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I feel like this post has the potential to feel like a kindergarten classroom where all the 5 and 6-year-old boys want to talk about is poop. Followed by uncontrollable giggling. Given the topic it can’t be helped. Because when I posted the video tour of our new place in Aruba (almost 6 months ago now which is really hard to believe) I got a lot of comments, emails and questions about the little mulch areas we created on our balconies for the girls to use as, let’s say, their facilities.
This definitely isn’t the most glamorous of topics, and won’t be accompanied by the most beautiful photos you’ve ever seen, I can promise you that. But this one little feature has actually had the biggest impact on the daily happiness of all four of us as we’ve settled into this new abode.
And I know this isn’t an ideal situation for everyone, living on the 5th floor with two large dogs. And we couldn’t have done this at earlier stages in our girls’ lives. But as they approach 13 and 14 years old they are perfectly content to nap all day, with access to use the facilities whenever they see fit, and then go for a leisurely stroll in the evening. This is not intended as an exercise area or an attempt at a “dog run” or anything like that. It is strictly for the business of #1 and #2 for these beauties.
Funny story, I actually bought a porch potty from Amazon before I moved here. Joel came down for a week and scoped out the living situation and the idea of the pet porch potty was born. My brother, who travels a lot for work, mentioned there is a porch potty in Sky Mall magazine. It’s about 2 x 4 feet, so would fit perfectly into the corner of the balcony, it seemed ideal really.
But … have you ever actually observed your animal as they prepare to do their business? It takes time, and space, and in Marley’s case, a few laps around an area to find just the right spot … which happens to be pretty much the exact same spot every time, but she doesn’t seem to know that. 🙂 We knew before even bothering to put it together that the little 2 x 4 foot porch potty was more a cruel joke to the girls than any sort of functional area for them to do their business.
So, after a misguided attempt with some sand and a few shallow bins (let’s not talk about it) we came up with a simple DIY, and there are so many ways you could finish off your area more than we did to make it pretty-ish. I didn’t bother with any paint or even an attempt to hide the tarp under the mulch, but it serves its purpose of ease and convenience for the girls and therefore makes it the best DIY we’ve made here in Aruba.
The entire area is about 14 feet long by 5 feet wide and we’re lucky that we have two different entrances to the same balcony. The dog door we put at one end goes right out into the mulched area for the girls and we can use the other door when we go out to use the same balcony. We have a small area rug (one that we inherited with the apartment and is not my favorite) just inside the dog door for the girls to wipe their paws when they come back inside. I kid. But it does give some of the mulch that is tracked in a landing zone.
And taking pictures from the inside out of this sunny locale will always challenge me, I can promise you that too, unfortunately.
As for making one for your own porch or balcony all you need is a tarp a little wider and longer than you want your mulch area to be, getting a grey or brown one (like this option*) will be less noticeable than the typical blue tarp color, and then a couple of pieces of wood.
We used a 2 x 4 cut the exact width of our porch so it is just wedged in for a secure fit and then we used a 1 x 4 to run the length of the porch along the outside edge. We actually lived for about 4 months without that 1 x 4 but the tarp did find its way under our railing in spots so the board provides a nice barrier to prevent fly away mulch to the balconies below us. Both of these pieces are pressure treated, and would probably look nicer painted white or a color to coordinate with the porch, I imagine. 🙂
You can see in the photo above that we keep a trash can with a lid outside and pick up poop on a daily basis, bag it tied tight and toss it in the bin. We’ve lived with this system for about 6 months and we are just now ready to replace some of the mulch with fresh stuff. For regular maintenance we rake and shovel the mulch to help the areas peed on dry. And by regular maintenance I mean when we think about it, which should probably be every week or so. I also have a spray bottle of plain white vinegar that I spray on it every day or so. White vinegar is supposed to help counteract the natural odor. I’m not going to lie, 6 months in we have started to notice a little odor, hence the discussion about switching out the mulch, but replacing a few bags of mulch a couple of times a year is a pretty easy job to maintain an area for the old girls.
Thanks for all of the questions about the area, it has seriously made transitioning to apartment living with the girls totally doable. And just to reiterate where I rank in the whole family scheme, Joel just had a work conference and was asked to send along a photo of something he really cared about, this is the photo he sent. 🙂
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Nancy Carr says
Karah, you are a genius. I am so glad I saw this post. This is a great idea. You could even make the board on the outside near the railing a little higher to keep the mulch from being kicked over the edge. I am still in Puerto Rico and the girls have been using the carport. I may have one made for the far corner of the carport which I clean daily, but we now have a water shortage and I cannot wash off the carport like I normally do. Whenever my house sells and I move I want to put in a doggie door and a place like yours outside would be great, too, for their middle of the night potty trips. I don’t want to put in a doggie door here as an iguana may come in! Sorry I have been very busy and not kept up with a lot of my blogs. So glad I saw this one. Love and appreciate you.
