Dog gone good idea

Sunday, June 19, 2005

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Pet ownership involves lots of love and lots of work.

Nadine Wadsworth created Doggy Sod for the convenience of dog owners.

When nature calls, however, some folks find themselves proving their commitment by taking their dogs out in the middle of the night or in bad weather. But now dog owners have another option, thanks to a Bay area entrepreneur.

Doggy Sod is the creation of Treasure Island pet owner Nadine Wadsworth. She loves her dogs, Autumn and Winter, but didn't want to have to take them down two flights of stairs in the middle of the night when they need to do their business.

That's when she got the idea for Doggy Sod.

"At that point I just devised a little box, and I put sod in it and it worked,'' Wadsworth said. "I trained them with it, and that's what started the whole thing. Then my neighbor saw me do it, and he ended up being my first client."

Wadsworth said the key to the whole concept of Doggy Sod is service. Her clients don't have to worry about replacing sod or dealing with the messes left behind.

"Basically we set it up,'' Wadsworth said. "We bring this plastic tray filled with fresh sod, and two weeks later we take that whole tray out with that sod, and replace it with a new tray with fresh sod."

At first, Wadsworth targeted town homes, condos and boats with her idea. But she soon found that others could benefit from Doggy Sod.

"Now people with multi-story homes use it because they have to go up and down two flight of stairs and there's beach homes, they don't have green space," Wadsworth said.

It's a small 2-by-3-foot slice of innovation created in the Bay area that brings a whole new meaning to walking your dog.

The Doggy Sod service is available to pet owners in Pinellas County. For information, call (727) 420-5056.

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