I have a customer leaving her elderly dog with me for a couple of days. She mentioned that her dog uses a pee pad. I have never used these before. Where should I put the pee pad? Do they smell? Will my dog or cats want to mark it? Any advice would be great. Thanks!
I'd ask the owner if there's a particular location they place the pads at home (such as in a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc, or within a particular distance from the dog's bed) and go from there. Some of them have deodorizers in the material, but you're still going to have urine/feces indoors, so I think that you're generally supposed to pick them up after they're soiled or when it becomes noticeable. Some pads also have chemicals in them designed to encourage dogs to go there, so your pets might be inclined to use it as well. They'll also be likely to use it after the guest dog has gone if you don't pick it up and put down a fresh one right away. If you can message the owner before the stay starts, make sure she brings plenty to get you through the stay, and if you wind up needing extras because your pets try to use them too, medical supply stores sell a very similar product for humans for placing under people with incontinence (ask for the blue absorbent pads - they'll know what you mean) and they're usually a lot cheaper than the ones marketed for dogs. I've used those as kennel liners when my dog has had diarrhea.
That is very good information! I will make sure to ask her to bring a lot of pads. I do not want my animals using the pee pads so I will be diligent on changing them and taking the dog outside. Luckily, I work from home so I can be on top of it throughout the days that the dog stays here. Thanks so much for your response Laura R.!
No problem!
I have this one regular dog with incontinence issues. The owner brings a fold-up playpen for the dog, plus pee pads, which she always placed inside the pen for night time use, when she is zipped into the pen. In three years, the dog has never used the pee pad inside her playpen and might pee on one of my little throw rugs. So I moved the pad just outside her pen for the evening hours. What happened is that the dog stopped going to the door to show me that she needs to go out and uses the pee pad instead. My dog has never showed any interest in using the pee pad (clean or soiled) when it was left out for anyone's use. Just ask the client where they usually place the pad and how often it needs to be changed. Obviously, if it smells, then you don't want to keep it around.