Dolly

[critters]

Koi seems to have regained full bowel control; he hasn't dropped nuggets in ages. It'd be nice if his bladder would catch up, though!

Congrats!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Her is a precious, but I am happier for you than her! You BOTH deserve some progress!

Do you have any new video? I aint' got no tv, I live at youtube

And btw, being the ultimate HK fan that I am, I have on DVD the Miracle Worker that I watch to reinspire me to save the DEAFBLIND! Helen Keller accomplished more deafblind than 100,000 sighted hearing could ever aspire to!

[CarolC]

Does anyone know of a diaper with a stronger seat? Like the kind of fabric they use on the bottom of pajama feet. My dog wears out the seat of her diaper bouncing on the ground.

I sew fairly well, but it is not really feasible to sew a layer of vinyl/whatever on her current diapers, they are gathered in the leg holes and seat and they are small (6 lb dog), too many puckers. Same problem with iron-on patches.

They cost quite a bit because she needs a clean one every day (we use a pad but there is leakage around the edge because she is so active) so she needs a lot of diapers, and after a while she wears out the seat of her britches and we have to replace them.

They probably wear quicker because I add a little bleach.

[Bobbie]

How about an iron-on jeans knee patch?

[CarolC]

Hi Bobbie, thanks. It's the same problem, the diaper is puckered. I think a layer of knee patch would help a lot, but how to do it? You have to hold a hot iron on an iron-on patch for a while, and in order to do it I would have to have the diaper flat and position the patch just so. The only way to do that would be to stretch it. Maybe put it on a towel on the floor, put my foot on one end of the diaper, stretch it taut with one hand, position the patch, (or maybe you can pin the patch), and apply the hot iron with my other hand, then hold it taut while it "sets" or whatever. I shouldn't say it won't work till I try it, but I'm not sure my back would thank me, and that's really important right now.

EDIT: Actually I might be able to pin one end of the diaper to the edge of the ironing board, that way I wouldn't have to hold it with my foot...I have some white patches I already used for her quilted playpen sheet, just need to buy some blue ones...you know maybe it would work.

[Bobbie]

Or stretch it over something, like a small cutting board (or something of the appropriate size) and maybe pin it. You can stretch fabric while you sew if you wanted to sew a patch on- I'd do it to new diapers as it would probably be easier then.

Another option might be the Pooch Pad diapers- if she just dribbles all the time they soak up quite a bit, and while they would wear eventually, they are more slippery than denim.

[Christine]

I was thinking that you could stretch it over something too...like a metal or glass pan or bowl? How about using clamps to stretch it over the cutting board Bobbie suggested?

If your machine will sew over all the thicknesses easily, you really could sew the patch on using the stretch 'n sew method (pulling the puckered part straight to meet the patch as you go).

Is that little Dolly zooming around on her diapers????

[CarolC]

Yes, it's little Dolly zooming around on her diaper, you got it right, and that was her best diaper of the original batch. I have 2 sleeve boards of different sizes, gonna go experiment with stretching...

[CarolC]

OK, double post. It fits pretty well on the smaller board. I didn't even have to use pins, just the velcro. It is almost good enough. Might need to use pins to get that little extra bit of tautness it looks like it needs. I didn't really want to put a doggie diaper on my sleeve board (even a nice laundered one) so I pulled a sock out of the rag basket and used it for a cover. Can't do it tonight, don't have the patches, but it may work.

[Christine]

It looks like it is on a fan blade! It also looks like if you slid it down a little it would totally stretch it taut. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[CarolC]

Yup, it stretched better when I moved it to the wider part of the board. There is a metal brace under that part but it didn't matter.

Here are my results. The demin patches I bought (carefully chose the light blue denim so they would match) would not stick for love or money. Do not buy Wright's denim knee patches. Wright's is lovely for bias tape, but not patches. I followed the directions, preheated the area, put the patch sticky side down, ironed them with a dry iron on 'Cotton', they were not stuck. Ironed them again and again. Finally the patch itself was beginning to scorch and it still was not stuck, so I gave up.

I remembered I had the white patches that I bought for her quilted playpen cover, and they worked beautifully. I've washed it a lot and she's bounced around in it a lot and it has staying nicely mended because THOSE patches stuck. So I got out the white Dritz patches and tried those. I did not want white, it doesn't match, but the diapers are going to have to be thrown away soon otherwise.

Anyway, the white patches stuck. They are a thin fabric but there is so much adhesive that I have a feeling they will hold together a while longer. ALSO, there was an unintended consequence of all that pressing with a hot iron--the elastic in the leg holes in the crotch area apparently melted so they no longer stretch or pucker. But I put one on her this morning and I don't think it's going to matter. Now that the diaper is not puckered in the crotch, I could probably sew a good denim patch on rather easily and have it match. Or maybe even a colored patch. So...we will try them like this for a while and see how it goes. I only got 4 done because I ran out of the white patching material.

PS. Bobbie I just ordered a Pooch Pad diaper to try off eBay. I don't know if it will be absorbent enough but it will work with a pad if it is not. The pad also gives her padding to bounce on, like the Charmin kid! Thanks!

[Christine]

I could swear there was a picture in here earlier. They looked great! Glad you found something that works.

[Bobbie]

There WAS a picture.

The pooch pad diapers are pretty thick- Merlin's first one got fairly worn from laundering but still far from worn through. I use a liner because he pees heavily but it helps catch what misses the diaper. Actually we are hardly ever using them now that he doesn't move much. I'll be interested to hear how they work for you. The male wraps seem like they'd hold more just due to the design.

[CarolC]

OK, I will let you know how they work. I'm almost scared to try one without a pad, for example it seems like any waterproof liner is likely to get holes in it from bouncing in the grass, etc. And I really do think she benefits from the padding as far as having a soft pad to land on when she bounces. For what it's worth, she wore her patched diaper yesterday and it held up just fine.

[Bobbie]

http://store.poochpad.com/poochpants.html
They say the pads themselves have a blue vinyl side but it feels just like the other side so I don't know. It will be interesting to see how they wear. Speaking of which, another idea would be to paint some rubber coating on the waterproof side of the diapers. This might mess with washing, though.