Adding Pea Gravel to my yard. Trying to get dogs to pee there as well

[DssTrainer]

My wife and I have decided to use pea gravel around our shed in our yard. The shed is near the corner and the back and left side of it gets absolutely no sunlight between the shadow of the shed and the fence, leaving us nothing but mud.

So I laid the weed cloth down, did some quick framing of the area with some decorative edging bricks and filled the area with pea gravel. I think it looks great and its definitely gonna help keep the buggy/swampy/muddy area a lot nicer looking, and less muddy for the dogs.

But as a an added bonus, I also want to get my dogs to go on the rocks to save my grass. My one dog does a great job.. she will pee/poo anywhere. But my lab tried it only once, and apparently he wasn't a fan. He walks 2 feet off the rocks to pee now. Has anyone made a dog run area with pea gravel with this intention? Any tips?

If I can't get him to go, perhaps I will lay out a small patch of sod in the middle or something... maybe a strip of astroturf to fool him.

[Michael Olding]

Using pea gravel for pee gravel is not a good idea. The bacteria will build up in the moist substrate and could cause some problems not to mention the worms, parasites and such the feces will deposit. Thats why almost all kennels use concrete and seal it if they can. Easy to spray off and dry out.

[JPolito830]

I agree with Michael here...I wouldnt use pea gravel for pet waste. Bacteria traps

[concretemasonry]

We had a cat when we lived directly in CT on Long Island Sound with about 20 of sand from the house to the sound. The cat would never use the huge natural litter box, but it would try to use the inside box even while we were pouring in the fresh litter. Animals have their own opinions when it comes to certain things.

That may be why you may be their pets.

[angdeer]

Dogs will be dogs. Good luck getting them to go where they don't want to. Wood chips might have been a better bet. Ive had good luck with that.

[krzemienr]

you can train them, but again it would not be a very sanitary place for them to go.... I have trained all of my pits to go to the bathroom basically on command I tell them potty, and they go (it helps when it rains and snows here in chicago, as I live in a townhome and have no back yard), but again I would not train your dogs to go there, what you could do is maybe designate a corner of the yard for them....