Dedicated Potty Area

[Guest Tiptons_Mom]

I have a rather small back yard that the boys go out to do their potty business in, but I was thinking that I might want to set aside a special spot for the potty to help keep the yard cleaner. I pick up the poop daily, but sometimes I can't seem to get the mushy stuff out of the grass too well and that is not good when you have dogs that like to lay around the yard to soaking up the sun. (Yuck) This would also keep those dreaded "pee rings" off the lawn.

 

I was thinking of making an area of approx 8'X8' that would be surfaced with something other than grass to allow for better clean up I am c considering using some low garden fencing to designate the area, but would be fine with just using something to hold in the much, sand, etc. I have not committed myself to anything yet.

 

So if you have a dedicated potty spot, I have some questions...

 

1. How big is your potty?
   
2. Is the area fenced, if so, how high?
   
3. What is the surface area? mulch, stone, sand, etc?
   
4. Do you have a "target" for the male dogs?
   
5. Do you have any issue with smells?
   
6. How long did it take to train the dog to use the potty area on their own?
   

(sorry, couldn't help myself, I love this one, and this maybe the most appropriate posting to use it for.)

 

Any feedback or suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

[revamp]

I don't have a designated potty area, but the vet hospital I worked for did. They fenced it in and used large-size limestone gravel as the surface. It allowed good drainage and was easy to clean up. The gravel was big enough that not much stuck to the solids when cleaning. We also regularly hosed down/disinfected the gravel area. It was great because you could "clean" it regularly without it getting muddy.

[Jimbuck]

I live in a multi-dwelling building that has a fenced in turn out area. It's pretty small so it limits the dogs to really just taking care of business and leaving. They have wood chips in there which I find to be a pain for picking up waste. Our local dog park has some type of gravel that is nice because cleanup is a breeze and it can be easier to spray down or disinfect. Smell can be an issue with woodchips, especially when lazy owners don't pick up poop. Freddy took a few days to adjust to the area but now it's second nature and we go in there before heading out for a walk etc. to take care of business. He doesn't really have a target area and likes to just pee on the fence/front legs.

[Guest Tequila]

Yes, we fenced in a portion of our backyard (which was previously all grass). This was for two reasons: # 1 - To make the "potty area" smaller, and # 2 - To contain the digging. When you have a digger, you also have mud!

 

Since mulch can smell, and can also attract bugs, etc, we went with RUBBER mulch. It's awesome! No mud, no bugs, and it doesn't get "old looking" like real mulch does. Yes, it's more expensive than regular mulch, but I am SO GLAD we did this.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Tequila

[Guest KennelMom]

With 15 dogs, our dedicated potty area is anywhere in the acre we fenced off for them

[Time4ANap]

We fenced an area behind the garage just for this purpose. Rocket still has to ask to go out, but there is one room where a doggy door could be cut into the wall if we want.

 

The area is an L shape along the side of the house and back of the garage, and is aproximately 26 long x 12 wide. We just fenced in the other 2 sides with a 6 foot privacy fence and a locked gate, so there was no magic formula to come up with that measurement.

 

The only use of that area is a potty area, so he knows if he is out there, that's what he's out there for. We left the grass and some mulched areas that were already there in place, with plans to eventually buy some used astro turf to eliminate the mud and mowing. It's not muddy very often, but the ground has not frozen here this winter for more than a day or two, so it is muddier than usual when it rains or snows a little.

 

He has 3 large traffic cones to use as "targets." At least that's what we'd like him to use them for. They are actually for doing circular zoomies with an occasional Figure 8 thrown in.

 

The rest of our yard cannot be fenced easliy without blocking views of the pond, which is why we bought this lot. We do a walk or two each day, with the potty area being used for the remainder of the times that he needs out.

