I Tried a Stone Bath Mat in the Shower and It Was a Game Changer (Especially for My Dog)

I blame Roo for my new appreciation of stone bath mats. 

My 13-year-old, 12-pound dog of indeterminate breeding is wonderful in many ways. She's quiet, she's a night snuggler, and she comes when called. But she hates water, and specifically, she hates rain. 

During storms, we've carried her outside under an umbrella, looking ridiculous as we felt, but Roo still shook in fear as if she was going to her execution. To put it bluntly, she won't do her business outside when it's raining. 

Instead, she finds a plush surface to absorb her pee. And the first one she chose was our bath mat. 

I had high hopes that I could rescue that bath mat. I washed it repeatedly with Nature's Miracle (just one of many secret hacks to reclaim your house from messy pets), scrubbed it, and probably chanted over it (I really liked that bath mat). Nope. Soon it didn't need to be raining, she just saw that bath mat hit the floor and she had a Pavlovian need to pee on it. 

Fine. Whatever. I ordered new bath mats. She was undeterred. Those new mats soon had their little pee spots, and there was no amount of shaming or finger-wagging that would change Roo's habit. It was time for something new. 

Enter the stone bath mat.

What is a stone bath mat?

Stone bath mats work their magic using diatomaceous earth, which is the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. Safe for humans and animals (diatomaceous earth can even be consumed), adding stone bath mats seemed like a low-risk way to frustrate Roo's nasty habit

How much does a stone bath mat cost?

We then had the challenge of picking a stone bath mat. There are tons of stone bath mats on Amazon at price points ranging from $10 to $70. After reading some reviews (a few users complained about water pooling underneath some of the cheaper versions), we felt comfortable hitting the buy button on the Dorai Home Bath Stone. 

Even if the diatomaceous earth didn't suck up water as advertised, we were eliminating the thing Roo loved most — the plush surface for maximum pee absorption. We made sure we got one that came with a rubberized, no-slip mat to keep everything in place. 

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Does a stone bath mat really work?

Getting out of the shower, I noticed that water evaporated as soon as it hit the mat. It wasn't cold, either, which I had expected. It didn't shift thanks to the rubberized mat, which wasn't always true of plush bath mats. It was, dare I say it, something I would have wanted even if I wasn't trying to thwart Roo's pee problem.

I also saw how the stone bath mat could work in other parts of the house. While I haven't gotten one for the kitchen to dry dishes (turns out it's another kitchen accessory you didn't know you needed) or to place under the dog's water, that's on the list. I also liked the grey color, which matches our bathroom floors, but colored stone mats seemed to be popping up on Amazon for those who want something different. 

While I'll still check under the mat for pooling water, it hasn't happened yet. I'm a convert. And Roo will just have to find somewhere else to pee when it rains. Maybe I'll just keep those old bath mats for her.