How Belly Bands for Dogs Compare to the P-Suit® Diaper
By Cat Pesale
Combatting dog peeing, marking, and incontinence comes down to choosing the right product. Many dog owners looking after “markers” or incontinent pups will consider dog diapers a great solution. While some may prefer disposable diapers, others want a “rinse-and-repeat” product they can reuse each time their dog pee. Additional owners prefer stress-free products that cover the pee but none of the poop.
Our P-Suit® dog diaper entirely fits the bill in these respects; it helps manage behavioral peeing and dog incontinence in a way that is comfortable on dogs and accommodates the way they pee. But another option many dog owners consider, and one that many of our new customers have tried in the past, is the belly band or belly wrap. Unlike disposable dog diapers, belly bands wrap around the dog’s waist to cover the male dog’s anatomy, usually through hook-and-loop Velcro strips. They are typically made in one piece and sold in packs of various colors and patterns.
While it’s essential to have a simple-to-use product, it should also accommodate how dogs move around and urinate. Like disposable dog diapers, belly bands have design-related disadvantages that prevent them from helping owners manage marking and incontinence. Here are some top observations from Barkitwear® customers who have tried belly bands for dogs.
1. Belly bands do not accommodate the way male dogs pee
The purpose of the belly band’s wraparound design is simple: cover the source of the pee by wrapping absorbent fabric around the male dog’s anatomy. While a belly band technically covers the male dog’s anatomy, the way it does so can prompt issues for owners. When fastened, belly bands compress the dog’s anatomy upward toward the belly. This situation forces a dog’s man parts into an unnatural position — especially considering how male dogs tend to pee forward, outward, and away from their bellies. Therefore, belly bands risk irritating the urogenital area and impede how dogs pee naturally. In addition, how belly bands constrict a male dog’s anatomy can also limit the room dogs have to mark or pee inside the belly band. The result? A high likelihood of urine leakage and stains around the home — especially if incontinence is involved.
How the P-Suit® solves this issue
A dog diaper product should accommodate dogs and how they pee to be effective. The P-Suit® dog diaper meets this requirement through its full-body suit design. Our two-piece suit consists of a snap-on garment top with armholes and an attachable bottom piece into which a dog pees. When an owner fully assembles the suit and puts it on their dog, the bottom piece will cup downward and away from the dog’s urogenital area. In addition, the bottom piece widens out from the urogenital region the closer it gets to the middle of the dog’s torso, and can be adjusted closer or away from the dog’s belly with the help of Velcro and hand-set snaps. Because the bottom piece’s cupped design creates plenty of room around a dog’s man parts, this design will not interfere with or constrict a male dog’s anatomy as he runs, plays, sleeps, or rolls around in the suit. The bottom piece’s widening design also allows a male dog to pee forward just as he would typically, allowing his urine enough room to move forward and outward into any winged sanitary napkin owners insert into the bottom piece. Therefore, the P-Suit® diaper’s full-body design will fully capture and contain the forward and outward flow of urine within the bottom piece — all while keeping the dog comfortable and dry thanks to moisture-wicking fabrics inside the bottom piece.
2. Belly bands rely on simple fastening — without much else
Most canine belly wraps suffer from the same fastening issues impacting disposable diapers. Namely, they rely solely on hook-and-loop Velcro strips to stay “wrapped” around a dog’s waist.
As good as Velcro can be, there’s a downside to using it as the sole fastening tool — especially around the waist area. Overlap too much Velcro, and the dog owner risks constricting their pup and making them feel uncomfortable in the wrap; use too little, and the belly wrap could unfasten at the slightest movement. In some belly bands for dogs, the Velcro ends meet on the top of the dog’s spine, making them vulnerable to unfastening from the zoomies, naptime movements, or a stealthy scooch against a piece of furniture.
To make things worse, belly bands abandon a design security feature that can help keep other diaper-type products from slipping down: leg openings or holes. Therefore, any hope of ensuring a pee-free home hangs on a hook — and a loop.
How the P-Suit® solves this issue
Velcro is a helpful fastening tool; we even use it in our P-Suit® dog diapers. However, using Velcro as the sole fastening mechanism for a diaper-type product for dogs leaves it at risk of falling off from a single point of failure.
The P-Suit® dog diaper goes a step further, integrating different fastening mechanisms that ensure a dog is secure and comfortable in the suit. Our two-piece design leverages three hand-set snap systems around the dog’s neck, back, and tail areas to offer an escape-proof, easily-adjustable fit. In addition, we incorporate not just leg holes, but arm holes — it is, after all, a fully-body dog diaper suit. However, having both leg holes and arm holes in place gives the garment additional security, allowing it to stay on dogs as they play, nap, run, and do other things we anticipate a dog to do. Including, of course, leg lifting!
