Hello! Anyone think this is possible. . . .

Hello, I,ve joined the forum to seek some advice! I wonder if anyone thinks its possible to train a dog to pee/poo in one small spot in the garden? (of course the Internet says you can and has instructions but I think maybe you could find anything on the internet if u tried)

I have an 8month old castrated dog and two young children and a very small garden- now summer is coming I'm hoping to train my puppy to go toilet in a small patch in the garden-otherwise the children won't be able to play in they garden without playing in wee/traces of poo. I ve read to just put your dog on a lead and hang around the pee spot till he goes. . . Sounds simple a week on only managed one wee on the spot! Just wont go there! Have to keep taking him out of the garden to wee . . poor dog is confused as to why he's on the lead in the garden and not going for a walk!

Any help would be great! Thank you!

Hi and welcome

We have a good training section here. Here's a link about how I did it
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=146525&page=2

It really did only take a week to train my dog to pee and poo in one area of the garden (helped that he already knew to wee on cue). We originally gave him a fairly large area, but he naturally goes in a much smaller area. Basically put toileting on cue, so wait until the dog is weeing, say the cue, click if you use a clicker, then praise and treat. Once the dog knows the cue, just take it on lead to one area and day the cue. No wee, go back inside. Repeat until the dog goes, then massive fuss and reward. You can lose the lead once they understand. You'll be surprised how quick they can pick it up. Makes poop scooping easier too good luck!

You say you have tried a similar method but it's not worked yet. Does your dog know to pee on cue? That will help hugely as then the dog will understand what you want it to do. If not, then I would start by adding a cue just for toileting anywhere first, then train to an area. You can train on walks as you probably get a lot of pee marking, so lots of opportunity to practises the cue.

ETA: I was also a bit mean as I wouldn't walk the dog until after he had a wee in the garden. Pick a time they are likely to go, like first thing in the morning, to increase the chance of success. If the dog doesn't wee, I took him back in then tried again 15 mins later. I didn't want him emptying himself on walks as it makes it harder to catch them when they need to go in the garden.

Victoria Stillwell showed how to do this on "It's me or the dog USA" once and it involved flagpoles and a cordoned-off area. I am not sure the dogs managed to get the hang of it though?

Thanks that's a real help-I'll start being stricter and stand in the spot for longer! Now I know it's possible I'll make sure we get there. He learnt 'go wee wee' when he was a pup but then I stopped using it when he was house trainned-wish I'd started this earlier! Thanks again!

Oh one more thing please- the area is just soil at the mo we were thinking on putting shingle down-do you think this is a good surface or do u suggest another? X x

Does your dog walk on shingle ok on walks? Does your dog toilet on shingle on walks? If the dog doesn't show an adverse reaction to shingle, probably not a problem, although I prefer a more absorbent substance. My toilet area is just plain soil.

Umm good point seems Obvious now you.ve mentioned in-don't think he dislikes shingle never come across it much tho. . .i think he,d like grass the best but it's to shandy in that area to have grass. Uummm I'll have a think. . . Thanks!