Some exciting news! Tomorrow morning this little guy is coming home with us to be a part of our family! His name is Boomer. For our new house, and new landscaping, we decided to create a dedicated space in the yard for Boomer to relieve himself. A dog potty area! Want to know how to make a dog potty area? Let us show you!
Some of us (the kids) are very excited for Boomer to come home, while others (me and my hubby) are excited, but remember just how much work a puppy is.
Our first baby, Apollo the chocolate lab, lived to be almost 16. The one regret we had with him was that we didn’t train him to go potty in a dedicated space in the yard. Every time the kids wanted to go outside to play we would yell, “STOP! We need to pick up the dog poop first!”
Our hope is that by having a special place for Boomer to do his business, we can avoid lots of “business” on the grass. We will let you know if it works, but in the meantime, here is our finished dog potty area!
How to Make a Dog Potty Area
We started out by doing a lot of research online to find out what the best material would be to use, and pea gravel kept coming up as a great choice. Pea gravel consists of smooth, round pebbles that are comfortable for dogs to walk on. It also looks nice, is excellent for drainage (which is super important for a dog potty), and is reasonably priced.
Supplies You Will Need
Define Your Space
To start, mark out your area for the dog potty. You can use different types of edging to define your space (and hold in your gravel). It could be as simple as using 2×6 boards, or you can use something more decorative. We chose to use some brown wood landscape edging that came in 3 ft. lengths. Depending on the type of edging you choose, you may have to dig a trench to partially bury your edging for stability.
Once you’ve defined your space, lay down some Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric
to ensure weeds won’t grow in your dog potty space.
Add Drainage Material
Next, put down a one-inch base layer of rock for improved drainage. In our yard, we already had rock landscaping in the area we wanted to put our dog potty. This saved us a lot of time because both the landscape fabric and first layer of rock were already there!
Add Pea Gravel
Now it’s time for the pea gravel! To calculate how much pea gravel you will need, first determine the area (length x width) of your space in square feet. Then multiply the area by 3 inches (the depth of the pea gravel) and divide by 12. This will give you the cubic feet that you need to buy in pea gravel. We purchased our pea gravel bags from Lowe’s. Since each bag holds 0.5 cu. ft. of pea gravel, we ended up needing 30 bags for our space!
Another option is to visit your local landscape rock supply company. They will likely have better prices on pea gravel, and offer delivery right to your home (for a price)! Overall, it may end up being a cheaper option than buying 20-30 bags from Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Once you dump your pea gravel bags in your defined dog potty area, use a stiff rake to spread out and smooth the pea gravel.
Finishing Touches
At this point, you may be done! Congratulations! Since we had a rock landscape, however, we wanted to add a little walking path from our patio to our dog potty area. We picked up some flagstone pieces for our local landscape rock supply company, and partially buried the stones to create a stable walkway.
So, there you have it! It’s easy to create an attractive and functional dog potty area in your yard. Now, let’s just hope our dog decides to use it. Let the puppy potty training begin!!
Maintaining Your Dog Potty Area
Once you have your dog potty area made, you’ll need a few supplies to keep things clean. Here are some of our favorites:
1. Pawler Pooper Scooper
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I LOVE this Pawler Pooper Scooper! It’s easy to use, holds lots of poop, and has a rake so you can filter out the pea gravel. This is the perfect pooper scooper for your dog potty area!
2. Flexi Hose
Once a week or so, you’ll want to hose down your dog potty area to keep it clean. Fair warning, when you get it wet, it will stink like crazy! But, once it dries again, it will be clean and won’t have any lingering smell.
When it comes to hoses, this Flexi Hose is my all-time favorite. It’s super lightweight, so it’s easy to move from place to place, if needed. And, the spray nozzle is just what you want for a nice wide stream to clean off your potty area pea gravel.
Post Update – Does our puppy use it?
Success! He uses it regularly. We introduced him to the area by taking him out on leash multiple times per day and telling him to “go potty.” Often times we had to wait a while until he went, and then we praised him with a treat. Now that he’s fully potty trained, I would say he uses the area 95% of the time.
Some days, however, I look out and see him sniffing around the lawn. Usually, I can just walk outside, point to his potty area, and he’ll go over there to do his business. Occasionally, we’ll find he’s gone to the bathroom on the lawn…I guess some days he just feels too lazy to make his way over to the dog potty area. 🙂
More Puppy Supplies
Here are a few more of our favorite puppy supplies to get things started off on the right “paw.” And, check out our posts on DIY projects, and enhancing your exterior for more inspiration and ideas.
- Airtight Dog Food Storage Container with Stackable Treat Box
- GORILLA SUPPLY 1000 Dog Poop Waste Bags with Dispenser and Leash Tie
- MidWest Homes for Pets Foldable Metal Dog Exercise Pen
- Boshel Dog Nail Clippers
- Stainless Steel Dog Bowls with No Spill Non-Skid Silicone Mat
- Dirty Dog Microfiber Paw Doormat
A great potty area for your new puppy! Is your next post going to be on how to train a pup to use one area and not the whole yard?
