No more wrangling fussy pets to paint ink on their paws or get them to step in clay!

Our furkids are precious members of our families, and like any other family member, the more mementos we have of them, the better right? But while photos and videos are easy to get, there’s one thing a lot of pet owners want that’s quite a bit harder to obtain: a memento of their pet’s pawprint.

Pet paws, with their lil’ toe beans, are just so cute! You just want them to live on in history forever. Our Japanese-language reporter Udonko has always wanted to get a footprint from her dog, but she could never picture the rambunctious lab sitting still long enough for her to slather ink over a paw, never mind the actual stamping part.

But that was until they found a revolutionary mess-free method for preserving your pet’s footprint: the Petouch! It’s a simple, hassle-free method available for 2,000 yen on the official Shachihata Online Shop as well as their Rakuten Shop.

Inside the box was a plastic frame and a pad soaked with ink.

Stretched over the frame was some kind of film. To capture your pet’s pawprint, all you have to do is add ink to the back of the film, turn it over to face a piece of paper, and have your pet step on the film. It’s like having your pet step in ink, without having to clean them up afterward!

It seemed easy to use too–and like it was something Udonko could actually coax her dog to do. Whoever thought of this might have been a genius!

▼ The “spread ink here” side of the frame

Udonko decided to try it out right away. The frame was helpfully labeled on each side with, “Paint with ink” and “Stamp the foot”, so she turned it to the “spread in here” side and began to slather the ink on the film with the pad.

The ink comes in blue, pink, red, and gray, but Udonko chose blue. Once the film was covered in ink…

She flipped it over to the “stamp your paw” side, placed a piece of paper underneath it, and had her dog give it a good press.

The result was so cute!!!

Udonko managed to get her dog’s footprint nicely! It did take some trial and error, and a good deal of patience and effort, as Udonko had to figure out how to get the dog to step on the board firmly enough to get a good pawprint. It was also hard to keep the dog from twisting as it stepped on or away, so it was difficult to find the trick for getting a clean footprint at first. But all she had to do to keep trying was reapply ink to the ink side and use fresh paper, so it wasn’t a major issue.

Since the film on the board felt a bit like plastic wrap, Udonko had concerns that it would tear suddenly in the midst of trying to use it, but it held up under her large dog’s multiple stomps without stretching or ripping, which she considered a huge plus.

Udonko would also say that this isn’t really a job for one person. If you have someone to help you, you can probably produce much nicer pawprints. Plus, it could be a great memory for everyone involved! Like doing a family craft with your pet included. Also, if your pet is still a baby, you could do it multiple times over their life to track their growth!

It took a few tries, but Udonko managed to get the souvenir they wanted, so she was completely satisfied with the Petouch. She only used ordinary printer paper, but next time she wants to try with a nice thick cardstock that will hold up better over time.

If you’ve got furbabies at home that you just love to bits, you’ll definitely want to try out the Petouch to keep memories of them forever. And while we’re on the subject of sentimentality, make sure you get a Pet Help Book too…for emergencies as well as memories!

Related: Petouch
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