# Fenced Area to Potty--Good or Bad Idea?



## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

For a number of reasons, I'm redoing my backyard. I'm considering having a small fenced area designated for doggy bathroom duties. I'm thinking this might preserve the lawn. It would also be a smaller area to clean. Is this a good or bad idea? I guess I want to hear from people with specific potty areas about how well it works for them.

Thanks!


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## KelliCZ (Aug 1, 2008)

My dogs have a kennel run for pottying - I love having the mess contained in one area and being able to play in the yard without worry


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## Locke (Nov 3, 2008)

I think thats a great idea.


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## skelaki (Nov 9, 2006)

Ditto that! Great idea.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Mine have their own place too. It has a bed of sand and wood chips/chunks for a few inches on top. It is very easy to clean, beats chasing all over 1/2 acre to pick up. And when the urine odor is a bit much we just hose it down really good and you can also wash it down with a cleaning product made for kennels. We also keep a tarp over it so that the dogs have a dry place to go in bad weather as well.


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## Lolas_Dad (Apr 28, 2008)

My brother has a fenced area for his two pit's. Works out well. I on the other hand pick it up one poop at a time each and every time as we do not have a fenced yard.

It's very convenient having an on leash dog area across the street that provides the bags. Saves me some money


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

When I have my own house I really want to have a small fenced area where they potty before we play in the rest of the yard. I'm not sure if I should use pea gravel or wood chips though, or if there's some other, better material for it.


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## Lolas_Dad (Apr 28, 2008)

Cheetah said:


> When I have my own house I really want to have a small fenced area where they potty before we play in the rest of the yard. I'm not sure if I should use pea gravel or wood chips though, or if there's some other, better material for it.



I wouldn't use anything but grass in the area. First of all it is a natural place for them to eliminate and you can see it to clean it up. With wood chips or pea gravel you would have to sort of sift the whole area with a rake to get everything. Also if you clean the grass up right away after they go the grass should hold up better.


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## KelliCZ (Aug 1, 2008)

Lolas_Dad said:


> I wouldn't use anything but grass in the area. First of all it is a natural place for them to eliminate and you can see it to clean it up. With wood chips or pea gravel you would have to sort of sift the whole area with a rake to get everything. Also if you clean the grass up right away after they go the grass should hold up better.


 

For a small dog that might work but for large dogs it would be pure mud very quickly - I have no trouble finding anything my dogs leave behind on pea gravel (even the Chihuahuas)


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## DogGoneGood (Jun 22, 2008)

We live on an acrage surrounded by trees, so my boys are trained to do their thing in the bushes. Linkin is always on leash so it's easier to control where he goes, but ever since Coal was a puppy he was brought to the woods to go so now it's the only place he does. I love it. I think if I lived somewhere that wasn't surrounded by trees I'd do the whole specific area thing for easy cleanup. I HATE playing (or whatever) on a lawn where you have to contantly look out for "doggie land mines".


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

We had no real yard the last place we lived so we used a mulched area on the side of the house surrounded by a privacy fence. Worked great for potty training because there were no distractions. We replaced the mulch every 3 months and hosed it down and sprayed a kennel cleaner every 4-6 weeks. Poop was scooped immediately with a large scooper and put into a lined waste can we kept right there. It was emptied once per week on garbage day (always felt slightly guilty about putting that in the garbage, though. ).

Now we live on acreage and have no fence but we still leash walk her to a specific area. In the spring, we'll take out the grass and mulch the area so that it's easier to keep clean (with grass there's always residue left behind - yuck). Haven't decided on whether we want to spend the money on fencing yet. I would prefer it if we had it, though. The biggest benefit of having a specific potty area with fencing? You never need worry about anyone stepping in dog poo in your yard. That's worth a little extra effort in my book!


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## hulkamaniac (Feb 11, 2009)

I may have to look at something like this. My dogs are into the habit already of peeing in the exact same spot in the yard. This is fine except they poop pretty much anywhere they please. I don't get why they pee in the same spot, but poop anywhere.


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

Lolas_Dad said:


> I wouldn't use anything but grass in the area. First of all it is a natural place for them to eliminate and you can see it to clean it up. With wood chips or pea gravel you would have to sort of sift the whole area with a rake to get everything. Also if you clean the grass up right away after they go the grass should hold up better.


I actually work at a doggy daycare, and we get high numbers of dogs every day. The outside halves of our play yards are pea gravel, so this is where I get the idea from. It's not difficult at all to scoop up poop from the play yards at work with a regular pooper scooper, and the poop is not hard to see (the pea gravel is much, much lighter than the waste is). 

And yes with all the constant peeing in one area of the yard from 2 and possibly 3-4 good-sized dogs (even with spraying it down with something daily), the grass in that one area would be dead very quickly, which is why I wasn't too thrilled with the thought of wasting time planting grass there. So NO grass if I have a "potty run."

