A few days ago, I took my sleepless night idea, the Terra Pee Pad for puppies with small bladders, to the next level and made a V1 prototype pictured above.
Making it was fairly simple. I purchased a roll of biodegradable landscaping fabric (could not believe I’d find that in January) and sewed up the sides. Inside I added a few pounds of a biochar + vermicompost mix that I had sitting around and then sewed up the top. As some of the finer particles of char can escape this kind of fabric, I put the Pad in a low box so it wouldn’t make a mess on the floor.
The results have been interesting. While I would love to claim that puppy trotted right over to it for a quick pee on the pad, she has taken awhile to figure out that there is a preferred spot for doing her business, at least in my humble opinion. Having said that, she has now started to use the TP pad for its intended use and more. I am happy to report my human nose could detect ZERO odors after several deposits. I shouldn’t be too surprised with that, but what did surprise me is that the canine nose apparently has no issues with it either. How do I know this? Well puppy doesn’t just pee on the Pad, she has slept on it too. Kind of gross, but kind of interesting too. I have some ideas for v2 of the TP pad but I have to say I’m liking the concept a lot so far!
In reading up on the contents of dog urine, ever a fascinating subject, and how destructive it can be to lawns (unless of course you like the polka dot look) and urban trees, it occurred to me that homeowners might want to create a little Terra Pee sandbox for dogs to conduct their business in with a similar TP pad which could eventually be used in gardens. And for those poor peed upon urban trees, how about a TP skirt around the trunk so that the trees don’t OD on nitrogen and fall to an early demise? I know Chicago is testing char on urban trees but they are drilling the char into the soil. Perhaps layering it on top in a contained package like the TP pad might be another solution, at least for those trees that doggies tend to favor. Now if I could only convince some urban landscapers to give this a shot…
