# Building an outdoor bathroom area



## dvprez

Hello, 

I'd like to section off a 10x6 area of my yard for my new puppy to do her business and I'm wondering what material to use, she already uses this area now and it's a nice little distance away from the house and the rest of the yard.

My landscaper suggested 3/4" River Stone and said he's built them for other clients.

My neighbor has a "mulch pit" and he said his dogs loved it and he would just go out there and turn it over with a shovel once a week.

It seems like the mulch would get messy in the rain? Has anyone else built one of these? What materials would you recommend?


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## kerplunk105

I really really want to do this as well. We used to have an amazingly nice backyard-great grass. Now its 95% dirt and then mud. 

I hope some people post up suggestions!


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## Shell

Mulch holds moisture to the soil which is why its so good to place around plants and trees to keep the roots damp. But it also drains the water down to the dirt, keeping it away from the surface. The wood chips get damp but it doesn't turn into a mud pit. Try feeling some mulched flower beds at a neighbors or a park after a rain to see how it works with your local soil. The problem I see with it is that pee will be soaked up by the mulch rather than draining through. Most dogs love to pee on mulch. Make sure to get regular wood mulch and not the cocoa shell mulch (cocoa being poisonous to dogs)

Some people use sand, fine playground grade which will drain well and pack down. Will drain the pee away and the poop will be easy enough to grab on top. Downside is that while mulch breaks down to dirt and can later be replated with grass, it will be harder to turn a sandpit back into a yard.

Pea gravel is efficient at drainage and the larger sizes of it isn't tracked into the house too much. Some dogs don't seem to like the "splash-back" effect though. But it freezes very slick if you tend to get wet and cold winters. It is also nearly impossible to remove to later plant grass.

An alternative is basically a moving poop spot-- make 2 areas and alternate between them to give the grass time to recover.


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## hanksimon

I have a 60 lb dog and he goes potty on a grassy area hidden between two flower beds. The grass is St Augustine, similar to Centipede, and poop is fairly easy to scoop up, pee doesn't seem to burn it.

So, I suggest leaving the area with grass rather than having to maintain pea stones, etc.


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## nekomi

I really like the pea gravel kennels I have. The stones do freeze together in the winter, which is the major drawback. But, they are easy to scoop and clean in the summer, easy to hose down and deodorize if needed, and stay looking good all summer. They don't hold any odor and if you lay them down over a landscape cloth or hardware cloth, it's easier to get them back up off the ground if you want to go back to grass.

A friend has a beautifully landscaped yard that is mostly river rock. It's gorgeous, and it's very, very easy to clean up after her dogs (at one point she owned 3 huskies there). It always looks beautiful and smells completely clean. 

I'd strongly recommend NOT using mulch. I use wood shavings on the deck kennel and have to change them out frequently - they get wet with urine and quite gross, even when scooped twice daily. I would think that it would hold odor pretty bad in the summer if you meant for it to be permanent.


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## Shell

nekomi said:


> A friend has a beautifully landscaped yard that is mostly river rock. It's gorgeous, and it's very, very easy to clean up after her dogs (at one point she owned 3 huskies there). It always looks beautiful and smells completely clean.



I really like this option for its ease of maintainance- no mowing grass mostly! 
But make sure its river rock which is smooth and not just large rock gravel (as opposed to pea gravel) because regular road gravel is hard on the paws.

Maybe its just my dog's foot shape, but the pea gravel size gets stuck between his paw pads. Personally, I just have grass and it has stayed fine even after a cold and wet winter. I hate mowing it but its easy enough to keep clean. Try planting a dense grass or groundcover to reduce the mud issue.


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## railNtrailcowgrl

nekomi said:


> I really like the pea gravel kennels I have. The stones do freeze together in the winter, which is the major drawback. But, they are easy to scoop and clean in the summer, easy to hose down and deodorize if needed, and stay looking good all summer. They don't hold any odor and if you lay them down over a landscape cloth or hardware cloth, it's easier to get them back up off the ground if you want to go back to grass.
> 
> A friend has a beautifully landscaped yard that is mostly river rock. It's gorgeous, and it's very, very easy to clean up after her dogs (at one point she owned 3 huskies there). It always looks beautiful and smells completely clean.
> 
> I'd strongly recommend NOT using mulch. I use wood shavings on the deck kennel and have to change them out frequently - they get wet with urine and quite gross, even when scooped twice daily. I would think that it would hold odor pretty bad in the summer if you meant for it to be permanent.


