not go on different surfaces. Concrete is evil as far as my Qay is concerned.. Qor doesn’t care.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I agree. Although I don’t think that people are necessarily lazy because they try to potty train their dog with fake grass. I also think some people buy them out of desperation due to either not knowing how to properly potty train their dog or they just have a tough case on their hands. You make some very valid points that I agree with. Especially number 9. “The dog will get walked less.” I take my dog for a walk every night after dinner even during the winter months.
December 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I think it’s nuts. Trooper would DEFINITELY eat anything left there. LOL He’s horrible that way.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I agree with all your reasons AND all the comments above! On top of that, you do not ever want to contend with POO DISASTER,see
http://biggiezblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/mr-hanky-christmas-poo.html, I would be really leery of letting poo sit around when I’m not home!
Biggie-Zs last blog post..Cyber Monday: Buy ME, Mr. January and Mr. December 2009!
December 4th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Also 2 more points: I don’t see the difference between using fake grass and piddle pads, in fact piddle pads are more sanitary because you throw them away after they get soiled.
But using indoor pads + outdoor walking can make for some difficult housetraining anyway. because if you start the dog on litter/pads/fake grass, the dog is going to know that it’s OK to potty inside. It can be confusing and take a lot longer to THEN teach the dog that it shouldn’t go inside any more. And forget about bringing the dog places, any mat or rug would then be fair game.
Biggie-Zs last blog post..Cyber Monday: Buy ME, Mr. January and Mr. December 2009!
December 6th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Babe…. Im absolutely caking myself….my god what will Americans think of inventing next…If I said to anyone in Australia that I was training my dog to pee inside they would either be laughing their head off, think I was filthy or just plain lazy….
I know it goes against all you guys but I would put carpet in the same catagory as crates & prong collars…we dont use them and see no point to them…. now before you all howl me down, take into account that unless you order one from the city, you cant even buy them here… they are just unheard of… so tis probably a cultural thing
December 7th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Most people don’t use prong collars here either. But I’d say at least half of dog owners in the U.S. use crates. You’re right, you don’t need either. I know I told you to get a crate for Chels when she was a pup. Although I do believe it would’ve saved you at least one mattress and some other furniture, your dogs are obviously just fine without crates.
January 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
***PLEASE READ***
I agree with your reasons to not buy indoor grass for your pets. It would be stupid and as noted above lazy for a person to allow their dogs to go to the bathroom in the house on any surface. However, I started researching grass boxes for my balcony (not for indoor use!) for my dogs to use because the pet owners in my condo complex are lazy and don’t pick up after their dogs. I have one dog who was constantly getting sick with major illnesses. I spent about $4g’s in hospital stays, vet appointments and medication to figure out what the problem was. Come to find out, due to inconsiderate pet owners in my neighborhood not picking up after their dogs, Roxy (my Boston Terrier) was getting intestinal infections by the bacteria found in the feces left on the ground by other dogs. There are dog stations set up all through out our complex that tenants still (out of laziness) do not utilize. Out of frustration and the fear of loosing my dog to another illness, I have come to the conclusion that using a “dog box” may be the best way to keep my dogs healthy and avoid ruining more of my carpet and shoes by tracking dog crap through out my home and car. My dogs get walked every day and have plenty of room to run around the house to play and exorcise so I think using a dog box for this situation would be understandable.
May 9th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I have 2 chihuahuas. My dogs use indoor grass. They also go for walks every single day. They do not step and track their pee everywhere because the grass is designed for the pee to flow right through to the tray/litter below. They DID track pee when using puppy pads.
I have found the grass to be much cleaner and more evironmentally sound than pads which i have used in the past. My dogs never make a mistake, confusing the grass with rugs, etc (and small dogs are notorious for being tough to housebreak!) But it is because I trained them well, watched them like a hawk and never allowed them to think others areas of the house were fair game (my girl was from a puppy mill and was an adult when I got her, but she learned fast).
They will go all the way downstairs and seek the grass out when they need to go.
(living in a condo, this has worked well for us).
It has been ideal for my female who sometimes gets UTI’s – and needs to pee frequently. And for those early rainy or snowy mornings when you want to sleep in just a bit!
I wash it once a week – and it does not stink (though the fake grass bits shed, which is a bit annoying)! Plus, they still go outside when they are are out there. So, I am a recent convert and fan.
It does not – nor should it ever replace real walks/socialization outside, etc… but it has sure come in handy at our place!
Having said that my dogs are 4 lbs. So what they ‘do’ and ‘doo’, I should say is probably less than your average cat!
