[Erin]

Hi! It's been ages since I've posted, but Sam, Loki, and I are getting ready for a move from Chicago to Sydney, Australia.

We're about to sign a lease in a beautiful new building that's graciously accepted them (which is rare here), and the unit has a fantastic balcony that's convertible to a sunroom. The only problem is that the unit is in a high rise and the lower floors are gone!

Sam and Loki ring a bell to go outside, and they are completely house trained. They would look at a piddle pad and think WTF? Plus my preference is for grass.

I want to build them a box with grass - the balcony has a drain and a tap for a hose - but it seems most people either spend $300 on a pre-made one with stinky synthetic grass or a 2 week service to replace sod (which is expensive, and not really offered here anyway - though sod is cheap and offered nearly year round, lugging it up in a lift in a fancy building doesn't sound too fun), or build one from scratch, which is fine, but in 2 days of googling I've only found one success story with that.

I honestly think they will love the freedom of being able to go in and out, vs. now asking and waiting to be put on a leash. We will also have walking paths and will commit to at least 2 walks a day, which is more than they have now in Chicago with terrible weather half the year. But with two, the alternative is taking the lift downstairs every 45 minutes and I don't want to put any of us through that (me OR the dogs).

I knew YT was where I'd find the most amount of experience, so I'm really hoping you can help me! Have you done it? Any warnings or suggestions?

Thanks!!