[Hubcitypam]

I do for the greys, but not on purpose. Buck always pooped in the farthest corner away from the house and Buddy has followed suit. Makes for easy clean up. The smaller guys go wherever the urge strikes them.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Hubcitypam

[Moonsmom]

It's sort of a "they designated it themselves area", but though they get all the "pooping" done there, depending on urgency, (or mood, I guess) peeing seems to be hit or miss!.. Fenced yard goes around 3 sides of the house; with the widest area that goes to the property line; so they can go out any of the 3 doors and still be within a secure area. At the corner by the property line is a huge tree and under that is where they've chosen to "go". I keep the area covered in shredded straw, (it's easy to pick up "stuff" and easy and cheap enough to rake up and replace as needed. I've added straw along that fence line since there's some "dog friendly" plants there.. so occasionally "I need a private moment, Minty" doesn't have have Hoover watch her "go."

I really don't have a lot of problem with the grass.. they both do a lot of zoomies.. and churn up clunks at times. It's not a showcase lawn; but it's basically all green and gets pretty thick. I wish I could remember what kind of grass it was. I reseeded it about 8 years ago after some work was done on lines underneath; (have had greys for 14). All I can remember was that I went to a local nursery/landscape company; the one that has 3 dogs that greet you when walk in; and asked him what was best. He recomended something for this area that he said would be deep rooted and durable; but there were only certain times you could plant it depending on certain conditions. I followed 'em.. and it worked!

[Brandiandwe]

We don't have a potty area, but if you're looking for a surface, other than the brilliant suggestions above, it might also be worth looking into what horse people use for arena surfaces with good drainage.

[3greytjoys]

Your plan of 8'x8' should be fine. We have multiple Greyhounds, and have a designated fully fenced potty area (20' long x 15' wide). Exterior fence happens to be 8-9'. Single-side inner secondary fence is 4' tall (ex-pen creates instant inner fence with gate, secured with fenced poles). In my opinion, 4' is too low to leave any Greyhound unattended (even as an inner fence). Humans accompany dogs outside here.

 

I have yet to find the absolute perfect ground material but I'm happy with ours. Since we foster hounds who often arrive with parasites/worms/diarrhea, we need to keep our resident hounds safe. We like a thick base of "tumbled playground bark" (tumbled bark = almost no splinters). It's sooo important to pick up every drop of stool if infected with parasites before it enters ground to multiply. The playground bark is small enough to pick up with every trace of poop/diarrhea/vomit. (Playground bark is easily/cheaply replaced. I keep a few extra bags.)

I would NOT recommend tumbled playground bark in a larger space where hounds do zoomies. It could damage paws during full speed zoomies.

 

The only environmentally safe product I've found (so far) to eliminate outside urine odor is K.O.E. (Kennel Odor Eliminator). It does work on the playground bark.

 

**Caution: Please NEVER use "cocoa mulch" around dogs. It is toxic and can be deadly if ingested.**

 

Sand is used in Greyhound kennels. Nice that it's softer, but sand is more easily tracked inside the house, and may be used by neighborhood cats.

 

(I wouldn't be too comfortable using a chemical rubberized material around dogs without extensive research. If dog ingests rubber it could cause serious internal problems or worse. Seems odor might eventually become a problem too(?).)

 

Years ago, we had a custom-made dog potty built outside for one female dog (not a Greyhound): 4' long cement with drainage pipe, filled with pea gravel. She was easily trained to use it. Even though it was easily hosed/washed every day or two, over years, I found it much more difficult to keep odor under control with environmentally safe products. Urine permeating the cement and pea gravel eventually made the smell too overwhelming to continue using it. (That was before I found K.O.E., so not sure the difference it would make after it was absorbed into the cement and pea gravel.)

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

I have an area that's about 8x12. It took about two months to train Jayne to use it with a fair amount of accuracy. Now we've got the fence built so she can't go anywhere else in the yard unless we open "her" gate. Usually she will return to her yard if she's out playing in the main yard and decides to go. She's 99% reliable with pooping and about 80% with peeing, although I really don't mind if she pees in the rest of the yard.

