When I decided to adopt a dog, my plan was to teach my new dog to use washable pee pads in my condo’s laundry room.
It didn’t work.
I quickly learned that Milo needed a tree or plant to stand against when it was time to do his business. We would sometimes walk for a block before he found the right plant. He seemed to be drawn to boxwoods and decorative grasses, and I got an idea.
I was going to create a potty garden for Milo on my deck.
Create a Dog Potty Garden on Your Deck:
I spent some time thinking about what I needed and realized there were 3 issues I had to solve if this was going to work.
1. Find the right plants.
Milo is picky about where he will go to the bathroom, so my solution was to purchase a bunch of different plants with the hopes that he would be drawn to at least one of them.
2. Pots with low sides.
Milo is a small dog so standard pots would make the plants too high. My solution was to use as planters some clear plastic drip pans normally used underneath the pots as a place to catch excess water. Be sure to cut some holes in the bottom so water can escape or your plants will drown during rainstorms.
3. Urine dripping through to the deck below.
I live in a 3 story condo building in which there is a patio on the first floor with decks on the 2nd and 3rd floor directly above. I own the decks on the 2nd and 3rd floor, and I decided to create my dog’s potty garden on the top floor deck since it is off of my bedroom and would allow for easy early morning access.
The issue is that there are gaps between the deck boards and given Milo’s poor aim, my concern was that the urine would drip onto the deck and patio below.
My solution was to place the plants on very low sided utility trays designed as a place to put your wet winter boots. I picked up 3 of them at the hardware store.
It didn’t work.
Milo definitely checked out the newly additions to the deck. But he was more interested in trying to see what was out beyond the railings.
But what interested him most was the hidden gaps on the deck that apparently held treasures behind the gutters.
I never could get Milo to use the deck potty garden for its intended purpose.
Have you been successful at getting your dog to use a patio or deck for potty time?
Er, no. My dogs are way too big. However, there was one time when my grandfather had to take my Malamute home during an emergency while we were on vacation…and he was also babysitting my aunt’s cat. At the time they lived in a bungalow in the city, and he alternated putting the cat in the basement and the dog upstairs. And then he rotate the dog going to basement and the cat would be upstairs. Long story short, my grandfathers goes downstairs to check on the dog and find a poop in the litter box that’s about the size of the cat. It seems that my malamute that desperate for a bathroom break and figured out how to use the litter box!
Funny story Denise!
Worthy experiment, nice job! And always fun to see pictures of Milo, he’s so very cute.
Here’s my simple solution that works pretty well, but I’m open to ideas as to how to do better. I have 2 20-lb dogs (rescued). I now have a composite (Evergrain Envision) floor which is supposed to be waterproof. The half of balcony that is over my downstairs neighbor’s patio I have covered with a piece of vinyl flooring (if the dogs pee on that side I just mop it up with sponge). The other half where the dogs are to go potty is covered with cheap outdoor carpet from Walmart (cheap because you may want to replace every few years or so). There are 1/4″ gaps between the floor planks to allow for some air circulation under carpet. When my dogs pee on the carpet I spray the spots with a solution of about 2/3 water, 1/3 white vinegar and a squirt of dish detergent, and this effectively eliminates the urine odor. It gets lots of sun out there when it’s not cloudy, so things don’t stay moist for long except in the rainy season. But the floor is supposed to be the best and most impervious, so I think things will be good for many years. For dog’s solid waste I have a trash container to collect it in out there; I cover the waste with pine shavings (also from Walmart, pet bedding section); it’s a cheap way to really kill the odor and not have to waste plastic bags or bring the waste to trash several times daily. Once a month or so I empty the full bucket in community trash bin. I do walk the dogs a couple of times every day, but they still need a place to go when not out. Anyone else do this, or think I’m nuts?
I’m impressed with your solution. I end up just walking Milo 3-4 times a day. Ultimately I decided that it was better for him and for me, so I gave up on trying to get him go on the deck.
I have tried plenty of tricks and I always end up walking my dog 🙁
This past cold winter, my 4 pound poodle quickly found out it was much quicker to go on the deck then to trapse out into the bitter cold. She didn’t seem to mind going in the snow in fact, when it melted she had a hard time finding somewhere to go! so I really like the idea of pine shavings and just scooping it up until you can take it to the trash. Novel idea!