Hello everyone, first time poster, forgive me if this has been asked before... Getting our first puppy this weekend, our little fox red boy Fisher When it comes to toilet training, I had come up with the idea of fencing off a small area of my garden as a designated toilet area, always taking Fisher there to do his business. Problem is the area I have in mind is bare soil at present, so thought it would be a good idea to put a layer of fine sand down over it. Just wondering if there was any reason not to do this? Any health or (puppy) safety reason? I figured it's less messy than walking on bare earth, and easier to clean up after. Only negative I could think is that local cats might like to use it as a toilet too, and thus a possible risk of Fisher coming into contact with (eating?) cat faeces. Thanks in advance.
Hello and welcome to the forum. It's not something I've tried myself, but my initial thought would be that the sand would hold the urine and it would get very smelly. You're right about the bare earth, though - it quickly turns to mud with repeated use. Could you maybe lay some turf on that area?
Welcome to the forum. I am not sure about using sand either. Boogie should be able to help you. She has Guide dog puppies and she will know I think.
The local cats will definitely love that. As will Fisher when he discovers those delicious nuggets of cat poo
You could put some bark down which is what we have done or some gravel. Both are easy for picking up poo and the rain washes the urine and easy to top up with fresh if and when you need it.
Yes, it's a good idea. But not sand, it's too hard to keep clean. We have a fenced off spending area, it's stone slabs with a corner of gravel. Mollie uses the gravel most of the time. I have a watering can of dilute Simple Solution and water every wee - no smell. And welcome to you from Mags, Tatze and Mollie from Manchester UK Tatze is my pet dog, a black Lab and she's three years old. Tatze means 'paw' in German. Mollie is my fourth Guide Dog puppy, a black Lab who is five months old. ...
Thanks for your responses & thoughts. The reason I thought sand is because I read that dogs prefer to toilet on something soft - e.g. grass, (carpets!) and I thought sand would be more appealing for Fisher than gravel. I have a very long garden, and in time would rather Fisher had a toilet area down the far end, but I was thinking to start it would be more convenient to have an area nearer the house if I am going to be taking him out there very regularly. I also have 2 young children so definitely need a designated area rather than letting Fisher toilet just anywhere in the garden.
If they spend on stone/concrete or gravel from day 1 they are fine. All Guide Dogs have spending areas with these surfaces. But you have to be consistent. They can spend on grass etc on free runs, but never at home. This is because their owners can't see - so they need the poos in a small area and easily found I have a pet dog who I WISH I'd taught to use the spending area - our grass is a wee burnt mess! But it's too late now. You need to start young, they can hold their wee all day once they are older. ...
Again thanks. So would it work if I trained him to toilet on a gravelled area near the house to start, and then when he was older and not in need of such regular toilet breaks I could move the gravelled area further down the garden and then teach him that his toilet area had now moved to that location?
Corona will be 8 months old when we move to our new home. I was planning on creating a toileting area with a base of peastone. Up until now, she has been peeing in a fenced area on grass at our current home. I was planning on consistently bringing her to that new area on leash every time we go out, hoping that she will eventually understand THAT is the only area in the the yard she is allowed to use. I understand it could take awhile, but in your experience, are you saying it's too late to train Corona do do this?
Hi there and welcome, You've already had loads of replies but from someone who has done exactly this....all I can say is DON'T DO IT WITH SAND! When our dog arrived we had a toilet area set apart down the side of the house, it was filled with ornamental pebbles .....despite being hosed down several times a day it smelled bad very quickly.It didn't help that he had an obsession with picking stones up and chewing them! So,it took me 2 days ,but I picked up all the stones and that left sand.....the sand then got bad very quickly.We live in the Middle East so I guess the climate didn't help.I got the sand taken out and paving laid that could be hosed .It was at that point he decided he didn't want to toilet on our property any more and he would prefer to save it for the tree in the park opposite our gate! But whilst a separate toilet area IS a great idea,I would really recommend it be paved or grass.
You could put a layer of agricultural lime well under the sand to help combat smell. It's going to smell if you use it all the time. I'm not sure how far down to put the lime, you could google that. Lime will burn if you allow it to come in contact with doggy feet. Cat feet too. I know for us the stray cats have lots of other options and tend to avoid doggy areas. YOU could use small gravel. Sand or gravel, lots of dogs like to kick and spread their scent after pooping so both will go flying everywhere, unless you make an actual sand/gravel box. I was not successful in establishing a set place to toilet in our yard. That's because EVERYBODY in the house must take the dog to that spot every time and the one and only other "everybody" here didn't. But I wonder, could this cause problems later on, say if you are travelling and there isn't any sand around?
Interesting you say that.Dexter will wee/mark anywhere outside of our house and garden but he will only poo on sand or stones!!!That has stayed with him from the first few weeks despite having had 5 months in Scotland where I'm pretty sure he toilette on grass! When we took him to the UK I was interested to see what he would do .....Within the first day he had established 2 poo spots on gravelley ground and would hold in until he got there ! Bit 'precious ' ( ahem 'special' ) my dog though !
Yes, no problem at all. When our pups go on holiday they adapt to new spending areas instantly . But they do need to be fenced in. But use bio liquid (the stuff you wash clothes with, well situated) or a weak dilution of Simple Solution and swill every wee - or you will get smells, wherever it is. We have a watering can for this. .. ..
I would also nix the sand idea, mainly because of neighbourhood cats. Also you risk your pup always tracking sand into your house. If you've never lived somewhere near the beach, let me tell you...sand gets EVERYWHERE fast even if the source is not directly outside your back door. I did a potty area (or what Mags calls a "spending area"...much more civilised) for my first dog. It started out life as a raised veg gardening area so I dropped the border down (got rid of the "raised" part), got the soil nice and loose, laid down an anti-weed sheet and then put an absolute ton of pea gravel over the top. It's heavy enough to not get tracked in, can be easily hosed off and is easy to use a rake to pick up the poo. The only problem I had was getting my puppy to use it and not the rest of my lawn. But about the time I was ready to give up, he caught on and it was a great system. Made pick up in a big garden/yard much easier plus no urine burn spots on the lawn.
Homer has a toilet area we made when he was a pup, a wooden tray made out of decking planks filled with wood chip. Our garden is paved with raised beds around the sides. Homer popped and peed in the tray and I washed it out regularly with the hose and replaced the wood chip from time to time. Luckily the drain was next to where his toilet tray is. I don't think it smells that much but I've got a bad sends of smell. Once he started peeing like a big boy he preferres to pee under the bamboo but still does his morning poop in his toilet. All other poops he does on his walks. One thing is he never does a poop on the pavements, always in leafy undergrowth.
