Dog bathroom area

Question
We have two dogs that are mostly inside dogs.  One is an 8 year
old lab-dane mix, and the other is of unknown age but getting
elderly pitbull-boxer mix.  We are expanding our fence to the
perimeter of our backyard.  We are concerned with letting our
dogs use the full yard and having to pick up dog poop over a
considerable area.  One option we are considering is to use
electrical collars to train the dogs to stay in the same portion of
the yard even after the fence is moved.  Another option may be
to let the dogs have the full use of the yard, but try to train them
with electrical collars to only poop in the area that they used
before.  Do you think this is possible?  Do you have any
suggestions on how to train dogs to go to the bathroom in one
area, particularly older dogs?  I keep thinking of the phrase "you
can't teach an old dog new tricks"...  Thanks for your
suggestions.  -anita

Answer
Hello, Anita. You most certainly can teach an old dog new tricks, but I would not recommend using the electric collars to teach them to potty in only one part of the yard. This could confuse them and even make them start pottying indoors because when they go outdoors to potty they get shocked! I do not see a problem with installing an invisible fence so that they only have access to part of the yard, but I would not recommend the do-it-yourself types. Spend the extra money and have it professionally installed and have them show you how to train the dogs to it properly. I have had nothing but trouble with the invisible fence systems that you can buy and install yourself, with both the wire and the collars themselves. If I had it to do over again, I definately would have had the professionals come and do it. Plus, the professionally installed ones have a warranty that will replace the wire and/or collars if they go bad, and most systems come with a lightning protector as well.


What I would do would be to try to teach them to ONLY potty in a specific place starting now, and then allow them access to the full yard at first, and see if they will continue to use the one area even after the yard is expanded. If not, then the invisible fence is an option.

To teach them to use one spot, I have found that it's easier if you provide them with physical boundaries of that spot. Squaring off a small area with landscape timbers works excellently. The only downside is that you have to weed-eat the inside of that square rather than mowing. One option to fix that is to weed-eat it down as close to the ground as possible, then lay down some landscape fabric and on top of that pour some mulch (NOT COCOA MULCH, which is highly toxic to dogs), or topsoil, or rocks, or whatever. Then you won't have to worry about grass growing in that area, but some dogs won't potty in mulch or rocks, so there is that concern.  

Start out by taking each dog out to potty on leash, separately. Take them to the spot you've designated as their bathroom area, and let them potty. If they don't seem to need to potty at first, walk them around the yard until they start showing signs (sniffing, squatting, etc.) and then hurry them over to the potty area. Wait until they have finished doing whatever they need to do, and praise the dickens out of them! Then let them off leash to do as they wish. It may help when you first start, to place some of their droppings inside the area, but after that first day, keep the area cleaned up so they aren't stepping in their waste. I would do this for at least a month, and after the yard has been expanded, for at least another 2 weeks afterwards. When they are showing indications that they understand that that area is for pottying, you can let them just drag the leash (in case they start to potty in another part of the yard, in which case you would reprimand them just as if they were pottying in the house, and grab the leash and take them to the right spot, praising them when they potty there. When they are no longer trying to potty in other parts of the yard, you can take the leash off, but you should still be there to supervise, in case they forget.

Good luck, and let me know if there's anything else you need!

Kristen