Lets Cut the Crap

We've worked hard and late into many evenings, understanding and developing solutions to inherent problems for grass dog toilets that no other supplier can match. So lets look at a few products out there you no doubt have seen during your search for a real grass dog toilet. 

The primary aim is to identify what the inherent problems we have overcome as we discarded options, engineered, constructed, tested and proved in our product development and design.

Lets begin. 

Competitor 1 - Grass in a cardboard box
Primarily marketed as a fresh patch of grass for your dog, delivered to your door in a cardboard wax coated box. Place the box on a surface, open it up and viola! New grass! Throw out the old cardboard box and grass.

Dog Grass refills distributed from a regional S.E QLD location close to metropolitan centre, with excellent supply, warehousing and logistical capability to ensure grass refills are dispatched according to schedule. Their tray (an optional extra) is manufactured from plastic, and offers excellent durability.

Grass Refill Pricing (Subscription):

•  Mini: 40x30cm - $32.30 (Our price - N/A)
• Small: 40x60cm - $37.99 (Our price - $24.95)
• Medium: 60x60cm $49.68 (Our price - $24.95)
• Large: 120x60 - $59.80 (Our price - $24.95)

Our Observations:

We dog sat for a friend at their apartment, who had been utilising this product for approximately 8 months (no tray), with fresh cardboard box containing dog grass arriving fortnightly. Our stay was approx. three weeks, with fresh grass replacement arriving just prior to our stay, and on our last week

• Condensation: with no ventilation between the cardboard box and the surface, condensation occurs. Add urine and what occurs is the transfer of ammonia onto the surface. If the surface is porous (timber, tiles with grout, brick etc) the ammonia smell will eventually permeate into porous surfaces.
• With the cardboard box placed outside, even with a wax coating, given enough time the cardboard will suffer moisture ingress and degradation through to failure, particularly in wet weather.
• Some wet weather during our stay resulted in more moisture under the cardboard box, which could not escape nor evaporate.
• The grout between the tiles had softened and a urine smell was evident 
• Moving the location of the box, and soaking the grout and tiles in double strength vinegar alleviated the urine smell, and left to dry. The grout did harden, but would need further moisture removal and resealing
• We advised to heat the grout in the effected area repeatedly with a hair dryer to remove all moisture, and then seal the grout. 
• We had a tray 60x60cm tray prepared which allowed for ventilation underneath, and as agreed we observed the issue for two weeks prior to deploying our tray.

Trays:

• We recommend always placing a tray under dog grass instead of cardboard, providing the tray is constructed in such a manner to allow airflow underneath the tray. 

------------

Artificial Colouring

It is noted on the website "WE MAY USE ARTIFICAL COLOURING TO REMEDIY DISCOLOURATION IF DEEMED NESCESSARY"

Our Observations:

Having researched fresh turf suppliers & experimented with non-toxic dye (green food dye) on living and dead grass

• We have yet to identify a means to add artificial colouring in order to green-up living grass.
• We have established that spraying green food dye on dead grass is effective in making the grass look green.
• PuPPa-PP will only ever supply the freshest living grass available. 

------------

Competitor 2 - 80x60cm Plastic Tray (white or black) Starter Pack

A great solution for your dog to go potty, planted right on your balcony! A standardised size of 80x60cm that addresses the issue of the different sizes in turf supply (eg: QLD - 120x60, Vic: 120x47, and especially NSW: 180x60cm which is just too big for most medium to high density balconies/decks)

Grass refills distributed from a central NSW metropolitan location, with excellent supply, warehousing and logistical capability to ensure grass refills are dispatched according to schedule. The tray is manufactured from recycled plastic, and offers excellent durability with optional extras such as a canopy, or alternatively, place tray under a rain shield (outdoor table) to prevent water logging

• A canopy to keep your grass dry and prevents water logging or
• Try placing your [tray] under an outdoor table to shield it from heavy rain or bring it inside during wet weather.

Grass Refill Pricing (Subscription):

• Weekly - $29.95 (Our price - N/A)
• Fortnightly - $37.95 (Our price - $24.95)
• Every 3 Weeks - $39.95 (Our price - N/A)
• Every 4 Weeks - $42.95 (Our price - $24.95)

------------

The problem we encountered with our own (early) no drainage design

• If left out in the rain, the tray held water. As the tray continued to capture the rain, what occurred is an increase of rainwater into a bucket like device that will eventually fill up with a combination of rainwater, mud, and urine. 
• We experimented with different designs of canopies, however abandoned the idea as it did not fit our ethos of designing a built-in solution. 
• All our early no drainage models provided similar advice as above and to keep out of rain, but we weren't happy with that as a solution. 
• Instead we designed, constructed, and developed through successful testing our proprietary three dam system.
• Will hold and retain urine without leakage
• Will not fill up with water if left in rain
• Will allow for fresh rainwater to drain off AND retain urine during rain events

-----------

Competitor 3 - Pine Timber - Made in Melbourne

A grass puppy potty made from timber, with a prolific focus on advertising saturation and associated costs, constructed from non-structural material such as treated pine fence paling and treated pine edging boards (un-sanded, un-finished timber) suitability of materials in regards to medium and long term longevity when exposed to the elements should be questioned.