Is the mulch bad for solids? Pebbles pees sporadically through out the yard only occasionally urinating in her 'pooping grounds'. I would like to make a cheap and easy poo cleaning solution in that part of the yard. Due to us renting I don't want to take the time or spend the money to dig down, lay fabric, and stone the top, ect... I just want to fence off a section with 'garden fence' (like what hulk has in his back yard), spray the weeds that are growing there, and top it off with mulch. Do you think that it will hold odors horribly if she only poops there? I'm not worried about the ammonia smell because she honestly probably pees there once a week, if that.


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## sukhakuli

We sectioned off our side yard for the dog. It was a lot of work, so you may want to hire someone. 

For one thing, I suggest that you put it off of your house so you can have a dog door. It's really nice having a dog door! At one place we lived he had free access, right now he has to ask and I just let him out in the garage, and there is a door there to the dog run. It's nice if he can just go out whenever he wants. 

My husband did all the work, so I'll just tell you what he did.  We have a wood privacy fence, so we only blocked off the entrance to the rest of the yard, but we wanted it longer so it goes out to the end of the patio and makes an L turn to the house. He dug holes 5 feet deep (no joke, and it was a lot of work, but my husband does not believe in doing anything half way) and poured concrete in these holes. Inside the holes he inserted the poles for the chainlink fence. Once they were dry he covered the ground one foot in front of and one foot behind in concrete (to prevent digging out). He then installed the gate and the fence. Our dog is pretty smart, and we had to redo the gate latch a few times because he could open it. Then he started climbing it (yeah, my 80 lb GSD can climb), but now he has given up and happily uses the facilities. I think he was worried that he wouldn't ever go in the yard with the kids. Once he figured out he can still go out there and play with them, he was OK.

Half of the substrate is grass, and half is mulch. DO NOT USE COCOA SHELL MULCH. It's like chocolate, it can kill dogs. I covered the chain link fence with grape vines, so it's pretty, and yummy!. The whole area is about 15x40, or so, so we scoop it out a couple of times a week. It's so large it doesn't really get yucky.


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## railNtrailcowgrl

sukhakuli said:


> We sectioned off our side yard for the dog. It was a lot of work, so you may want to hire someone.
> 
> For one thing, I suggest that you put it off of your house so you can have a dog door. It's really nice having a dog door! At one place we lived he had free access, right now he has to ask and I just let him out in the garage, and there is a door there to the dog run. It's nice if he can just go out whenever he wants.
> 
> My husband did all the work, so I'll just tell you what he did.  We have a wood privacy fence, so we only blocked off the entrance to the rest of the yard, but we wanted it longer so it goes out to the end of the patio and makes an L turn to the house. He dug holes 5 feet deep (no joke, and it was a lot of work, but my husband does not believe in doing anything half way) and poured concrete in these holes. Inside the holes he inserted the poles for the chainlink fence. Once they were dry he covered the ground one foot in front of and one foot behind in concrete (to prevent digging out). He then installed the gate and the fence. Our dog is pretty smart, and we had to redo the gate latch a few times because he could open it. Then he started climbing it (yeah, my 80 lb GSD can climb), but now he has given up and happily uses the facilities. I think he was worried that he wouldn't ever go in the yard with the kids. Once he figured out he can still go out there and play with them, he was OK.
> 
> Half of the substrate is grass, and half is mulch. DO NOT USE COCOA SHELL MULCH. It's like chocolate, it can kill dogs. I covered the chain link fence with *grape vines, so it's pretty, and yummy!.* The whole area is about 15x40, or so, so we scoop it out a couple of times a week. It's so large it doesn't really get yucky.


Just to let you know grapes are known to be just as toxic to dogs as chocolate!


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## poodleholic

I went with rock. Far more sanitary and easy to keep that way. Mulch is . . .in a word, yuk! It stnks, too.


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## RonE

> Pea gravel is efficient at drainage and the larger sizes of it isn't tracked into the house too much.


Shouldn't that be pee gravel?


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## winniec777

We've used a mulched area for 4 years with no issues. There's no smell and the mulch is easy to top off and replace when needed. Just be sure to pick up after every poo. You can spray every so often with a water/bleach solution (10 parts water/1 bleach), but I'll admit that's not as effective as it would be on pea/pee (!) gravel.

