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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

Do you know how to neutralize the lawn after my dog Penny pees? My once beautiful lawn is being ruined.

Donna.

Plant nurseries sometimes do sell products that can be beneficial. Some people also swear by vinegar. Personally, I prefer another option.

Over the long haul, teaching your dog to go in a designated area can make life much simpler. The first step if you haven't already done so, is to ensure housetraining is complete. Then you can raise the bar and teach your dog that you have a preference for one area.

For full housetraining instructions, you can go to my website at www.awesomedogs.ca. At this stage in the training process, you want to teach your dog to go in a variety of outside areas. For example, outside on a walk is acceptable, as is the spot in the yard you choose. At this point in the training process, your lawn is an appropriate area. By all means encourage a certain area, but anywhere outside is great at this time. Use neutralizer if necessary on your lawn.

There are two reasons for leniency at the beginning. First, your primary goal is to teach a dog to go outside. Making that easy can make housetraining far quicker. In the house is not good. Outside is wonderful.

Second reason for allowing a couple areas is because sometimes we send one message to our dog. “Please go in this area.” Some people scatter a little gravel in that area. At a later date the family is stunned to learn their dog will hold it until returning home. This dog may have learned to, “go on gravel.” In the absence of gravel on a walk, the dog needlessly holds it. Avoid oddities and teach a variety of options.

After housetraining is completed, here is how you begin the process for teaching a specific location:

Should you be outside for an extended period of time, make sure you supervise and watch for signs your dog needs to go. When you think this might be the case, encourage her to the area. You can place her on a leash if need be.

If you happen to miss the signs and your dog chooses another area, pleasantly encourage your dog to the right area. Remember this isn't an accident. Your dog is going outside.

And remember to encourage your dog to do their business on walks and a variety of acceptable surfaces. Next winter after the first snowfall, you may have to momentarily revisit these steps. Some dogs seem entirely perplexed on where to go when their spot has been covered with snow.

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Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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