A focus on DIY grass replacement from Bunnings has seen their sizing develop to sufficiently accommodate the Victorian & QLD market, with a stated caveat that NSW residents must trim the grass size. Considering the design brief of providing a box of suitable size, in that regard it meets their brief well enough.

With price tags of up to $195 for an item delivered to QLD - with wheels and underlay plastic - there may be valid concerns regarding longevity and value for money due to materials used, short length fasteners, and construction methods.

Considering the price tag, durability should be a reasonable consideration for a product of this nature.

Their Price - $195 (Tray, plus wheels, plus shipping, plus plastic underlay)

Our Price - $250 delivered - Gold Coast (incl 3 Stage Dam System tray, wheels & handle, fresh grass and protective underlay)

----------

The Problem we encountered utilising similar materials. The experiment was designed to observe how long a poorly constructed timber dog toilet would reasonably last when exposed to the elements (our earliest prototype - READ MORE - OUR STORY)

• Materials we used were a bit more durable than pine fence palings/edging
• Treated pine from timber pallets (19mmx70mm)
• 12mm non-structural raw pine ply as the base
• 50x25mm lengths of pine studs (surrounds)
• Galvanised 8 gauge 32mm screws
• This prototype was never going to get to market. We knew that. It was a quick knock up job to solve an immediate issue back in 2017, and built to fail. 
• The design construction began to fail at 12months (as expected) and the short screws where replaced with longer 10 gauge 62mm screws 
• 6 months later, failure again occurred, and at 24 months after construction, the entire dog toilet came apart.

The Reason:

• Loose grain raw pine timber (treated or untreated), when exposed to constant moisture ingress is not a suitable material for longevity. 
• Eventually the moisture ingresses along the length of screw thread, subsequent timber rot weakens the timber grains, leading to catastrophic failure of the screws capacity (because the timber has rotted) to hold, and the entire construction literally falls apart.
• This is why it is critical that timber dog toilets be sealed, constructed from suitable materials, utilising construction methods that do not allow moisture to sit between timbers.

Competitor 4 - National Hardware Chain

• Material: Light pine. Looks untreated internal grade pine. Finished in a matt black paint. At least it's not unfinished unsanded fence palings 
• Fasteners: Zinc plated - not great for a damp environment. Will likely rust out pretty quick compared to gal or stainless
• Construction: flatpack self assembly.
• Base: Similar material as sides, with some 3mm mattblack finished ply to cover the gaps in slats. Looks like an internal grade ply.
• Size: 41x96 internal - standard QLD turf size is 60x120cm
• Surface contact: 4 castor wheels with lock mechanism. Zinc plate.

• Cheap
• Good for tight budgets
• Great as a start point to see if real grass dog toilets suit you

• Cheap construction materials and fasteners - anticipate relative short working lifespan
• Odd dimensions - Standard QLD turf size is 120x60cm, so you will need to cut the turf down to 41x96cm. Messy, especially for apartment living.
• Instructions mention placing a bag full of soil under grass (never something we recommend due to hygiene standards) and aging urine soaked soil is a stinky, pathogenic pain in the arse to change out, especially if change outs go beyond 4 weeks
• Instructions mention watering 3(?) times a day (thats a shitload of liquid and asking too much for the turf to absorb) - refer back to Competitor 2 - water logging
• Maintenance instructions look like a think tank commissioned to build a horse but as usual delivered a camel
• Outside use only - materials and fasteners used indicate this product will likely struggle to maintain structural integrity when exposed to outdoor environment.

Overall: Honestly, this has been expected. If you are thinking about going the real grass dunny for your dog, and want a cheap option, it's a reasonable option if you keep the above in mind. 

----------

As stated at the beginning of this article, we have worked hard to overcome the inherent problems of a real grass dog toilet in developing our product.

• Eliminate transfer of condensation onto surfaces
• A tray that will not fill up with water AND will retain urine within the grass AND WILL NOT ALLOW THAT URINE TO LEAK ONTO THE BALCONY SURFACE.
• Stress tested materials with non-permeable coatings constructed from suitable materials that will not fail, designed for longevity and ease of maintenance.
• Best Pricing for local grass delivery ($24.95)

Puppa-PP is your complete real grass dog toilet solution. 

Stress Testing (weight capacity)

This is an important and often not taken into account consideration. Our real grass dog toilets are stress tested to carry a weight of 3-400kg -we didn't test to  failure* - (sans wheels and feet). What's the big deal if your dog only weighs 5 or 20kg?? 

Longevity. Suitable materials which are sealed to prevent rot included, the capability to hold far in excess of the patch of dog grass, occasional weight of the dog and intermittent rain events with the additional weight of that water load, means that our grass dog toilets suffer no operational stress due to weight bearing loads. 

What that means is you have a solution sitting there unobtrusively, doing its thing, standing up to the harsh elements and fulfilling its design brief, with absolutely no stress on its structural integrity for years to come. 

We hope this article has busted a few myths for you and that you will consider us.

Our aim is to be the best and do the best. For you, and most importantly, your dog.

* How did we stress test? We jacked up the front of a 2002 Toyota Corolla, placed the pee pad upside down, dropped it onto the upside down base, and left it overnight. Next morning, no evidence of stress, so we just reversed it off. Straight edge inspection revealed no sagging of base. 

Toyota Corolla Weight 1070 kg