Tiny Pup, BIG Yard! POTTY AREA QUESTION

[RBG]

Hi all,

Im a new member of Doodle Kisses and very happy to be here.  After a 6 month waiting list ( and 2 years of campaigning for a puppy )  I am finally picking up a Beautiful Black Mini Goldendoodle we named Twyla in a couple of weeks, and I found this forum during one of my doodle research marathons.   There is so much great info on here, and I just want to say thanks in advance for your help :) 

 

Ok, here we go.  My husband and I live in an old  farmhouse with 21 acres of land. About 3.5 acres are the landscaped yard.  Id like to build Twyla a permeant gravel topped potty spot on the edge of our lawn but have a coupe of concerns.

1.  I am worried that an ideal spot may be a bit too far for her to go, especially if I catch her mid-accident.   The closest lawn edge is about 200 ft away.   Also, we live in Vermont and get a TON of snow, so what if I am unable to get to shoveling in time for her tiny bowels to hold it in while I make a path to the area.

2.  Because of said snow,  The gravel spot will be covered for the winter. 

3.  I am gone next week for thanksgiving, then have school finals the week before picking her up, so the reality of building the doggy before we get her is slim to none. 

My questions are these:  

Is it ok to have a temporary "puppy potty spot" closer to the house in the beginning and maybe through winter, and then move her spot and build a more permanent location once she's bigger?  

Recommendations on how to make this an easy transition? 

Do any of you have a gravel doggie toilet?  what are your experiences with them?  

What do you guys think?  

Any advice is welcome! 

thanks! heres a pic of Twyla!  Isn't she so cute?!

[Elizabeth Harlow]

Congratulations on the new puppy! Twyla is a beautiful girl. I also live in Vermont so I feel you when you make reference to all the snow.

I'd suggest a temporary spot closer to the house through the winter. I've never started with a pup with snow already on the ground (I'm thinking it's quite likely we'll have snow cover in a month) but I think in your case it could be a bonus. A friend of mine who got her pup in the winter ran into a problem in the spring because her pup only wanted to go on snow. So when the warmer weather makes its way back to us you could try to maintain some snow initially in the permanent spot where the gravel will ultimately be. Then shovel the area surrounding that spot and take Twyla on a leash to the snow potty spot. By then she should have pretty reasonable bladder control to make it farther from the house. 

I've never had a gravel doggy toilet area but can certainly see the appeal. Our pup, Hayden, prefers to go off of the grassy area into the beginning of the woods to do his business. He basically selected that on his own!

Another option could be a dog litter box with gravel in it that she uses for the winter that you could use outside. But it would be a pain to keep it covered to prevent the snow from piling up on it. The positive thing about this idea is that you could keep it close to the house initially and then move it to the permanent potty spot later to get her used to going farther from the house. 

I wish you all the best with your new girl!

[RBG]

Another Vermonter!  Yep, snow is definitely coming soon.  I was just wondering out loud where it was.   Id love to pick your brain about VT groomers, doggy parks, etc ( depending where you live, of course.  Im central vt ) perhaps we could PM sometime?

thanks for the advice, and I like the doggie litter box idea, how interesting.   I will most likely just get her off the lawn come spring.  My mother doesn't think we really need a gravel area either, and that she will most likely just go in the field behind the yard, and she is probably right.  I think I'm just excited to make something, lol.  

thanks again :)

[Sarah N]

Having just gotten (mostly) through potty training, I think you might be overthinking it a bit right now.

With our Benny, at first just prioritized him getting outside at all. If we caught him mid-pee our goal was just to have him finish outside. Now that he is mostly potty trained (1-2 accidents a week, mostly our fault for not paying attention to his signs) he has plenty of time to sniff around and find his spots before he goes. But, he is also a whopping 40 lbs at 4 mos, and likely has a bigger bladder than your Twyla will.

Also, when it snows, his orientation to his "spot" goes out the window and he does his business randomly throughout our yard.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, over thinking potty training is going to stress you and Twyla out. Get her fully trained to go outside and through the winter before you start micromanaging her bodily functions. After about one week of an untrained puppy you'll be at your wits end just to get her to go outside/communicate something about when she needs to go.

[RBG]

Ha!  Micromanaging is the PERFECT word for me right now!  I definitely need to chill.  Im just nervous and want the best for Twyla.  Ive never owned a dog as an adult, so I think Im just getting myself all worked up over inevitabilities.  I will make more of an effort to relax and just focus on getting her outside in time.  

