Training to poop in a specific area of garden

[steerpike]

I try and make sure my boy goes on his walk but he has decided the garden lawn is also fair game (only had him a week now). 

Any tips on training him to go in one area just to help keep things clean and easy? I guess part of it is showing/helping him towards that area when I see the signs he's about to go. 

[Legendaryfrank]

• When I was doing this with Starry, I'd bring a treat with me in my pocket (high value) and I would keep him on leash and walk to the place where I'd want him to poo, and then just stand there and be really boring. if he tries to walk, I usually just twirl around in a 360 until he finds a good enough spot. Once he does his business, I act really happy, tell him good poo and give him a treat immediately.

Sometimes it took 5-10 minutes and if he doesn't go by then I usually tried again another day. It took a month or two before he realized thats the place I want him to poo for the most part, now I don't even have to do the whole routine, usually he gets the picture that it's turnout time.

 

[MerseyGrey]

No training, Buddy has decided on his own which are his favourite parts of the garden and now if he has a poop in the garden, we pretty much know where it will be (it’s where the grass is long enough to tickle his bottom )

[Jerilyn]

Is it normal for them to just pick a spot that they always use? Without any encouragement Wiki, and Lila before her, always poop in the same corner of the yard.

It is the furthest corner from the door, which is fine, but it means I have to shovel a path all the way to the back in the winter. Please note my location, this is no small task.  

[Remolacha]

My first grey picked the back of the yard behind the citrus trees and all the others have just gone in the same area 

Edited September 3, 2021 by Remolacha

[HeyRunDog]

I must be lucky. Grace 99% of the time only poops on her early morning walk around the local park so I can use the bins provided and don't have to bring the deposits home. She usually does pee near the bottom of the garden but occasionally decides that the the lawn is a more choice place as the brown spots of dead grass testify

[steerpike]

Thanks all, useful advice. We've had our dog for just a week so we're both learning about each other. 

He is fed according to advice given by Greyhound Trust where we collected him ~ twice daily.  

He is crapping 2 - 3 times a day right now. 90% of the time, this will be during his walk, though he's done about 3 on the garden lawn so far, all in random places. 

Sadly, last night he did one on the lounge rug. I heard some whining about 2am and perhaps he was distressed as he needed to go but couldn't let us know (we keep him downstairs at night). Hoping this won't happen too often, thinking back, he failed to go on his evening walk for some reason so was probably 'backed up.

[steerpike]

One other point ~ disposing of bagged poo (UK). Am I required to use only the designated dog poo bins? Or can I dispose in any litter bin? Or does this differ based on the council in question?

[MerseyGrey]

Re: evening walks. We continue to walk ours until he poops to avoid overnight accidents. It might take five minutes, it has on occasion taken half an hour but it means that he won’t poop in the house unless he has a poorly tummy (not unusual for us as Buddy likes to eat poop  touch wood, he hasn’t done this for a while).

We deposit our poo bags in any waste bin available, not just designated poo bins. This should be fine wherever you are in the UK. 

[EllenEveBaz]

I've read and noticed in real life that dogs tend to poop in a yard location far from their sleeping area, so yes, that usually makes it the longest trek from the door for pickup.  Dogs probably think it's disgusting that we pee and poop close to our bedrooms.    

Steerpike, try getting another dog's poop and putting it where you want your dog to go.  Maybe territory marking will inspire him, and then you can praise him.   

Some people have had success with getting the dog to pee and poop on command.  You could say the word/phrase when he's out on walks and pooping anyway, and get him to associate the word with the deed.  Then cut his walk short and escort him to the preferred spot and say the command.  You may have to hang out a while, as mentioned above.  But when he goes, have a party!  

My dogs have successfully trained me not to try training them much.   I take the path of least resistance and just always take a poop bag with me for pickup when I go out in the yard.  

[HeyRunDog]

12 hours ago, steerpike said:

One other point ~ disposing of bagged poo (UK). Am I required to use only the designated dog poo bins? Or can I dispose in any litter bin? Or does this differ based on the council in question?

In the UK you can dispose of dog waste in any bin including your own apart from the ones from recycling. The only other bins I have found that say you can't put it in are the ones in a designated children's play area.

[steerpike]

Thank you all for your valued advice and detailed replies, really useful, thanks so much 🙏