# Question - "Potty Area"



## Pauliesma (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi, All ~

I am new to this site. Luv it!! First off, I must say we are an extremely proud family of our 15 week GSDs, Ritz and Duke . They have been wonderful for the 8 weeks that we have had them and fall more and more in love with them each and every day. I'm sure this is nothing new to any of you that are members of this Forum. After all, this is the reason what brought us here!! 

We do have a concern. We have an area in the back yard that is their designated potty area. It is approximately 12 x 5 in size. Needless to say, this area is becoming very, very saturated with urine. Of course, the feces get picked up 3X/day. The feces is not our problem. We live in the Midwest and winter is arriving. So, for the cold months ahead it will be somewhat tolerable. When spring/summer arrives again, I am concerned the area will be a swamp. Being such extremely clean dogs, the pups are a bit reluctant to go there now and the ground is nearly frozen. I thought of dusting several boxes of baking soda in the entire area. Would this be a good idea? Do any of you know if there is a product I could purchase for this purpose?? Any thoughts on what I could do to bring this area back to an acceptable potty area for our little guys?? 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!


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## mroutdoorsman (Oct 4, 2010)

Why don't you just let them pee anywhere in the yard? I see no logical reason to have dogs pee in one specific area unless it was 100% required to do some for some reason.


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## Pauliesma (Nov 19, 2010)

Uhhh,,,Because I like to have a presentable backyard??? We also entertain alot and would prefer not to have our guests have some unexpected surprises. That's logical enough for my husband and myself! Should go without saying!


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

My pups have a designated area to potty as well it's just easier that way when you have kids and entertain outdoor....you know where the poop is,lol I am sad to say that our designated area smells like pee and is completely devoid of grass- nothing has worked Baking soda would be an expensive option since you'd have to do this daily and enzyme type sprays burn your grass- I know

In the summer it totally grosses me out too so hopefully someone has the cure


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## Montana Scout (Sep 27, 2010)

LOL your gonna have a big dog... its bound to happen unless you own acres of land... i had a pristine lawn this past summer, but i decided that the dog takes precedence so if my back yard looks like crap (not literally) so be it, the dog is more important to me than the lawn which they do make spot fixers that grow pretty quick to get some of the dead grass... one thing ive learned is spraying ammonia in one spot and he seems to favor that spot.. or after each time you clean you can just spray it with water to saturate the area and have a better chance of the spot not dying


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when i first got my pup i did the designated area. that didn't
last long. it was much easier to let him use the entire yard.
i have a box of vinyl gloves and lots of plastic bags for
poop duty. if the area the dogs are usuing is becoming
saturated make the space bigger. i'm not sure why the area
the dogs are usuing will become a swamp. the pups might not
want to use their area because it's frozen. if all else
fails walk the dogs.



Pauliesma said:


> ~
> 
> 
> We do have a concern. We have an area in the back yard that is their designated potty area. It is approximately 12 x 5 in size. Needless to say, this area is becoming very, very saturated with urine. Of course, the feces get picked up 3X/day. The feces is not our problem. We live in the Midwest and winter is arriving. So, for the cold months ahead it will be somewhat tolerable. When spring/summer arrives again, I am concerned the area will be a swamp. Being such extremely clean dogs, the pups are a bit reluctant to go there now and the ground is nearly frozen. I thought of dusting several boxes of baking soda in the entire area. Would this be a good idea? Do any of you know if there is a product I could purchase for this purpose?? Any thoughts on what I could do to bring this area back to an acceptable potty area for our little guys??
> ...


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

My dogs always had their designated potty areas. Wolfie has a 10 x 10 potty area at our beach house. I spread garden lime and rake it in when I notice the smell. It isn't poisonous to dogs.



I found this answer on answers.com

Lime is used for gardening and disinfecting and drying out moist, smelly areas. It is a component of calcium carbonate and is used to enrich the soil or disinfect barns. It is not harmful to animals or insects of any kind. It is not a pesticide as some think. It only enriches the soil and helps vegetables or fruit grow better. Calcium Carbonate is a dietary supplement that many people take daily for their bones. However, do not eat lime as I'm sure the taste is awful. Anything in extremely large quantities will hurt anyone or anything. If your dog or cat licks it, rest assured they won't do it twice.


​


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Are the dogs being walked a couple of times a day where they could eliminate in other "designated areas"? Our designated area is about 15x15 but he's walked 3 times a day and so eliminates elsewhere very often. He's trained to eliminate only in wooded areas,saving lawns,walks and paths.


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Wolfiesmom said:


> My dogs always had their designated potty areas. Wolfie has a 10 x 10 potty area at our beach house. I spread garden lime and rake it in when I notice the smell. It isn't poisonous to dogs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Powdered lime and not pelletized lime for uses other than soil amending.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I was going to suggest the powdered lime too- or get a bunch of sandbox sand for that area


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

The sand will STINK! We built a huge kennel this yr almost 30' by 18' in the yard for occasional use (they don't live out there). the kennel is cement for abotu 3/4 of it and then an 18 by 6 ft section at one end was dirt. We put tons of sand there from a sandbox in the yard that came with the house that we didn't want and within weeks it REEKED.

Temporarily relieved the smell by laying a bunch of cedar mulch over it and that seems to have helped, but we'll see what next summer brings.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Once the dogs mature you will worry more about your bushes and trees than your lawn.


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## Pauliesma (Nov 19, 2010)

Thank you so, so much for all of your wonderful responses! My biggest concern is the smell, especially come the warmer months. I will try the lime. I have thought about the sand idea. You guys are great! ;-)


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## Denali Girl (Nov 20, 2010)

Our crazy pup will only pee and poop in the leaves? She will not go on the grass. She must have did this at the breeders? Once we figured out how fast she would go once on the leaves, potty training went easy and I guess it's good I don't have to clean up the lawn.


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