myohmy Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 We've got a clam shell pool and filled it with sand for our 10 week old labrador puppy. We hide treats and toys in the sand to encourage him to dig there and not elsewhere. The thing is, he keeps peeing in the sandpit and we always find wet patches whenever we are home from work. The sand pit is in an enclosure in the backyard where we keep him in when we're out at work. When we're back, we'll let him out and he usually wees on the grass. The sand which used to be clean washed sand is starting to stink now. Is this normal behaviour or should we try to stop him from doing that? Any ideas would be great, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyliegirl Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 sounds like he is using it as a litter box.. At least he has toilet trained himself! Maybe he isn't a big digger? unless he digs elsewhere? Some dogs love the smell of earth and dig it up, sand doesn't have this type of smell so its probably not as attractive to dig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Remove the sand box. I would not be encouraging my dog to dig anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Remove the sand box.I would not be encouraging my dog to dig anywhere. This is the one recommended solution for dogs/pups that do dig, & I have 2 of them. It's a natural dog activity. Now to a solution for weeing in the sand. Has your pup started to dig up the lawn yet? If not I don't think he needs a digging pit at this stage. If he's locked in a pen during the day I would take the sandpit out for a while & see how he goes. If he starts digging, give him supervised access to the sand, either rinse it out or get some new sand, & show him what its for by digging in it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Remove the sand box.I would not be encouraging my dog to dig anywhere. sand box is a great idea for a digging pup/dog however.. perhaps he is a tad young yet.... are you sure it's him using it as a toilet? Cats aren't getting in overnight? He will not dig in it if is smelling like his toilet.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myohmy Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Hi all, thanks for your replies. We've put a sandpit because there's a patch of soil within his enclosure and he was digging that up, so we thought we'll put in a sandpit for him. He seems to like it, he still digs up all the treats and toys that we hide in it, but the thing is he is weeing there. I'm sure it's not a cat because I saw him do it once when I came home early from work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 (edited) In that case maybe you should supervise him as much as you can & distract him from going to the toilet in it. Take him out to the rest of the yard to finish going. Do you use a command to get him to go? I use get busy & to start him off say whatever you decide to use everytime you see him go in the right place, praise him & give him some treats. He'll soon get the message. Edited January 13, 2009 by luvsdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeak Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 How about replacing the sand with "normal" dirt from your yard that he has been digging in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myohmy Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 I haven't been visiting the forum quite a while and thought I should give an update. We tried washing the sand but it became too yucky and we just gave up on the sand pit altogether and just let him dig at the dirt in hope that he doesn't kill the tree that's planted in that patch. Instead we've filled the clam shell pool with water which really helps to make the recent heatwave more bearable for him. And he won't wee in the water anyway. Problem solved for the moment! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danois Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 How about replacing the sand with "normal" dirt from your yard that he has been digging in? The idea of using sand is that it is a different texture from dirt and you can teach the puppy that digging in dirt is not allowed but is allowed in sand. if you allow digging in dirt in the 'sandpit' then you will get digging in dirt in the garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 What is the surface of the pen? If it is all hard standing, he might just prefer the sand as the closest thing to going on the grass when he isn't in the run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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