Teach Dog To Poo In One Spot

Lexy88

Well-Known Member
How would one teach a dog to poo in one area of the yard? Thought Id get onto training this now, well before summer when we have three kids running around bare footed. Cheers!
 

bekah1001

Honored Member
oh I heard something like: Get a rope and make a big circle with it ( put it in the area you desire) and put your dog on the leash andtake him inside the circle and when he goes to the washroom click and treat. then I guess when he starts to pick up on the idea you can fade out the rope.
 

Dodge

Well-Known Member
Oh,I ve seen VS trying to teach owners this with a fence,it was kind of like a "V" (:LOL:nothing to do with her name,just to fence of an area) it did not work very well for the people first of,not enough patience was put into it first of,she did tell them that she has had success with this many many times,its kind of like teaching a dog not to go indoors,wait for the dog to do it behind the fence and throw a treats/praise party (suppose the fence would be easier for the dog to notice and recognize to be an appropriate place rather then a rope,then again if it works with a rope,it wont shut down a section of your garden,:LOL:(y)
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
Pick your spot that you want him to go in, first of all. You can section it off somehow if you'd like, just at first, to give your dog a visual marker. Not entirely necessary but definitely helpful. (Like the rope that was suggested.) But, you don't want the rope to become too ingrained in his head that everytime he sees a rope he's supposed to potty there. (I.e.....kids jump rope laying in the floor. Whoops!) So personally I don't use any kind of visual marker.

Take him to your chosen spot every time he needs to go out. If there is poo ANYWHERE else, move it to this spot. Kind of gross, but clean up a little less so your chosen spot REALLY smells like just the "RIGHT SPOT" for Blade. Just for a little while, until he's doing really well with only using one area of the yard, then you can resume your normal clean-up schedule. You might also try to get some outdoor repellant to keep him from using areas he's been hitting regularly. It shouldn't take long before he adjusts to using that one chosen spot. The great thing about getting Blade used to using only one spot in the yard is that any future dogs you have should quickly pick up that that's the spot to go to, since it will smell strongly(to them) like the potty place.

Hope this helps. :)
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
i did this with Buddy, and first year we had him, he only used his spot.

but, it only lasted a year....Buddy then decided nothing bad happens if he poos whereever, and i guess we were too lazy to retrain him all over again....

sigh.

and sadly, Buddy then decided leaving a poo right where we sit by our firepit was a good idea.....
 

heidio

Active Member
I've heard of dogs preferring a spot, but Max seems to love to spread the joy. I've been thinking of training him to do this but not sure if it would work. I've been told to pick up his presents and then put them in one specific area and he will get the idea to go in just that area. I'm not sure if that would do it though. The rope though is a great idea. I was wondering how one would mark it.
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
i did this with Buddy, and first year we had him, he only used his spot.

but, it only lasted a year....Buddy then decided nothing bad happens if he poos whereever, and i guess we were too lazy to retrain him all over again....

sigh.

and sadly, Buddy then decided leaving a poo right where we sit by our firepit was a good idea.....​
It worked fine for all the dogs I've had. For years now, all the dogs we've ever had use one corner of the yard and no where else. Leave it to Buddy to be difficult. ;D
 

bekah1001

Honored Member
My dogs always pooped at the very end of the yard....hmmm i always wondered why. No matter what house we lived at it was always at the very back
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Also, if anyone is going to try this,
and they live in area that gets unnnbelievable amounts of snow, like up to your dog's chest,
pick a spot
that wintertime will not ruin for you! lol:ROFLMAO:
 

heidio

Active Member
Good point tigerlily, I hadn't quite thought of that. Last winter we got incredible amounts of snow. I guess I tried to erase that from my memory. LOL
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
yeap, i think that is how Buddy lost his 'spot for poo'.....We'd picked out and trained him for the furthest corner of our yard, and that did work fine...
til the snows came.....
Once the deepest of the snows came, (we actually had to shovel some paths through the grass, as well as some lil circles of clearance, as his rear end was below the snow level), that is when Buddy quit trying to get to a spot that was far, far, far from our front door....he would have never made it that far. It was like trying to swim, only worse.

And if you have a dog who won't go outside alone during storms, or even rain, well, factor that in, too, that you will also have to walk out to that far away area during rainy outings.

Another mistake we made was, the spot we picked, being so close to fence, that once an enemy dog moved into the yard on other side of that fence, well, that kinda ruined it for Buddy, too. He'd get over to his 'spot', and forget his mission, and instead, worry about 'enemy dog' who was right there by fence...

So if you have a dog who easily gets distracted by nearby dogs, well, maybe right beside a fence is not the best spot, either...

SO PUT A LIL THOUGHT INTO THE 'TARGET' AREA, so you won't make mistakes WE made, ha ha
 
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