Thanks for the great advice

[Laura and Angus]

I'm gonna be honest with you...in our experience none of that matters. What matters is consistency, monitoring, and reinforcing when they potty outside. Our puppy, Angus, only had a total of 3 accidents inside (all pee) and I credit that to the fact that we were incredibly vigilant in watching him, knew when he had water, and would take him out every 45 minutes no matter what. When they're little babies, you're literally teaching them where it's okay to potty - if you catch them in the act you say, "No!" and usher them outside immediately to potty outside. If they do potty more outside, you can give them a treat and praise - we went with the phrase "good potty," but that' totally up to you.

Make sure your baby is in a small area where you can watch them all the time - we blocked off our living room, so we could keep an eye on him. If you need time to do other things (most people do) put puppy in the crate or in an area that can easily be cleaned. 

In response to your question about the type of ground - I don't see why that would matter. Dogs use their nose to smell where their pee/poo is - once you have your pup go several times in a place, that is where they'll go. Our puppy always just chose to pee/poo in corners and edges of grass even though as a baby we would usher him outside and just plop him in the grass the second we hit it. Trust me when I say that you're gonna wanna drop them the closest place when it's freezing and 3am. In my opinion, you should definitely worry more about teaching them that outside is good and inside is BAD than where specifically outside they should potty. As babies...any outside potty is AMAZING! 

Good luck with the training! You have an adorable baby :) 

[RBG]

t

Thanks Laura, and yes, a consistent schedule and vigilant watching seem key.  I have been reading ( and re-reading) the housebreaking bible online and its been very helpful.  

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I don't think you need a special area. Just take her out on a leash. We got one of our pups at the beginning of the snow season, we just used a fairly small area near the house because I didn't want to have to go out that far (you know, all times of the night and day in the cold weather). After she is older, you could always set up a special area if you wanted to.

I love your black puppy and her name. Have fun and just enjoy puppyhood, it goes so fast.

[RBG]

Thanks Leslie!  

[Jenny and Cooper]

Hi! What an adorable puppy! Yes, she is definitely cute!

We have a gravel potty area! My husband made a 3x5 pea gravel area about 35 ft away from the back door to the side of our yard. We love it! We took Cooper there as soon as we brought him home and he peed on it. Thereafter we just kept brining him to the potty area. We've had a few accidents on the grass, less than 10. He is now 11 months old and has never gone poop on the grass since he was around 9 weeks old when he had the accident. He has probably had 5 pee accidents on the yard, but that's usually because he was too busy roaming around and couldn't run to his potty area on time. Lol

I highly recommend it! Can you put up a canopy during the snow season??? Or build something to cover it??? We don't get snow here so I can't really help with that topic.

Good luck! As the others say, CONSISTENCY is the key. I used to jot down all of his pee and poo schedule for the first few weeks :) That helped a lot!

Jenny Yee

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

What a cute puppy and a terrific name!  I have a gravel potty area a short distance from the door off the kitchen where Belle (5 months) spends most of her time inside.  This area is shielded from the house by bushes on one side.  Pros: quick to get to; short distance to shovel snow from; easy to find poops to pick up, even in dark with flashlight. Cons: unlike my other dogs who used this same potty area, Belle continually tries to pick up pieces of gravel and chew and/or swallow them, which is very dangerous.  In the spring I am going to pick up the gravel and plant grass and define the potty area with an outline of larger than mouth-sized rocks.  When Belle first started to pee and poop outside, while praising and treating her lavishly, I interspersed the words "better hurry."  Now, when we go to her potty spot, if I say "better hurry" she pees right away; sometimes she will also respond to "better hurry poop," but this is still a work in progress.  My previous dogs went on command like this and I really appreciated it when the weather was cold and nasty.

[RBG]

Thanks all for the advice! I'll most likely wait till spring rotary to guide her to a more permanent spot at the edge of our yard.

I'm so excited, and thankful for my busy schedule leading up to her pick up date because time will most likely fly by :)

[Nancy & Echo]

I live in a temperate area where there's no snow.  I was thinking of using the area across the deck and beside the garage (that has large gravel).  The previous owner buried French drains underneath. 

I have some cement pavers in the back.  Do you think it would be a reasonable idea (when I get my puppy-still a work in progress) to put a paver where I'd like my puppy (eventually) to go toilet.  It seems like it would be easier to pick up poops if they're on top of a paver(s)?   Would a paver be easier to potty on than some (potentially) sharper gravel?  Would cement trap the urine smell? 

I copied a website that someone else posted about a gravel pee area, and she said she uses some enzyme deodorant http://www.welcomepup.com/blog/how-to-build-an-outdoor-dog-potty-are/