Wooden sand pit as dog toilet? Good idea or bad idea?

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Hi all,

OK, just in the process of creating a nice new garden and having turf layed and it's going to be very pretty hopefully - one problem is i now need to stop the dogs mainly peeing and sometimes pooing on the lawn(....it's never been a prob before as i pick up and they get daily walks, just the dreaded lawn burn and now the fact i'd like DD to play on the grass and not have to check every inch of grass or worry before i let her on it)

Now i was thinking of buying or building a basic wooden sand pit for them, mainly my girl dog as her pee and poop creates lawn burn. Is this a good idea? It'll be in a small corner, on decking - obviously lined and so on and with a PVC cover every night/rainy days.

I have read many sites advising on a sand area in the garden for doggies but then other indiduals stating it's not a good idea but no reasoning why - please can i get some opinions/advice from all of you lovely people?

Many thanks in advance!

sarabe

Sandy paw prints through the house would put me off.

Can you not just fence a corner of the grass area and teach them to pee in there. A nice decorative fence that after training dogs can jump in to and kids know not to go in there.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Hi Sarabe, thank you that is a good idea and I'd love to but our garden is tiny and the lawn area is smack bang i the middle of two decked areas and is only 2.5 x 4.5m.

I'm not so fussed about the sandy paws (lol, she says now), as i often stop them at the door and wipe their feet with an old towel...and sweeping well i have a 3yr old so do that 2/3 times a day anyway. I was thinking more in terms of hygeine/any health reasons why not advisable / or any practical reasons of not using wood as a material or something of the sort - another forum someone mentioned flees and bacteria but didn't explain any further.

Mupette

I'd be concerned about your lil one going to the sandpit whilst your back is turned with the bump when it arrives....

You can watch your kids 24/7 but just a few seconds and you lil one could have a handful of sand and god knows what, especially if she/he plays with sand at school/nursery/playgroup

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Oh no it'd be covered most of the time, and in a corner near our rockery wall at the very back of our garden (which is why i never let DD out unaccompanied as it's pretty dangerous if you bump into it and occasionally small rocks fall off if it's hit - something i can't remove/change as we are renting.) DD is only in the garden if we are, and with her being nearly 4 she is pretty savvy when it comes to things like that.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Also as i said, i do pick up the mess soon after its done already so that would be even less of a prob if i have one than is now. I was more wondering if a sandpit would be a suitable device. I think it would be just wanted to check as some people on other sites have replied to articles suggesting using a sand area, saying that it isn't suitable but never really explaining themselves, hence i thought i'd ask here.

suki1964

Two things, you may not ever be able to train your dogs to use just the sand, and then if you did - how would they then cope when away from any sand?

Personally Id just carry on with the poop patrol daily. I know when my dog poos - walkies times - so he rarely uses the back garden. My grandson plays there not a problem and yes if I did miss a bit and he did step in it - ok - not nice - but my dog is wormed regulary and vaccinated so no big deal

Lawn burn - we havent had that since he was an adult and cocked his leg and we also came to accept that you can either have a prized lawn which is not to be played on - or one thats perhaps a bit tatty and is enjoyed by the whole family

peachespeaches

I was told recently on another pet forum that after you have collected the poo, if you are worried about health effects from where it has been in terms of your little one, you can sprinkle diatomaceous earth on it and it will kill things like toxocara. You can buy it on ebay, it is used by chicken breeders and other animal keepers.

There is something you can put down to shift lawn burn too, or at least add to their drinking water or food.

I wouldnt recommend the sandpit for a toilet. I know if I made a sandpit for our dog he would just dig holes in it. I have actually thought about making one as a digging area so he doesnt dig the lawn up. Plus kids just cant keep away from sand can they? If you wanted to cordon off an area as his toilet you could line it with turf or just earth.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Thank you - yes i did try the 'dog rocks', but she just takes them out of her water bowl immediately so that was a failure, the lawn burn continued - aparently it's more of an issue with female dogs.

My two will go toilet anywhere, we have a doggy part of the beach where they sometimes go (before anyone moans, yes it still gets picked up no matter where it is), the path near the beach or even the park on the grass, so they tend to go wherever, whenever they need to and i do the lovely deed of clearing up after them- the only place they know is a no go is in the house.

They are fairly easily trained - i know a few days of following them out and saying no if they attempt to go on the grass they'll get it and it'll stay that way. The garden grass area is just topsoil now and they have already learnt from me saying no to stay completely off of that.

The sandbox will be built by my hubby, he has decided he'd rather build one so it's specific to needs, so it'll prob have a hinged wooden lid so nothing and nobody can get in it unless me or hubby open it. My dogs don't really go in the garden much without me, or if they do it's a wee and straight back in so digging isn't really a prob, Plus it'll be mainly closed as i know cats tend to like to use them.

As long as there don't seem to be any health or hygiene reasons not to it seems like the better option for us...but i'll let you know how we get on incase anyone else was wondering the same!

Sagz_2

The sand will get smelly and dirty and if you have a wooden sand-pit the wood will eventually become smelly too. If you do decide on a sand-pit I think I'd go for a plastic one that you can get the sand out of easily (to change it) and give a good wash from time to time.

I think adding tomato juice to a female dogs food solves the problem of grass burn - never tried it as my garden is really for the dogs and they like it REALLY untidy

BTW how big are your dogs? Hope they are not Great Danes :eek:

Edit: google the tomato juice thing... looks like an urban myth, sorry x

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Lol, no, not great danes - poor things if they were, i'd never offer a sandpit toilet to a great dane, that be amusing to watch though. Haha!

We have a westie and another of the same sort of size so nice and small - we was thinking 1.5mx1m diy sandbox with a lid. I did think it'd get smelly but then thought maybe not, as our bunny wee's and poos in her wooden hutch, after a good clean its as fresh as a daisy and it never really gets that smelly and sometimes thats with cleaning just once every two weeks. I was thinking a little shovel thingy to regularly take the soiled sand out daily and top it up as and when needed - i did also think of using cat litter in it but then realised that'd be a bit expensive, lol!

I suppose i could line it with pond liner or something to make emptying easier if need be - hmmm i am not sure. Or fill it with soil instead? But then would it have to have drain holes??? Errr so much to think about....