We had a chocolate lab named Boomer. We lost him almost a year ago now (back in November). I hope your Boomer brings you as much joy as ours did.
Thanks Nona! We loved our chocolate lab, too, and it was so hard to have to say goodbye to him! If the potty training actually works, I may consider a post about it! Right now I think he’s using the rug in the house more than the dog potty area. 🙂
Hi! We recently successfully trained our two shepherds to use a dedicated area (and they did NOT want to cooperate at first). The trick was simply to supervise, supervise, supervise until they get it. Redirect when they try to use the wrong area, praise when they use the right one. Like any other training, stay consistent and keep at it until they get the hang of it. Good luck!
Great advice! Thanks for your comment!
What a cute idea!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Did this potty area work?
Yes! It took consistency and repetition on our part by taking him out on leash (multiple times per day) to the potty area and telling him to “go potty”, After a short while, our puppy was regularly using it.
Hi. I’m curious. Do you just let the poop sit Or do you scoop it away? I was hoping to just leave it. So it dissolves pretty well into the pea gravel??
We scoop it every week. He doesn’t like it when then the potty area gets too crowded. 🙂
What are the measurements? I have a lab and want to know the ideal size.
Have you had to use any enzymatic cleaners or anything to cut down on the smell?
We didn’t have a problem with the smell, so we didn’t use any cleaners. Ideally, you should hose it down once a week. We noticed that it smelled pretty strong right after a good hosing, but then was fine again after it dried. That being said, a good enzymatic cleaner couldn’t hurt! 🙂
We are moving to an ground level apartment however the whole area is tiled. Therefore no drainage. Any ideas
Thanks for this. I just got a 5months old German Shepard so I’m thinking of replicating this cause he already decorates the lawn.
With consistency, it works great! Good luck with your new puppy!
A dog’s urine kills grass and weeds, so why would you need weed blocker fabric? I need to make this to save the rest of my yard. Although I pick up poop everyday, I have brown spots everywhere.
If your dog could urinate evenly over the entire area, you might be able to get away without weed blocker fabric. Our dog seems to like some spots more than others. I for one hate to pull weeds, so I’d rather be safe than sorry. 🙂
How to you keep the urine smell down?
We hose it down about once every week or two. A word of warning…immediately after hosing, it will smell even worse, but then will get better once it dries.
Amazing job momma! It’s perfect and looks good to boot! 👏 in my opinion every pup should have a potty area, there’s so many benefits of it , for them and for us
And boomer!! Oh my goodness he is absolutely to die for! So precious!!! That wee face is freaking ADORABLE! 😍😍😍😍💕💕💕💕 And his name couldn’t be any cuter!
Thanks so much!
Can I use other rocks or pebbles other than pea gravel for their potty area?
Yes, but just be sure to use a rock that is smooth and round, else it could be uncomfortable for paws.
Hi
What’s the size of either pea gravel and the based layer of rocks you have in your garden ?
Thanks
The pea gravel varies in size, but probably averages about 1/4 inch in diameter. The base layer rocks vary in size from about 3/4 to 1.5 inches or so.
How big is the area? I would love to do this for our Akita pup.
does poop stick to the pea gravel? I suppose it depends on it’s consistency lol… I have also see people put playchips over the pea gravel but not sure about that lol
Question ;
I have a big bottom that use to be to a very large cage can this be used as my base ? What are some of the good cleaners to use when washing the area? I would like to keep it as clean as possible as I rent where I live.
Just curious, I’m going to build one of these “pits” as well. It will not be covered overhead, so will the pea gravel get too hot for their little footies during the summer?
I think as long as you use a pea gravel that is lightly colored, you should be fine. It probably won’t be any hotter than a sidewalk or the street. 🙂
We are in the process of doing this right now. Thank you so much for the detailed step by step and for giving links to the items used. So helpful!
Hi! What is the pea gravel that you used called? What’s the color?
Thanks!
This is the pea gravel we used: https://homedepot.sjv.io/Mm51oP It’s a natural, sandy color.
What kind of rock should you use for a basic layer.
Any type of crushed stone, base rock, or river rock will work well. Aim for rocks that are around 3/4″ to 1″ in size for your base layer.
I have river rock already in an area and was wanting to create a pee spot. Did you just put the pea gravel on top of existing rock or did you remove some of it first? My area has quite a bit of river rock that moves under foot, so I’m wondering if it would be best to remove some before the pea gravel
I built mine today and very happy with the result. We are in the mountains with gravel driveways and no grass so this really helps give the pooch a dedicated spot to do her business. Turned out great, wish I could upload pics here
Awesome! Glad it worked well for you.
Did you put any kind of drainage tiling down for when you hose the area down?
No, but we had a layer of base rock that served as drainage underneath the dog potty area.