With that said, we use Velcro strips to help owners adjust the P-Suit® bottom piece — which the dog pees into —up and down the dog’s sides and chest. However, even this belly piece fastens to the tail area with a series of hand-set snaps to ensure security, adjustability, and comfort around the dog’s tail area and anatomy.
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3. They do not accommodate female dogs who mark or are incontinent
Of course, a belly wrap has to wrap around something. That “something” is evident for owners of male dogs; belly wraps were designed with the male dog’s anatomy in mind. But does it work for a female dog’s anatomy? The answer is a resounding no.
Female dogs can and do mark, regardless of whether they are intact or spayed. Marking is especially common whenever females are in heat, anxious, or feeling territorial. And female dog urine is no more difficult to clean and deodorize than male dog urine — especially when incontinence is on the table! However, containing a female dog’s urine is more difficult as her urethral opening sits slightly below the anus. Of course, this area is outside of the typical belly wrap coverage.
How the P-Suit® solves this issue
Unlike a belly band, the P-Suit® dog diaper is unisex by design. Our bottom piece, when attached to the P-Suit® garment, curves down just under the dog’s anus and slopes downward between the dog’s legs. The cupped bottom piece covers a female dog’s urethral area and allows her to safely mark or urinate without wetting herself or staining her surroundings. We ensure this to be the case by using moisture-wicking and waterproof fabrics for the bottom piece. When used with an adhesive winged sanitary napkin for incontinence, the P-Suit® diaper can also handle large amounts of urine from a female dog without missing the mark! (pun intended)
4. Built-in pads in belly bands require constant machine washing
Of course, a dog wearing a diaper-like product has to pee somewhere in that product. Many of the more popular belly wraps come with built-in absorbent pads. A quick search online can reveal options with cotton layers, multiple fabric layers, “super-absorbent” layers, and even proprietary moisture-wicking fabrics with registered trademarks for names. What do these all have in common? In most cases, these pads are sewn into the belly band, making it impossible for dog owners to remove them. Each time a dog marks or pees, their owner must wash the belly band. Not only does this force a dog owner to stockpile belly bands to swap in, but it also results in a shorter shelf life for the product — not to mention sanitary concerns and discomfort if the owner is lax with swapping out belly bands. While some manufacturers try to work “liners” into their products as a disposable option for their belly wraps, these well-intentioned add-ons tend to worsen the dog’s discomfort while wearing an already-constrictive product.
How the P-Suit® solves this issue
Any diaper product must hold in dog urine to do its job. But this does not mean that an owner must wash or swap out the product every time a pup pees. This predicament defeats the “long-lasting” part of the solution an owner is seeking. Our P-Suit® dog diapers can be reused over long periods with minimal washing — so long as owners use it in conjunction with a winged, adhesive sanitary pad. An owner can insert a marking or incontinence-appropriate winged pad into the P-Suit® bottom piece and replace it each time their dog urinates. Therefore, an owner can replace the sanitary pad whenever a dog pees without washing and replacing the whole garment. If a dog manages to wet the inside of our waterproof, moisture-wicking bottom piece beyond the napkin’s coverage, an owner only needs to swap in a new bottom piece with a fresh, winged adhesive sanitary napkin inside! Owners should ensure they affix our complimentary Velcro T-Bar to each soiled bottom piece they wash, as doing so will keep the bottom piece from pilling.
5. Sizing can be difficult to get right
A common thread that permeates throughout belly bands and many dog diapers is the problem of measuring and sizing. Just as with disposable dog diapers, most belly band manufacturers ask for the circumference of the waist area in front of the hind legs. This measurement, of course, can lead to misleading sizing results. Dogs, after all, come in all shapes and sizes, including unique body types (dachshunds and greyhounds, anyone?). Therefore, a dog’s waist may suggest one size, but their other dimensions may warrant something different.
This issue especially becomes a problem with breed-based suggested sizing, since even dogs within a particular breed can vary in length and girth. What doesn’t change is the result an owner confronts if they purchase the wrong size for their pet: the looming threat of a dog “Houdini-ing” their way out of the product.
How the P-Suit® solves this issue
Solving sizing was a puzzle for us too when we started making the P-Suit® dog diaper. At one point, we even offered custom-fitted suits! After much experimentation and customer feedback, we discovered that the typical sizing metrics most companies rely on lead to inconsistent results and fail to account for measurement differences within breeds. Instead, the key to finding a dog’s size rests in two measurements: neck circumference and the length of the dog’s body from mid-chest to mid-tail. With these measurements, we’ve developed a proven sizing system that accounts for dogs long and short, wide and thin, tall and small.
While belly bands were designed to stop dog marking and incontinence, their shortcomings can lead to frustration and unnecessary spending on cleaning and replacing furniture, rugs and drapes. Learn more about how our P-Suit® dog diaper addresses the shortcomings of belly bands for dogs to help you manage your pup’s incontinence, behavioral marking or occasional indoor peeing.