I even considered that fake grass stuff, but from what I hear, it gets VERY hot in the summer, which is disappointing.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

Thanks for all the input. I'm definitely going to have some kind of dog run--I'll look into the options.


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## MoonStr80 (Oct 9, 2006)

My sister is a obsessive, neat freak. Check out what she done to the yard! 









Here is a miniature schnauzer breeder to show how she does to her yard, it is much larger then my sister's
(Scroll to the very bottom)
http://legacyms.com/about.html



KelliCZ said:


> For a small dog that might work but for large dogs it would be pure mud very quickly - I have no trouble finding anything my dogs leave behind on pea gravel (even the Chihuahuas)


Actually it will work for any dog it takes time & training. When she begin this at her old house she had 4 dogs (lot of work) A lab/pit mix, GSD/Dane Mix, Miniature Schnauzer & a Staffy mix. Today she has a Lab/Dane Mix, Miniature Schnauzer & Staffy Mix. The other two passed away


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## KelliCZ (Aug 1, 2008)

MoonStr80 said:


> Actually it will work for any dog it takes time & training. When she begin this at her old house she had 4 dogs (lot of work) A lab/pit mix, GSD/Dane Mix, Miniature Schnauzer & a Staffy mix. Today she has a Lab/Dane Mix, Miniature Schnauzer & Staffy Mix. The other two passed away


 
I agree with training to elimanate in one area I have a run off one side of the deck for potty and the yard to play in off the other side of the deck - if they need to go potty they go to the run - 

What wouldn't work for me is using grass in the run - vs pea gravel


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## Thaelon-Collies (Feb 19, 2009)

Yes great idea!
We have our land fenced in, and we have a smaller ares fenced in for the poochies... kinda like a yard in a yard. It DOES control the mess, but they get to run and play in the open area and if they happen to go i just clean it up. But they go in one play makes clean-up alot easier and faster. 

They used to have the big yard but we had pee spots all over the grass and the flowers turned out to me much more fun to jump and dig out...lol

Best of luck!


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

Wow, MoonStr80. Thanks for posting the pics. I like them both, but your sister's run is very much my style. Do you know what the green stuff is in the back? It doesn't look like lawn, but I can't tell what it is.



> What wouldn't work for me is using grass in the run - vs pea gravel


Kelli, does this mean you would not use grass and would use pea gravel? Just trying to clarify.

I'm definitely leaning away from grass, but I'm going to give it more thought.


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## PawsPup (Feb 25, 2009)

What about trying a dog loo?

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html#1041X40070


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## KelliCZ (Aug 1, 2008)

Thracian said:


> Wow, MoonStr80. Thanks for posting the pics. I like them both, but your sister's run is very much my style. Do you know what the green stuff is in the back? It doesn't look like lawn, but I can't tell what it is.
> 
> 
> Kelli, does this mean you would not use grass and would use pea gravel? Just trying to clarify.
> ...


 
Yes I have pea gravel in my potty area - it's easy to pick up the waste and I also spray it down with bleach and water in the warmer months 

My run is 10 x 20 and I have 2 large and 1 small dog so gravel works best for me


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## tirluc (Aug 29, 2006)

Lolas_Dad said:


> I wouldn't use anything but grass in the area. First of all it is a natural place for them to eliminate and you can see it to clean it up. With wood chips or pea gravel you would have to sort of sift the whole area with a rake to get everything. Also if you clean the grass up right away after they go the grass should hold up better.



this is what happens to the grass in a _verrrryyyy_ short period of time when you have a potty area....JFI sake, this area had some of the most lush grass of the whole yard and in 3 mo, this is what it looked like.....









i leave it like this and just put down pine shavings periodically to keep it from being real muddy....(the panel got snapped off in the corner thanx to some "darling" kids in the neighbourhood).....but this works great....when we get a place of our own i intend to do the same sort of thing but do it w/ the gravel and such....the dog loo thing isn't such a bad idea, either....saves on having to throw it in the trash.....but i think i'd need at least 3 of them....


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## PawsPup (Feb 25, 2009)

If your looking for a certain area for a dog to do their business try using a Pee post, the pheromones in the post will encourage the dog to use that spot.


Paws.


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## DustyVinci (Feb 25, 2009)

We have a fenced area in our yard. Although it took some training, my two shih-tzus only have to be let outside and they go straight to that area, then come back.


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## hulkamaniac (Feb 11, 2009)

I have an area of my house behind the garage and out of site. I'd love to train my dogs to eliminate in that are (is about 6' x 10-12'). What's the best way to start this when I have dogs who currently go pretty much wherever they want?


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## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

I would either leash them to you and stay in that area till they go, or fence the area off and make them stay in that area till they go, and then after that praise, and play in the rest of the yard. >^_^<


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