When we adopted Dexter, a little Bichon Frize that we rescued through the city kennel, we were told he was in trouble. Yes, it certainly did! Battered, untrained, and then abandoned to the streets, he really needed a loving family.
We worked hard to potty train him, but it just wasn’t happening. No matter how many times a day we get him out, no matter how many times we dance and praise him, no matter what we try, we come to accept that he was incontinent. We still take him out every one to two hours to urinate, but while he’s in the house, he wears his homemade dog diapers. [belly bands].
At first I bought a reusable dog diaper for $ 25, which I hated and refused to use. When I realized that I had to find a better answer, I remembered all the cloth diapers I had made for my own children and went to work. I already had some polyester fleece and cotton flannel on hand, so these belly bands didn’t cost me more than time.
STEP ONE: For each belly band, I cut two rectangular strips of fleece. I measured around Dexter’s belly and added two inches (you may want three inches if yours is a large dog) I made your band about 5 inches wide, but if you have a large dog, you may need it up to nine inches wide.
SECOND STEP: For each belly band, I cut 4 square layers of flannel. So for Dexter it was about 5 inches square, for a larger dog it could measure up to 9 inches square.
STEP THREE: I layered everything, two layers of fleece, with the flannel centered on top. I sewed around the outer edge of the fleece twice and around the flannel twice, turning under the raw edges. If you have a zigzag stitch, you can make just one row over the raw edges, without turning it over.
STEP FOUR: On one end of the fleece, I sewed a hook-and-loop velcro strip (r). Then I flipped it over and sewed a velcro strip (r) on the other end. When I wrapped the diaper around Dexter, the two pieces of Velcro (r) would connect at the top of his back to keep the band secure around Dexter’s belly.
Because the diaper is made of fleece, these belly bands have a little stretch or stretch to provide a snug, comfortable fit.
I originally used 1/2-inch wide Velcro (r), but it wasn’t wide enough for a secure fit, so I added a second row of Velcro (r). If you are buying Velcro (r), I suggest you get at least 1 inch wide. If you have a large dog, two inches or even three inches wide would be better.
I found that once I figured out how to make these, I could make them very quickly. We now have eight belly bands, and we just threw them into the wash when they got wet.
However, I was concerned that his tummy was always wet, even though he changed Dexter’s diaper every time we took him outside to urinate. On bad days, he couldn’t keep up with the washing of the belly band: Dexter got everyone wet.
So my next idea was to cut the disposable pee pads into squares to fit inside her belly bands; I cut them about 5 inches square to match the centers of the flannel. If you have a large dog, cut it larger to fit the size of your belly bands.
To protect Dexter’s skin, I cut more squares from a fine polyester fleece and layered them as follows: belly band, then a disposable pad, and then a fleece liner, next to his skin.
The urine would pass through the fleece liner and be absorbed with the disposable pad, which came with a plastic backing that kept the belly band dry.
So you could just throw the disposable square in the trash, put the fleece liner in the wash, and reuse the dog diaper / belly band. This really reduced my clothes.
TIP: Buy a large mesh zippered laundry bag at your local dollar store and store your used fleece liners inside. On the day of the wash, just close it and put it in the washing machine. Before we started wearing that, we found wool liners inside our clothes and my son even found one inside his uniform when he got to work.
Position the belly band so that the Velcro (r) is on your dog’s back and the pad is under his belly.
Nobody likes the frustration of puddles around their house. Both you and your dog will be happier and stress-free when you avoid accidents with your homemade reusable dog diapers / belly bands.
We still haven’t given up on Dexter and I hope to one day fully train him.