In early 2020, a new puppy in our extended “pet family” exposed a problem most dog owners know too well: the late-night, rainy “gotta go now” walks—and the indoor fallback that isn’t much better. Puppy pads were basically glorified paper towels: messy, smelly, easy to miss, and still painfully hands-on. When our own dog (Ollie) started relocating his pad like a tiny interior designer with a dark sense of humor, it was clear we needed something better—especially for Doug, the inventor behind Potty Park and a disabled veteran who wanted a cleaner, safer solution that didn’t require constant cleanup (or constant trips outside).
So we built it.
Over Thanksgiving weekend 2020, the first Potty Park prototype came to life—big, rough, and made of wood, but capable of doing what nothing else could: automatically handle the entire cleanup cycle. A surprising thing happened next: not only did the dogs start using it… the cats did too. Within a month, the system had run hundreds of cleaning cycles in real-world conditions, giving us proof that the concept worked, and a front-row seat to every edge case pets can invent.
That momentum kicked off a multi-year engineering journey: redesigns for safety, reliability, odor control, and easy maintenance, moving from early prototypes to injection-mold-ready versions with a robust cleaning system, deodorizing solution support, and practical “no-gross-touching” serviceability.
Potty Park was born from necessity, and refined through obsessive iteration, so pet owners can spend less time managing mess and more time enjoying their pets (and sleeping through the night).