 

I usually leave the ground as bare grass, it's mostly weeds and crab grass in there. In the winter and early spring I lay down straw to prevent her from tracking in a muddy mess.

 

[GreyPoopon]

I have an area about 18 x 8 (but part is the ramp and part is patio stone/bench etc.). It is fenced with plastic 3' garden fence. The surface is wood chips--mulch breaks down and gets dirty. The main drawback of the chips is that they freeze on the coldest/wettest days. My only boy pees w/o lifting, so I don't have a target. Odor has not been an issue. Poop is picked up immediately.

 

I used to have an area at the back of the yard that was not fenced and had a surface of pea gravel. However, the hounds did not like the pea gravel and I found it hard to train them to go there reliably. When I got sick of walking down with them, I moved the area close to the house so they have to use it.

Edited February 25, 2012 by GreyPoopon

[cello]

We put in a potty yard last summer and I LOVE IT!! We fenced in the unused side yard of our house and just left the grass that was there. The area is about 60 feet long, and varies from 10 to 16 feet wide. We have four hounds, and this is plenty of room for them to potty and run around a bit. I go out with our dogs every single turn out, and stay out with them. I pick up the poop three to four times each day. I find that the two minutes it takes to scoop at each turn out is worth it rather then having them walk through poop and track it in the house. They all seem to have their favorite spot to poop! Poop is stored in a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket I bought at Lowe's with a tight fitting lid and plastic bag liner. I use the "Jaw of Poop" for pick up and this leaves the grass nice and clean.

[Guest Tiptons_Mom]

We put in a potty yard last summer and I LOVE IT!! We fenced in the unused side yard of our house and just left the grass that was there. The area is about 60 feet long, and varies from 10 to 16 feet wide. We have four hounds, and this is plenty of room for them to potty and run around a bit. I go out with our dogs every single turn out, and stay out with them. I pick up the poop three to four times each day. I find that the two minutes it takes to scoop at each turn out is worth it rather then having them walk through poop and track it in the house. They all seem to have their favorite spot to poop! Poop is stored in a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket I bought at Lowe's with a tight fitting lid and plastic bag liner. I use the "Jaw of Poop" for pick up and this leaves the grass nice and clean.

 

I am getting excited about this. I hope that I can report that I LOVE my potty area as well.

I do clean up the poop at least twice a day, and with only two hounds it isn't much. I have the same claw and lowes bucket that you speak of in use now.

I hope to have this completed in the next few weeks. I will post pics when I am done.

 

Thank you to everyone for your feedback.

[Guest TBSFlame]

Our dogs have a potty yard with mulch. We spray the mulch to keep down the smell and clean each time they go out.

 

 

[cello]

We put in a potty yard last summer and I LOVE IT!! We fenced in the unused side yard of our house and just left the grass that was there. The area is about 60 feet long, and varies from 10 to 16 feet wide. We have four hounds, and this is plenty of room for them to potty and run around a bit. I go out with our dogs every single turn out, and stay out with them. I pick up the poop three to four times each day. I find that the two minutes it takes to scoop at each turn out is worth it rather then having them walk through poop and track it in the house. They all seem to have their favorite spot to poop! Poop is stored in a 5 gallon plastic paint bucket I bought at Lowe's with a tight fitting lid and plastic bag liner. I use the "Jaw of Poop" for pick up and this leaves the grass nice and clean.

 

I am getting excited about this. I hope that I can report that I LOVE my potty area as well.

I do clean up the poop at least twice a day, and with only two hounds it isn't much. I have the same claw and lowes bucket that you speak of in use now.

I hope to have this completed in the next few weeks. I will post pics when I am done.

 

Thank you to everyone for your feedback.

 

I mis-read your post and thought you said "with only TWO POUNDS it isn't much." LOL!! I wonder what the official 'poop poundage per hound' rate is? Have fun. I am sure that you will love it!