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Toilet training new puppy - grass or concrete?

11 replies

yummumto3girls · 20/04/2013 22:24

Hi, I was wandering if some of you experts could give me some advice. We are getting an 8 week old puppy next week (Shar Pei). We lost our first shar Pei a couple of years ago. We are keen to train her to toilet in a specific area of the garden as we have 3 children. We are thinking of fencing off (something low) a small section and to encourage her to use this only. My husband and I are disagreeing over this, he wants to concrete this area so it can be easily hosed down plus thinks the grass will die anyway. I think it should be grassed as am worried that encouraging her to toilet on concrete will encourage her to do it on pavements when out walking? Has anyone got any ideas on this, or options for something so children and dog poo don't have to mix!

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pigsDOfly · 20/04/2013 23:10

Training her to use a particular fenced off part of the garden shouldn't be difficult at all. I would think though that grass will die away fairly quickly, concrete will be easier to keep clean.

As far as not wanting her to pee in the street, there was a thread on here recently re dogs peeing and pooing on the street and several posters claimed to have trained their dogs to go in the garden before they walked them. I don't know how reliable the dog would be with this, as most creatures tend to go when they need to. However, having said that it is supposed to be possible to train your dog to go on command, or so I believe.

If you train her on grass are you going to allow her to go in the park or in the woods? And what about grass verges?

It's a nice idea to confine your dog's toileting completely to the garden but I'm not sure if this is entirely practical day to day - if you're on a day out for example. I just make sure I carry a lot of poo bags with me.

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yummumto3girls · 20/04/2013 23:53

Thanks pigs, no I wasn't planning on limiting her to the garden alone, just when we are at home so that it just doesn't end up everywhere! Just worried about training on concrete at home and whether this means she won't use verges etc when out walking, which is obviously preferable.

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pigsDOfly · 21/04/2013 00:01

Someone else might know better as I'm no expert, but I wouldn't have thought it would make a difference. Most dog's seems happy to go anywhere.

If you particularly want her to use grass verges you can train her to do that when you are actually out in the street as she possibly won't associate the grass or concrete in your garden with the grass or concrete in the street iyswim.

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FragileTitanium · 21/04/2013 07:04

I'd just be happy if my puppy went outside.....

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Booboostoo · 21/04/2013 07:42

It is perfectly possible to train a dog to go in a specific area although it is more demanding than regular toilet training and some dogs take to it more easily than others. Training for poos is easier than training for wees and dogs like to scent mark their territory with wee.

Grass is better than concrete as some dogs don't like wee touching their feet and I would leave at least one side of the area unfenced as the barrier may make it more difficult for the dog to gain access.

At the end of the day you will still need to pick the poo up promptly to keep the children from getting to it, but it will be easier and faster to find.

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yummumto3girls · 21/04/2013 12:51

Oh Fragile!!

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yummumto3girls · 21/04/2013 21:40

Any more experts out there that can give me some toilet training advice?! (for the puppy!!). Please!

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FragileTitanium · 24/04/2013 21:02

Just a quick update on mine: My puppy has just gone from doing all her wees and poos inside to doing wees and poos on voice command!!!!!
Unbelievable!!!! I'm thrilled!!!!! (NB: In my former life, I used to be thrilled with a new pair of Emma Hope shoes. Now I am thrilled that a small ball of fluff does a poo when I ask her to.)

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Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme · 24/04/2013 21:13

You can train your puppy to pee where you like in the garden but from my experience, although my dog is male and therefore marking his scent, dogs tend to pee where other dogs have peed. Not sure if it's the same for bitches, I expect someone will be along in a minute to put me right.

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ILikeToClean · 25/04/2013 14:28

We bought a couple of bits of turf and put them in a specific area with the idea that pup would go on those and they could be replaced when necessary. Works pretty well, he does mainly go in his area so easy to know where poo is too!

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Bunnylion · 25/04/2013 18:34

I spent a few months saying either "weewees" or "go to the toilet" every time my dog had a wee or poo outside, then I congratulated him like a lunatic.

Once he was almost fully housetrained I'd put the lead on to take him to a small grassed section at the very end of the garden, where I wanted him to do it and say the words "weewees" or "go to the toilet" if he went, with lots of congratulations again. If he went on the wrong place or inside I would ignore him.

I may sometimes get a funny look when I say "I'll just get him to have a quick poo before we go inside" then to my dog "go to the toilet" but now he will run to his spot at the end of the garden and squat down and do it straight away. It's one of the easiest commands I've taught him, just keep repeating it when he does it where you want and make a big fuss each time.

A friend of mine fosters dogs for the blind and she does something similar with them - because once they graduate and are paired with a real blind person they can't be going on the street or making a mine field out of the lawn.

Good luck!

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