Our potty area is part of the landscaping - it's connected to a low berm with bushes, another line of evergreens that form a low screen, and there's a tree planted on one side of it. Although pea gravel performs better as a potty area, I like the look of it integrated into the landscape vs. having it be an obvious separate area used for a doggy bathroom.


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## PaulM

Hello, I am new here, and I have a puzzling situation, my wife and I built our dog (Izzie) a very nice 4 x 12 with 3/4" river rock outdoor spot, she goes there 99% pf the time, except when the area wet from rain or grass watering, does someone have an idea as to why?
Thanks


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## hanksimon

Guessing - Some small dogs don't like the feeling of getting their feet wet. My dog is a large Lab, who loves water ... and puddles :-( 
But he tries not to get his feet wet in the back yard... possibly, because he really doesn't like it when I dry his feet! How large and what type of dog is Izzie?


@RonE: Pea gravel is useful for good landscaping. But pee gravel is more efficient for drainage... so you are correct ... ;-)


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## PaulM

Hello HankSimon, 
Izzie is a 65lbs GoldenDoodle
Thanks


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## hanksimon

No clue, except a learned response that might be similar to my Lab. If Izzie gets her paws wet, do you dry them off ? Most dogs really don't like to have their paws handled (the tops are sensitive, and the Webbing between the toes appears to be sensitive... for dogs with webbed feet). You can train them 'not to mind' as much by providing treats.

I imagine that a golden doodle loves water...


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## PaulM

Thanks Hank,
Izzie does love the water, and she does not mind when her feet get wet and we have to dry them.


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## hanksimon

... No other guesses


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## Chris / Oakley

I know this is an old thread, but I am hoping I can get some feedback on my plans. We have a small city lot of 33 x 110, but the back yard is only 30'x30' after the patio and parking, etc. We have 2 Lab-Mixes, Oakley is 75lbs and Juno is 60lbs. Our yard is basically dead and we are trying to fix it up what little we have for our 2 daughters to have some clean room to play, one that is 21 months and the other should be here in about a month unless she decides to come early.

I was hoping to designate a 9' x 9', or smaller if you think it'd be enough? It will be up against our existing perimeter fence, and I would build a small wood 3' fence to do the other 3 sides. The picture in my head would have it be wood posts with black chain-link between them, with wood on top and bottom for strength. For the ground my father insists patio stones (24 x 24 concrete slabs) are the best as they are easy to scrape poop off of and hose down if the odor gets too strong. In the drawing I have attached, the light grey is the concrete patio stones, the dark grey is pea gravel and the black post in the middle is some sort of 'pee post' for my boy Oakley. Not sure what to put here, but I figured it might keep him from peeing on the fencing around the area. 

Any suggestions to help improve on this idea would be most appreciated as this is what's in my head and short of me building it and hating it or it failing, I won't be able to think of another design.


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## hounddawg

I'm actually looking for a way to do a potty area, too. We have an enclosed front patio that's all concrete. I want to designate one specific area for the dog's business. Would it make sense to build a sort of litter box filled with pea gravel? Or am I just nuts?


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## Seanán

Chris / Oakley said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I am hoping I can get some feedback on my plans. We have a small city lot of 33 x 110, but the back yard is only 30'x30' after the patio and parking, etc. We have 2 Lab-Mixes, Oakley is 75lbs and Juno is 60lbs. Our yard is basically dead and we are trying to fix it up what little we have for our 2 daughters to have some clean room to play, one that is 21 months and the other should be here in about a month unless she decides to come early.
> 
> I was hoping to designate a 9' x 9', or smaller if you think it'd be enough? It will be up against our existing perimeter fence, and I would build a small wood 3' fence to do the other 3 sides. The picture in my head would have it be wood posts with black chain-link between them, with wood on top and bottom for strength. For the ground my father insists patio stones (24 x 24 concrete slabs) are the best as they are easy to scrape poop off of and hose down if the odor gets too strong. In the drawing I have attached, the light grey is the concrete patio stones, the dark grey is pea gravel and the black post in the middle is some sort of 'pee post' for my boy Oakley. Not sure what to put here, but I figured it might keep him from peeing on the fencing around the area.
> 
> Any suggestions to help improve on this idea would be most appreciated as this is what's in my head and short of me building it and hating it or it failing, I won't be able to think of another design.


So long as your dog doesn't mind pooping on pavement, I like this idea.