Rose says
I loved this post. I have two 5 pound yorkies, and am about to move to a much colder climate. This might be a solution to 20 below temperatures and trudging in the snow to find that “right” spot.
Kathleen says
Wish I had this when I was single and living in an apartment. Would save those scary, going out by myself moments late at night! I think the world needs a calendar of senior dogs ! We all love puppies but our aging pets are the most beautiful animals in the world to me. They’ve settled in, you know their personality, they know how to tell you what they need, and you’ve leaned on them for a long time. What could be more beautiful.
Ula says
I love your girls. I noticed the red color of the mulch. Is it red? Red dye is toxic to animals. Unless it’s a natural dye the red dye is poisonous to dogs. I hope I’m wrong. Best wishes.
Fonda Rush says
This is a great idea. I’m glad it has worked out for you and the girls. About that photo — they DID leave some space for you in the middle. Take advantage of that and photo-shop yourself into that space! How is the remodeling going? I suppose you’ll let us know when you have something to share. Best wishes!
lindalw666 says
I think your arrangement is very clever. I always knew that I wouldn’t feel like taking walkies in the middle of the night, so next to having self-sufficient doggies that let themselves in and out, that’s very convenient! They look like very nice doggies, at that. I love dogs. But I have a cat!
Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage says
Sushi is stamping her paws desperately and wants to hop on the next flight (first class of course with champagne included) so she can do her business on your balcony!
LC says
Good job on this project. (Our two little girl dogs are both 15 years now; but fortunately they’re still doing well with using the back patio and yard) If I worked on this, I might want to try using something a tad wider to form the perimeter segments.
Ula (above) posted a concern about the dyed mulch. As I understand, the dye on the mulch should only be potentially problematic if it were ingested. I don’t think the dogs will eat it, and even if they licked it at times, I don’t think they will ingest much of the colorant.
Colored mulch has been found to be safe for children and pets. More information is available here …
http://www.mulchandsoilcouncil.org/faqs/mulch.php
http://www.mulchcolors.com/mulch-101
Larry
Karah says
Thanks so much for the resources, LC. And congrats on your babies being 15, that is wonderful! Our girls have no interest in eating the mulch, especially after using it as a toilet so there is no ingestion concern here, but I guess if someone had a dog that ate anything it is something to consider.
kristen fuller says
I soooo loved what you wrote about your beautiful pet, mico. and I am so sorry for your loss. it’s so difficult to lose a pet. I lost my second pet a mini schnauzer two years ago this dec and atill cannot bring myself to get another. it’s just too painful and don’t think I can bare to lose another.
my first one passed away before turning a year old but we were already attached only after a few days with her, prolly more like first few hours and she was a wire fox terrier. we had moved into a home and the lady before us had put rat poison out that we had no idea about. wasn’t visible and couldn’t smell it. blamed ourselves. then min schnauzer lived 8 years (a rescue pup and then developed cancer somehow all over her little body inside, so we had to let her go) so sorry for your loss
your mico looked like she or he was so sweet and a very happy dog thanks to you guys.
rest in peace mico xoxo
Karah says
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, kristen. And I am so sorry for your losses, that rat poison would have been such a hard thing to go through. I’m not sure when we’ll ever be ready for another one.
Ali says
I’ve set up something similar on my balcony, but I cannot get my dog to pee/poop on it! It is soooo frustrating! How did you train your dogs to use it?
Karah says
Lots of patience. haha. It was a long first week. We ended up making it much bigger than we originally had it and that helped. But it was really just patience, I didn’t take them outside at all the first week. I kept a close eye on them and sat out on the balcony any time I thought it was close to their time to go. They stick close to my side so me being out there enticed them out. Then lots of positive reinforcement any time they did use it. I hope that helps!
Joanne Mac Donald says
Love this idea. My geratic poodle has a flight of stairs to navigate to go outside and I have been searching for a solution to use on my deck. This might be it. Thanks so much. I live in a colder climate but I think this idea has possibilities.
Karah says
I would love to know if this worked out for you. A dog door with a flap that keeps the door mostly air tight would be better than our DIY open door for colder climates.
Amber says
Hi! I realize that this post is a few years old now but I am thinking about doing something similar for my dog. Does the mulch need to be replaced after the dogs use it a bit? Does it smell after use? Do you need a draining system? I’ve been using the artificial grass potties and I am so sick of the smell and constantly cleaning the fake grass.
Karah says
Hi Amber! I am so sorry for my delayed reply, you’ve probably already tried this or something else but here is my answer anyway in case they are helpful to you or someone else. We did replace the mulch every six months or so, it could definitely be done sooner if it started to smell, we just did it when we started noticing an odor. I also took my dogs for regular walks so they didn’t do all of their business there every day.
jenny ko says
Thank you for a wonderful tip! How thick of mulch did you put?
Karah says
I assume you already figured this out for yourself, sorry for my super delayed reply, but just a few inches thick. Hopefully it worked out for you.