Hi! We have a 5-year-old chocolate labrador who has grown accustomed to using grass/gravel for his toilet breaks. We're trying to confine his toilet breaks to an area outside our utility door but there's no grass or gravel and he refuses to go to the toilet. What's the best way to help him?
Your trying to break a long running routine so you'll need time and patience. I'd first leash him up, take him to the spot, and give whatever potty command you use. Expect to do it for a while.
Go to a garden centre or nursery and buy a few pieces of turf. Put them on the area where you want him to toilet. Over time (many months) they will disintegrate, but this will happen so gradually that he will gain the habit of toileting in this place on ever slightly less ground/turf, until finally there's none left and he's just going on the area you want him to go on...
