Ideas for Homemade Piddle Pads for Your Puppy

When my dog Zeus was a puppy, I spoke to a neighbor about how she was training her Akita puppy since she had a full-time job and wasn’t home most of the day. It was hard enough training a puppy when working from home, and I couldn’t imagine how she was doing it. Either the puppy had to remain locked in a crate or in the garage, or she had numerous messes to clean up in her home. She said she used piddle pads from the store.

I found the store-bought piddle pads she recommended, but I was surprised by the prices. They weren’t cheap at all, and I hated the idea of literally throwing money away. The store-bought piddle pads were far too expensive for my budget, and I looked for ways to make homemade piddle pads that would work just as well.

If you’re in the process of housebreaking a puppy and want something less expensive than store-bought piddle pads, give this idea a try. Homemade piddle pads and cheap waterproof floor coverings are far less expensive, and in most cases they work just as well. Save yourself the expense of store-bought products to protect floors, and try this cheaper homemade option.

Vinyl Tablecloths and Newspapers

Linoleum and tile flooring can be easily wiped clean, but floors continually soaked with urine will eventually reek. Urine is a smell that isn’t easy to get rid of, especially when it soaks beneath the flooring. Instead of using just newspaper or expensive piddle pads, protect your floors with homemade piddle pads made with vinyl tablecloths and papers.

Consider covering flooring with a cheap vinyl tablecloth instead of costly disposable piddle pads. A cheap vinyl tablecloth is great for protecting all types of flooring from a puppy in training, and it can easy be wiped clean when soiled. You’ll go through hundreds of piddle pads before the tablecloth is worn out, and vinyl tablecloths of various sizes and shapes can be found for less than five dollars at most discount stores. I found mine for only two dollars, and it worked quite well to protect the kitchen floor where my puppy was confined.

Lay out a vinyl tablecloth to protect the floor where the puppy is confined during housebreaking, and cover it with layers of newsprint. Puddles will be soaked right up by the papers, and the urine won’t reach the floor beneath. Homemade pads can be hung on an outdoor clothesline, hosed off, and line dried, and they can be used and reused until the puppy is fully housebroken. If piddle pads will stay in place on the floor, so will a cheap vinyl tablecloth covered with papers!