May 9th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Thanks for your comments Natalie. I am glad the indoor grass works for you and your dogs.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I would’ve never considered indoor grass products until now. We live in an area that … while beautiful … has the occasional gator in the water. We feel safe during the day (although we always stay far from the water and we check under cars as we’re walking) but dusk & nighttime are when gators feed, so I don’t feel very comfortable walking them then. Plus the short fence restrictions make it easy for a gator to climb the fence. So, for me personally a combo of indoor grass at night and the great outdoors during the day would be ideal.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I have never had to worry about gators. Yikes! I can see why you’d want to buy this product.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
The way I see it. Cats get to go in a bucket of fake dirt, so dogs (probably pertains more to the smaller breeds) should be able to go on a strip of fake grass on top of a bucket of fake dirt. Lol, simple logic to me, but not very simple to execute.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Hmm, I guess that’s a good point. But cats are at least more sanitary and will cover up after. My dog walks while he poops and would not be able to keep it in a small area!
July 31st, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Thank you for sharing your side. Are you able to completely housebreak the dog after training it to use the potty pad? Does the dog eventually only go to the bathroom outside or do you continue using the pads for the dog’s life?
August 13th, 2009 at 6:10 am
I disagree for some people not ALL. I have a puppy here who I researched thouroughly to find a good apartment dog. We live in a highrise, and it’s not always possible for us to get her out in time. I am not LAZY at all, We use pads right now, on our large balcony but she has been eating them which I can’t imagine is good for her. I am contemplating a fake grass pad because of that, and she prefers to poop in the house (she’s only 10 weeks old right now). It’s not LAZY to train that way when you live in a high rise or apartment building. The balcony does not supplement in any way taking her out for walks 2-3 times daily, nor does it effect her in anyway. I am a clean neat freak who cleans up her messes instantly after she is done. To say this makes people LAZY is judgemental. I wouldn’t use this method if we owned a home, but we don’t yet. Once we do she will have a fenced yard to do her buisness. She gets more exercise then her 7lb’s needs. Whats wrong with people here is making snap decisions on others choices without knowing the reasons. I come from a family where we bred/showed dogs and always had nothing but the best for them. They had a yard to roam, my dog doesn’t yet. There is NOTHING ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING WRONG WITH TRAINING YOUR DOG THIS WAY IF YOU HAVE NO OTHER MEANS. If you want to come on over and try to catch a 10 week old puppy in the act and hop on the elevator to got 16 stories down and pray to god she doesn’t pee/poop on the elevator. It seems maybe you are LAZY for spending your time judging others on something that is quite frankly NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:34 am
The problem is, you are using the pads to train her to go indoors. You are not using them as a step to eventually train her to go outdoors. If you don’t mind having a little dog going to the bathroom indoors, then by all means, go for it.
September 12th, 2009 at 10:52 am
hi, I am considering a potty pad for my dog,, we have a boston terrior who goes outside beautifully and just got an adorable lil yorkie poo…She is very picky about wet cold grass. I am not using it to train her to go inside I”m going to place in on the porch and take her out there it won’t be wet and cold. Also when the weather is nice she will go out with her big sister. I will however get two of them and place one inside when we are not home. My husband has cancer and is taking chemo and when I am not home he is not able to let her out as often as puppies need to to… HOpe it works for us..
September 12th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I hope she doesn’t learn to pee wherever she wants in the house like on rugs, mats, etc.
September 12th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
We have had 2 dachshunds and both had trouble being potty trained but both absolutely refused to go potty outside during a Minnesota winter. I don’t think I’d want to drag my bottom through the snow at -20 degrees. We are considering the fake grass because the pee pads get pretty pricey after a while. He goes outside during warmer months with no problems but when it comes to bad weather he holds it untill you give up and let him in, and if you’ve ever lived in Minnesota you know you can’t always spend a lot of time outside in those below 0 temps. I agree with E. You should be more concerned that the dog is being loved and cared for than whether or not it goes potty inside or out.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:09 am
I live in Fargo which is pretty much the coldest place in the U.S. I will never use indoor grass for my dog. If it works for you and your dogs, great.
http://www.thatmutt.com/2008/12/14/how-long-is-he-willing-to-hold-it/
December 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Our 5 month old pug uses her rascal litter box (has fake grass) box religiously.
And, our reasons are far from lazy…
We live on the 16th floor – so we really needed a solution to help potty train her. And, now she is cross-trained to go outside as well but there is no way we are getting rid of the box! And for all the naysayers, I kid you not…she does not go anywhere inside but the box!
Luckily, she peed in the grass the first time we introduced her to it (which was after a long drive from the breeders home). She still gets lots of outside action and she gets a 1-2 mile walk every day. She just has the option to do her business inside as well as outside.
