In a contained area around the back door is a a strip of ground about 6 feet x 2 feet that we are encouraging our new pup to issue as a toilet area. We laid turf there a few months ago in anticipation of his arrival because we read that they prefer to go on grass. He likes using it, but he also likes digging it up, and there are already big brown patches because of his urine. So I think we will have to change the surface material. Chipped bark or pea gravel? Which would be best do you think? I think bark might bee too tempting a snack but it does have the advantage of being easy to refresh. Thoughts
Gravel is good and you can swill it with bio gel (the stuff you wash clothes with) watered down - so no smell. We have a spending area for Mollie, half gravel, half paving.
We have a toilet area filled with bark chip. It works well for us. Homer now only uses it for his morning poops. On our walks Homer will always find a place in the leafy undergrowth on the side of the path and never on the pavement, gravel paths or fields where children play. I like to think this is because he looks out for the wood chip texture. Homer loved finding pebbles as a small puppy but never ate the wood chip. I think both wood chip or gravel work well.
Our back yard is a combination of compacted 1/4- gravel paths, beauty bark and just natural forest floor. The dogs use all of them. I prefer the Gravel, because it is easy to see and scoop up. The beauty bark is terrible because the large bark chunks are the same size and color of dog poo so it is hard to find. They tend to not use the forest floor, or when they do I don't find it. We have too much overstory to grown grass in the yard.