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## Greater Swiss

AH what a timely thread revival! I was thinking of something similar for when/if we buy and move into my grandparent's house. I personally have a preference for pea gravel idea....like a big litter box, and am not worried about putting grass down later (I might do it, but I'll deal with it later but only IF I need to). 

Kinda silly, excited about buying a house, that I know will need some fixing up (get rid of carpets etc), and honestly, my priority will be getting a "bathroom" in place before we move in lol


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## Shell

Many dogs won't poop on hard surfaces like patio stones or concrete. Some that do learn to poop on those surfaces will also poop indoors or on a deck or porch.

The area is good, plenty of room but growing some sort of plant matter is a good idea IMO. Clover grows well in areas that are nitrogen (pee) rich so it is a potential ground cover. Sand is another option, think of a horse arena or horse stall where it is picked daily for leavings.


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## Seanán

> Many dogs won't poop on hard surfaces like patio stones or concrete. Some that do learn to poop on those surfaces will also poop indoors or on a deck or porch.


It's entirely possible to train a dog to poop on any surface. I know someone who even trained their dog to poop in the bathtub during severe weather or when the owner could not physically make it out with the dog. Logan will poop on any surface I tell him to poop on, but would never intentionally poop inside (again, unless I told him to, such as a service dog relief area inside an airport). Anyway, if you have a potty area, the point is to train the dog to use ONLY that area - so pooping on the deck or porch is kind of a non-issue if the dog is properly trained to use the potty area only.


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## Shell

I agree that dogs _can_ be trained to a certain area, but it can also be a difficulty and some will refuse a hard surface until it is painful to them if they are previously trained on grass. Unless there is a great need for a dog to poop and pee on a hard surface, such as a service dog in a specific designated area, it can be much better to provide a turf surface and prevent potential confusion and accidents.


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## Chris / Oakley

I appreciate all the feedback about the hard surface. I have temporarily setup a 30" green garden fence with an old 3' 6x6 stuck in the ground as a 'pee post'. So far so good.

I do need to do something with the area as it is currently half grass and half dirt. I guess the 2 options are to prep it for clovers or just till up the grass, shovel and rake it smooth, put down geo-felt and some edging and fill it with a couple inches of pea gravel. 

The only other thing I can think of is this carpet, but I'm betting it won't work or will cause some confusion for the dog with indoor carpet (we only have hardwood).
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/assorted-bound-outdoor-grass-area-rug-6-feet-x-8-feet/830481


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## hounddawg

Greater Swiss said:


> AH what a timely thread revival! I was thinking of something similar for when/if we buy and move into my grandparent's house. I personally have a preference for pea gravel idea....like a big litter box, and am not worried about putting grass down later (I might do it, but I'll deal with it later but only IF I need to).
> 
> Kinda silly, excited about buying a house, that I know will need some fixing up (get rid of carpets etc), and honestly, my priority will be getting a "bathroom" in place before we move in lol


Yeah, I was looking to use an under-the-bed storage container. They're about $15 from The Container Store. Drill some holes for drainage and fill it with pea gravel. We don't have grass in our front enclosed area, and I'm not looking to mess with nasty faux grass like those outdoor dog potties they sell online.


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## Shell

Chris / Oakley said:


> I appreciate all the feedback about the hard surface. I have temporarily setup a 30" green garden fence with an old 3' 6x6 stuck in the ground as a 'pee post'. So far so good.
> 
> I do need to do something with the area as it is currently half grass and half dirt. I guess the 2 options are to prep it for clovers or just till up the grass, shovel and rake it smooth, put down geo-felt and some edging and fill it with a couple inches of pea gravel.
> 
> The only other thing I can think of is this carpet, but I'm betting it won't work or will cause some confusion for the dog with indoor carpet (we only have hardwood).
> http://www.homedepot.ca/product/assorted-bound-outdoor-grass-area-rug-6-feet-x-8-feet/830481


I wouldn't use a carpet like that. Aside from the confusion factor, I think it would be hard to keep it sanitary.

Pea gravel is probably your best all-seasons option. No mud, drains well, you can use a muck rake to pick up poop daily and can hose it down in dry season as needed.


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## winniec777

We use mulch for our dog's potty area. Easy to clean up, I can top it off with fresh mulch and replace all of it whenever I want. Easier than pea gravel, IMO. And no need to mow or clip vs. something live. Probably a bit less sanitary, though. When we had small stone, I used to use a weak water & bleach solution to sanitize every once in a while.


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