I heard her get up this morning at 5am and walk herself down the hall to the box (she had a poo) and came back to bed. How great is it that are pup can relieve herself1!!??
She very very rarely had accidents while training because we always moved the box to where she was. Honestly, my husband and I couldn’t imagine life without the box. My only wish was that it was a little bigger as she is getting bigger and it is harder for her to do her circles before she poops.
Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. And, don’t expect it to be an effortless ordeal. We constantly treat her for going potty in it. So much so that she automatically uses it when we are cooking so that she can get some food. Not the best time to tend to a dump – but I can’t be mad at her.
December 11th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Obviously it’s working for you and your dog so that’s great. Thank you for your comment.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Im just posting in response to the people who r saying that this is for people to lazy to let there dogs out….i just wanted to say some dogs have thiner hair or are like my chinese cresteds that have no hair at all!! I live in pa and my dogs (2) cant go out in the winter so we really do need this for the safty of our dogs…not because wer lazy!
January 6th, 2010 at 9:22 am
ohh one more thing about sanitation….i check theyr box everytime i see them head down to the basement to use it. I clean the poo up with toilet paper and flush it and I have a big spray bottle with soapy water or vinegar water (it helps kill bacteria and actually takes care of smell once the vinegar smell goes away in like an hr or less) that i use to spray the grass to rinse any pee or poo off the grass and into the tray below. Then you can pull out the tray and give it a good bleaching…which is done about every other day.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Glad to hear you are so good about cleaning their box. Sounds like this system works great for you and your dogs.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:51 am
My dog is an angel when I’m around, but when I leave to work it’s like he forgets where he is supposed to go. I usually work for 6-8 hour shifts just like a normal person. I would even come home during lunch to take him out, but guess what? He already went on the carpet. I take him out before work and always after. Maybe this grass patch will work for me. I think if he likes the texture he’ll start to use it. I don’t know, very frustrated.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:57 am
You could also try kenneling the dog whenever you are gone. Think of it as a privelidge to be left loose in the house. Leave the dog in a kennel and then slowly begin to leave him loose. Start with ten mins. Then 30 mins, and build up to a few hours and then the full day.
I would try temporarily kenneling the dog rather than have to depend on the fake grass forever.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I have a dog who recently suffered a neck vertebrae disc rupture, resulting in near total paralysis (temporary, we hope!). We opted for the surgery, and are currently on the recovery road..however it will be a long haul as she is learing to WALK again…actually, she can’t even stand up yet, it’s only been 8 days since surgery. Her therapy is going great, but hauling her outside to LAY in the wet grass doesn’t do it for her. She will just lie there and hold it until she almost bursts. The fake grass works great…after each use I clean it up, and I can keep in the garage until needed…then put it out back and place her on it until she goes. It’s a godsend actually, becasue we only have grass in the front yard (the back is all brick), and no way can we leave her out in front for any period of time. All our dogs routinely do their dooties the bricks (and we clean/wash it down quite often). I am unwilling to just lie her on the brick to go…for one thing, she’ll just lie there in her own pool of urine ( same goes for potty pads no matter where I put them). I needed something that the urine can flow thru and keep her clean and dry (mostly…it’s FAR superior to anything else I’ve tried). This is the ticket! Hopefully w/in a month or so she will have enough function recovered to walk on her own, and this will be a thing of the past. Sure hope so.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Matt, thank you for your comment. I hope your dog gets well soon! I’m glad this product is making life easier for you and your dog.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I really think I’m going to get this product for my two dogs: Lhasa Apso & Shitzu.
I leave them home from 630am- 6pm from Mon-thur while I’m at my full time job.
I walk them about 1/2 a mile in the morning, at 6 pm and again at 10 pm at night. Currently the pee pads get used maybe two times a week by them while I’m at work & do tend to trail a bit of urine in the restroom floor I have them in. So I clean my floor immediately when I get home if they’ve relieved themselves while I was gone.
The grassy things seems so perfect.
AND I am FAR from Lazy. This is just so that IF they need to pee they go to the bathroom NOT My floor in any other room in the house. Both dogs have NEVER done it in any other place other than the pad, never on any carpet, never on furniture and ONLY on the pad.
Both dogs were adopted & used the pad as soon as I put it down for them. Plus on evenings when I have to run an errand after work the pad is there JUST IN CASE.
I don’t like putting them on Kennels as they would have to relieve themselves in there IF THey had to, plus i have no room to put on in. I have a small two bedroom apartment w/ no yard. and an 18 month old child to take care of so, I’m far from lazy.