I know that a dog toilet in your garden is not a great subject to talk about today, but I know it will be VERY useful for lots of people!
How to stop the grass being killed by dog wee
This is the question a lot of dog owners ask as they are fed up with the brown patches on the lawn after their dog has been weeing on the lawn. I’ve not found a way yet to stop this, so I decided as we’ve been making a start on our garden redesign, gathering lots of ideas, clearing old plants, and starting to get an idea of what we need to do. So why not bring something into the garden design that would help stop the dog from weeing on the lawn.
If You’re Looking For A Quick and Easy Dog Toilet Then Check The City Doggo’s Oui Pui Patch
The City Doggo’s real grass dog toilet is a great option if you want something that is quick and easy to create, but can also be used inside the house or apartment. The Oui Oui Patch was created by focusing on creating a patch for dogs living in apartments, old or injured dogs, and great for post-surgery pups.
Using real grass on the patch, you can use this patch to help toileting train your pup quickly as dogs respond better to real soil, rather than artificial materials. Using their subscription you can replace the grass with a new patch and recycle the old one.
Check out the City Doggo’s real grass dog toilet subscription service and see if it would work for you and your puppy.
How To Make A Dog Toilet In The Garden
My first step was to stop the dog toileting on the lawn, I don’t like them doing it where the children want to play, and also it kills the grass. So as we were getting a new puppy Gus (which I am sure you’ve seen on Instagram!) I thought it would be best to get him into good habits from the very start, that way he knows nothing else.
As it’s not a natural area here, we are going to use artificial grass, I know people might think of this being used for sports like golfing, and hockey, I am going to use it for my dog toilet area instead! It won’t get muddy during the winter and can be easily washed down and cleaned.
We have a side area in front of our garage, that was only covered in rubbish and overgrown plants. So this would be a perfect place to have an outdoor dog toilet area, easy to get to from the back door but tucked around the corner and out of sight.
So, the task was set and Hubby cleared it out, to reveal what space was there. This was large enough for the dog to toilet, and pace around to find the perfect spot…like they do!
It was laid on concrete and there was no chance we were going to be able to get the concrete up, it was solid and went down very deep. However, this gave hubby a good flat surface to lay the blocks on. You will need some footings on yours if you are laying your blocks onto the soil.
I only wanted it one layer high, so pretty easy to build. Hubby has never built a wall before, so he went with the easy option of buying ready-made mortar, so he only had to add water.
Place some mortar on the floor to sit the blocks on, some on the edges to join them up, and check each one is level with a spirit level.
Build your wall to be as large as you want it, a smaller dog wouldn’t need as much space. Hubby also popped some copper piping in between a couple of the blocks for some drainage. Also added some large rocks to help with drainage too.
Once you have the wall built, you need to fill it with soil. We just used soil from another part of the garden that wasn’t being used anymore. Or purchase some topsoil.
We decided that the best surface for our dog toilet area was artificial grass, the reason why is so that the wee doesn’t kill off the grass and become a mud patch, however, if you would prefer real grass then just add some turf on top of the soil.
So we added some weed membrane over the soil to help stop the weeds from coming through, and then laid our artificial grass on top, pinned down with some outdoor stakes.
It doesn’t look very pretty at the moment, and I am sure it won’t ever look pretty but in time we will render the blocks, and then try to disguise them a little.
It has worked great, the new puppy runs outside and wees on his dog toileting area, then comes running to me for a treat. He knows when I send him onto the patch and say ‘hurry up’ he knows just what I want him to do!
To keep the patch clean and to stop the smell from building up we have purchased some Odourfresh Pet Disinfectant in bubblegum fragrance. This is working brilliantly for the dog toileting area, and I really recommend it. Without it, the patch can get smelly, but this keeps on top of it and also smells just like bubblegum! There are lots of scents, but everyone was recommending the bubblegum in the reviews, so that’s what we went for.
List of things to buy for your dog toilet in the garden
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17 Comments
Is this still working ok? Does it smell? I did the same and the artificial grass really stunk, I didn’t know of any special cleaners so I used disinfectant. Didn’t really work so now back to grass!
Well it’s been down 3 years and up until this year, it was fine. We kept on top of it with the bubblegum cleaner and it was fine. We’re having a house extension so lifted it, and it was the artificial grass that smelt not the mud underneath. So we’re just going to replace the artificial grass if it gets too smelly. But if it lasts 3 years I don’t mind!
This is AMAZING TO HEAR!!!
May I ask which part of the country do you live in and do you have changing seasons?
I live in Iowa and wonder how this would hold up.
Also, how difficult is it to clean up the poo messes?
The dreaded ones, that are a little more soft than normal?
I am in the UK, so have changing seasons but not extreme ones! It held up great for us, your need to wash the patch down anyway with the disinfectant, so the poo just washes away if it’s stuck in the grass!
So, after training to go in that spot is he reluctant to go in grass say at the park or on a walk?
Nope not at all, just associates the patch at home as the place to toilet
Brilliant! We have something similar and it works a treat! We are British but live in Texas – when I read you tell your dog to “Hurry up” I knew you were British too! Barbara Woodhouse books?? We have been living here for nearly 20 years and have had 5 dogs in this time, and all of them would go and “hurry up” in their reserved spot. We have an area to the side of our house which is totally hidden from view. We had grass for some years but it was not good – muddy, unpleasant and the dogs would refuse to go there after it had rained , until a landscaper suggested to lay about 3 inches of mulch and it is working wonders. We buy red mulch so it gives a bit of color and it has a nice scent of fresh wood chips and just renew it every year. No maintenance! Happy doggies, happy owners! Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea! Did this work out during the winter, is Gus still using it?
Warm Regards
Mike
Yep he still uses it! He runs over to it to do what he needs to do, and then goes back to play on the ‘normal’ grass #success
We have a little toileting area out our back garden too for our big pal too.
Ah how clever! I have huge issues with where’s my cat goes to the toilet in our garden so will have to take some tips from this 🙂 x
Wow you did some proper buying for this little guy. Fair play to you. Looks lovely.
I don;t have a dog, but I imagine that this is a hard thing to teach them.
What a great idea glad to hear its working well, your dog is gorgeous.
aw good idea to have this – keeps everything in one place!
What a great idea, your puppy is so adorable too! x
Amazing idea! A one happy dog!