Are Dog Diapers Or Baby Diapers Better For Pugs?
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Beans is 14 years old, and has been prone to urinary tract infections since we got her when she was 9 years old. Early on she only had 1 or 2 per year, and the last year or so, she’s had them almost non-stop. We have been working closely with our vet and are now trying hormone pills to hopefully assist. However, when she has UTI’s she sometimes has accidents. It’s sad because she wills tart peeing and keep walking at first, and then jerk around and see what is happening. It’s very clear that she doesn’t realize it when she first starts to urinate. While we know it’s not her fault, it’s still very unfortunate to have accidents in the house. We decided to figure out diapers for her until or unless the hormone pills keep her from having accidents anymore.
At first we tried buying dog diapers. Beans weighs 24 pounds which makes her a bigger pug. Her waist (measured just in front of her back legs) is just shy of 21 inches. So at first, we bought size medium Paw Inspired dog diapers for female dogs on Amazon. They are based on waist measurement and claim to fit up to 21.5 inch waists. This is what they look like on Beans.
As you can see, these do not fit beans very well. This is what the diaper looked like after I put the diaper on her in the kitchen and she walked 6-8 feet outside with me. Less than 2 minutes time and it had drooped this much. The front portion of the diaper is quite thick which I imagine would make them very absorbent. However, it also makes them bunch up a lot. They have a pre-made tail cut out which is handy, and the tabs are on the front of the diaper and pull backwards (so the reverse of how baby diaper tabs are located). This is nice because you can pull the tabs onto the back and stick them which is much easier to see than sticking under the dog’s belly. They just don’t seem to stay up on her back/hips well at all. I debated if she would fit better in a size bigger diaper, that went further up her back, but I imagine that would also mean more fabric between her legs. This pack was about $9 for a pack of 12 diapers.
I started looking online for baby diapers for pugs. I read on a pug forum that pugs fit a baby diaper size 2, and that pampers fit small dogs very nicely. I went out and bought some size 2 pampers and they were too small to even get the tabs to stick! They were clearly way too small, so I decided to see if size 4 baby diapers would fit my pug instead. These look much closer to the size of the medium sized dog diaper as you can see above. The left is a pampers cruisers size 4, and the right is a dog diaper size medium. This is how the baby diapers fit on my pug:
The pampers cruisers are quite similar in size. The tabs are designed for a baby so you do have to pull the tabs under your dog’s belly which is a little tricky. There is also no tail hole, of course. The first time I just tried putting the diaper on the dog quickly to mark a place, and then cut a hole. I’ve since realized that I want to cut the hole about 2 inches up from where the curved “fake stitch” line on the diaper design stop. (photo below). I cut a bit more than an inch wide, and then snip in the center, up and down a little bit (maybe 1/4 t 1/2 of an inch) and that works well for my pugs tail. Baby diapers are much cheaper than dog diapers. Pampers Cruisers size 4 were $8.50 at my local store, for a 24 pack. So twice as many, for 50 cents less!
We’ve also tried pull-ups for dogs.
We bought Pampers Easy-Ups because there was a $3 off coupon. The sticky tabs on diapers can easily come off if a dog moves around a lot. Or, if you are like us, and need to take the diaper off and on multiple times per day so the dog can still go potty outside. The benefit of using pull-ups for incontinent dogs, is there is no tab to come undone, or t lose it’s stick. Pull-ups and easy-ups have a WIDE elastic band, designed to be elastic over the whole area of the child’s hips/sides. On dogs, this means there is elastic over their hips and lower back.
We bought size 3/4 easy-ups, and these are a bit too big for my 24lb pug. We’ve made them work for now, but I plan to buy size 2/3 because after extended wear, the belly side doesn’t stay tight against her anymore which is why I feel they are too big. If your dog is too small for size 2/3 easy-ups or pull-ups, Huggies makes “slip on diapers” or “diaper pants” that are available in sizes 3-6. The easy-ups are the biggest diaper we have tried so far, yet they seem to droop the least in the belly/underside area which I find interesting. They are $9 for a pack of 22 in the 3/4T size, so about the same price as the regular Pampers diapers. They stay on longer than any of the diapers, but they can still fall off if she lays around and stands up multiple times. We found a solution for keeping dog diapers on all day long, regardless of which diaper or pull-up option you go with. Check out my post How To Get A Diaper To Stay On A Dog for that info.
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Thank you so much for this thorough article. It’s been a great help as this issue has just started happening for our dear Rosabella. She’s 10, and has the back leg paralysis issue so many pugs get.
Best,
Barbara
Our 14 year old Mini Pinscher has just been diagnosed with Cushings disease. She is incontinent. I’ve been using toddler diapers which work well and much less expensive than dog diapers. Due to your article, I’m now considering the pull-ups. Thank you very much for the input.
Would love to have you comment back with what you’ve found works best for your min pin. I assume pull-ups would be too big? My chubby pugs (25lbs or so) can wear the 3/4T pull ups but 2/3T fit better. I believe the 2/3T I think min pins typically are smaller and have much smaller belly areas than pugs. But there are “pull on diapers” which come in smaller sizes.
