Question:

I have a yorkie and a snoodle. We recently put a doggy door in with a nice open fenced area that the dogs can go in. They had no problem going thru the door. The problem is getting them to go in the fenced area to potty. They act like the grass is dirty. We clean up the waste so there is nothing laying around, Just a nice grassy area. Before the expense of the above mentioned, we took out the dogs on a leash and no problem using the grass any where. I even put carpet deodorant powder on the grass to see if it was the smell. Please help us. We have spent alot of money.

ANSWER:

It was great that you did a doggie door and made a special area for the dogs to go in. I hope this will not preclude leash walks, as they still need the exercise, socialization and attention of being walked. Before you made this special fenced area, were the dogs allowed to go in the yard or did you teach them it was off limits?

Cleaning the grassy area or spraying it to make it smell good was probably a mistake. What smells good to us isn’t necessarily what smells good to a dog. What you need to do is go out with them in the yard and wait until they go in this special place and reward them. In essence, house training all over again but to a special area.

Once they go there a couple of times, their scent will be there and they will continue to go there. Please do not put any perfume spray on the grass. It might smell good to you but not to the dogs. Is the grass real grass or turf? Some dogs do not like the smell of turf.

Hope this helps and good luck with it

Nancy

Outside of the dog world, Nancy has both a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters degree in Criminology, which led her to become a correctional social worker. For over 30 years, she has been a practicing social worker, working in Children’s Services and Corrections.

“In 2004, I decided to go to the IPDTA conference just to see what it was about. It was amazing, all these dog trainers talking about using operant conditioning,” exclaims Nancy. “I decided that I wanted to be part of that world. The amazing journey of becoming a positive dog trainer had begun. I am still on this new adventure and learning more every day. I did not realize there was so much information and theory to learn about canine behavior and emotions. My social work background has helped immensely as much of the theory I learned at university about human emotions applies aptly to dogs.”

The Good Dog Blog welcomes Nancy and her background in both dog-training as well canine nutrition. To learn more about Nancy, visit her website, Devoted to Dogs and her Devoted to Dogs Blog.