Having a dog or puppy is so much fun, and they can bring so much happiness into our lives. What’s not so fun is the whole house training process. You’ll more than likely end up cleaning up little puddles, and let’s say ‘presents’ left by your furry friend.
Whilst it is a stage that all dogs go through, you won’t want to clean up messes from your pup for the rest of your life, so it’s worth training them to pee and poop in a specific spot.
More and more dog owners are now implementing artificial grass in their homes, on their balconies and in their backyards as a given place for their dogs to go to the bathroom.
This minimizes the risk of accidents happening in your home, but also ensures that your whole back garden or front yard is not covered in pee spots that ruin the look of your grass.
So, do dogs even like to pee on artificial grass, how do you train your dog to pee on fake grass, and what can you do to coax them into doing this? Find out in this simple guide!
Do Dogs Like To Pee On Artificial Grass?
The problem with having your dog pee on real grass, especially if you have a female dog, is that the grass will become patchy, dry and dead.
You will find yellow patches all over your garden, due to the ammonia in your dog’s pee. So, instead, you may want to have them pee on artificial grass that will remain green and healthy looking all year around!
With artificial grass, the pee should just drain away just like the rain does, and will not leave a stain or a strong smell. As usual, if your dog poops on the grass then you will have to clean that up yourself!
The good news is that with a little bit of training and encouragement, your dog will happily pee on the artificial grass, and they just need to get used to it.
Like many animals, dogs like to pee and poop in the same places as a means of marking their territory, so once your dog learns that the artificial grass is the place to go, they will love doing it time and time again.
You may find that some dogs find peeing on artificial grass a process that needs some getting used to. This is because some dogs enjoy standing on and peeing on certain substrates and surfaces.
For example, some dogs only like to pee and poop on grass because they are used to doing it at home, so when walking on the street, they may look for a spot with some soft grassy areas to go to the toilet instead of doing it on the sidewalk.
How To Train A Dog To Pee On Fake Grass?
To train your dog to pee on artificial grass or fake grass, you’ll have to return to the basics, and pretty much start toilet training your dog again.
You’ll have to do this in the same way that you trained your dog not to pee inside, by making frequent trips to the fake grass, encouraging your dog to go, and rewarding them greatly when they do.
If your dog has not been housetrained, and has no previous spots where they like to go, then teaching them to go on the fake grass will be easier as you can just straight away start training them to do so, and there will be no bad habits that you need to break.
You can either have the fake grass outside, or a designated spot for the grass inside as long as there is hardwood, tiles or flooring underneath that you can place a tray to drain the pee.
Do not place fake grass on top of carpet as it will simply go straight through and stain the carpet. Now, once you have a chosen place for your grass, you will have to start potty training or grass training your pup again.
Just like regular house training, you’ll need to take your dog to the toilet every thirty minutes or so, whether they want to go or not.
Make sure that your dog is on a leash, and walk them over to the fake grass to pee. Then, encourage them to pee as you normally would, and reward them with treats and praise when they pee on the fake grass in the right spot.
Keep repeating this process every 30 minutes or so for a few days until they seem to get the concept. The next step is to take the leash off of your dog, and allow them to walk around by themselves.
However, you’ll want to keep an eye on them to ensure that they do use the fake grass themselves. If they pee on the grass, then reward them with treats, affection and praise, but if they pee somewhere else, then go back to practising with the leash on.
Repeat this until your dog happily goes to pee on the grass without a leash or without your guidance, and make sure you positively reinforce good behavior with treats and affection.
Why Won’t My Dog Pee On Artificial Grass?
You may find that it takes a little bit more encouragement and coaxing to get your dog to pee on the artificial grass.
This could be because your dog has already developed a preference to pee on other surfaces such as inside of your home, or on real grass instead.
Your dog may also not want to pee on artificial grass as it does not feel comfortable for them, and it does not smell like normal grass where other animals may have peed or been before.
Therefore, your dog may have no desire to mark their territory on that spot.
Our Top Tip
If you plan on training your dog to pee outside or on artificial grass, then we recommend that you do not under any circumstances use puppy pads beforehand.
Once your dog gets used to peeing there, you’ve got to then break this habit and house train them so that they pee and poop outside on the grass.
The whole thing just makes the process longer, as you have to applaud them for peeing on the pad, then all of a sudden, you’ll need to discourage this and get them to pee outside.
Just start by having them go outside to defecate from the beginning.
Summary
To summarize, you can avoid yellow grass and messy patches in your backyard by training your dog to go on artificial or fake grass. This will ensure that your dog only pees or poops in the same, regular places to minimize the mess around your home.
It’s super simple to do, as long as you remain positive, calm and patient with your pup. In just a few days or weeks, your dog can be fully house trained to pee only on the artificial grass!
Hi, my name is Daniel Johnson, and I am a professional dog trainer that specializes in positive training methods. I have worked with many dogs over the years, and have provided fantastic and improved results for both the owner and the dog.
When it comes to dog training, it is important for the owner to be taught the simple but correct techniques, and the way in which you communicate with your dog is vital to this process. I recently decided to set up this blog to share my knowledge and skills with a wider audience.