Which ones did you find to be the most absorbent?
We never got the dog diapers to even stay on long enough for them to be tested in terms of absorbency, same with regular baby diapers with tabs. We have continued to buy the pampers easy ups (pampers version of pull-ups). My dog isn’t fully incontinent but she has accidents if she gets UTI’s and she seems to get UTI’s once every couples of months or so. So we will use pull ups on her for a week or so each time she gets an infection and she’s peed in them at least a dozen times and it’s never leaked, its always contained everything without a problem.
Thanks so much for the response. We are currently using luvs ultra lean guards and they are working okay, I will try to the pull-ups for sure!
Great article – thank you!
Has anyone had experience using these diapers or pull-ups with fecal matter issues? My 18+ male schnauzer mix is no longer able to get out of the house & down the steps on his own. I’ve used the washable belly band for the past year at night successfully for urine but now need to diaper him for poop if I leave the house for any length of time. He is now 18 lbs down from 24 so thin waist & not much hip. Wondering if the pull-up/easy-up would be too big in the leg area, if the diaper would be easier to snug in tight.
My pug is about 23 pounds and the 2/3T pampers easy-ups do seem almost too big though we have only rarely had poop fall out the leg hole. I have debated about trying baby-sized diapers because huggies & pampers both make ones that are basically pull-ups style but in diaper sizes, no tape like most diapers just elastic waist that holds them on. Huggies has “huggies little movers slip on diapers” in baby diaper sizes 4-6 and pampers has pampers cruisers 360 degree fit in sizes 3-6. I haven’t tried them yet but with your dog being just 18lbs I would think those probably would fit better than the easy-ups.
Your suggestion for EasyUps worked perfect for my Corgi – thank you! I had to rig it to her harness so that she would keep it on but it covered incredibly well. I would be happy to send pictures if you would like to share them as other options.
Wow what a kind offer! I’d love to add photos of your corgi to this post as another way for people to rig up a diaper system with dogs of different sizes or body types. You can email them to me at franklovesebeans@gmail.com.
My pug has 18 inch waist and weighs just under 21 pounds.. we keep her fit as she was once lame due to hip dysplasia but my kids rehabbed her and she list 3 pounds and kept it off for 5 years. She is preppy and does tricks. She plays hard and snuggles hard!!! She has never been spayed so goes into heat. We try everything so she can keep snuggling freely on all the furniture and beds.
Should Zi get size 1-2 pull up type? My husband ordered mitten clips, thanks to you! Last year I did depends with duct tape attached to her harness. But idea is great!!!! She is continent so we will unclip for walks in our yard.
My pug Beans (pictured in this post) has a 19 inch waist and the 2/3T fit her fine, but I think she could also fit a smaller size if available. I think easy ups only go as small as 2/3T but Huggies pull-ups come in a 12-24months. Or there are papers cruisers 360 which are pull-on diapers that come in baby diaper sizes, though i’m not entirely sure how those compare to toddler training pant sizes, my guess would be to start with a size 4 maybe? Sie 2/3t easy ups say they fit 16-34lb kids where size 4 diapers say they fit 22-37lbs.
Thank you so much for this! My female dog wears a medium in the Paw Inspired brand. I’ve wanted to try baby diapers (they are cheaper and I can buy them locally) but didn’t know how to find the correct size without trial and error and spending money. Now I know.
Thank you for your sharing your knowledge.
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What are the chances I’d find a blog like this while waiting in line at the drugstore? Based on your advice, I swapped out the diapers I planned to buy with the 2/3 pull ups for my 21 lbs Cirneco and they worked perfectly. Thank you for taking the time to share your findings and expert advice. Very much appreciated.
Thank you SO much for sharing all of this great information!!!!! It has been a huge help to me in figuring out how to keep a diaper on my 13 year old Cocker Spaniel. Thanks again! 🙂
Thank you so much for this post. I wish I saw it before buying the dog diapers. We have an ori-pei and she has her pug dads butt. She is 33.4lbs and the dog diapers were terrible and never stayed up. I took your advise and bought the 3/4 easy ups and they work great.
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My Beethoven is 18 pounds and he pees all over. What size I should get. He is a poodle mix. What do you recommend?
Thank you
This was a very helpful post. Thank you, Beans! You take lovely photos! My 18 years old terrier mix has just started peeing in the house at night. I’ve done all the things you’re supposed to do, de-pee her before bed, (we have to carry her down the steps outside), take away her water at 8pm, close off the downstairs so all that is left is the kitchen floor!! It’s still frustrating to come downstairs to a smelly kitchen, though. I will try the diapers, I’m getting too old to keep hosing down my kitchen floor every morning, although, Saydi is worth every sore knee bend!!
Hi I have a Brindle Pug. He weighs 35lbs and is 20 inches around his waist. He currently has kidney failure and pees very often in the house and he also poops in the house. Can anyone tell me what size of pull ups to get? Thanks.