How to train 5 month german shepherd to poo/pee in one area

[Commandoo]

how do i train commando,( 5 months old) to potty and pee in one area. Should i make a designated potty/pee area for him and fence it or something. I want to teach him to do his business here instead of the whole yard and any where he wants. How big should i make the potty area and should i put pea gravel or something else. Please help with what i should do step by step

[onyx'girl]

Commando

You could border off an area and bring him to that spot all the time. I do know that males like to have something to mark on, so a plain patch of land won't be to his liking.
If you can do a pea gravel area that drains when you hose it, that would be ideal. Maybe put in an ornamental grass or two(if it will live from his leg lifting)
I'd go about 5x5ft at the minimum.
My male use to go in the woods that we have(fenced in) I loved that I didn't have burned grass, etc. Now with 3 dogs, they aren't as picky and will mark over the spot another has gone.
They are creatures of habit, so where you train him to go now will be instilled as he matures. Good idea to teach him now!

[Commandoo]

Ok should i put a chain link fence around it temporarily and how long will it take for him to go there by himself and commando does not lift his leg up when he pees, will he start by himself?

[onyx'girl]

I don't know if I'd fence it, but you can build him a kennel/run for that. You'll have to take him out to his area(even a sandbox type area with wooden or stone boarder to keep the gravel in) for a couple weeks and praise him when he does his thing. Leg lifting can happen anytime or never, depends on the dog. I don't let my male mark just anywhere when we are out, I let him know it is inappropriate and when he is allowed.
Though I do know he prefers to pee 'on something' instead of just a bare spot, but whatever the dog is use to will be what he does, if that makes sense!?

[warpwr]

Do you use a crate?
Keep dog in crate until potty time. You can decide or they may let you know vocally.
Take dog out of the crate ONLY on leash to potty area. Tell dog to go potty on his spot.
If dog does NOT go potty put back in crate immediately.
When dog does go potty give much praise and let dog off leash to feed or play or whatever, then back in the crate before next potty time.

Repeat until dog comes out of crate and takes you to the potty spot.

In other words, don't let them out of that crate unless they've gone potty where you asked.
Once they learn the correct spot they can be free of course.

Mine were younger but they actually ran to their spot when it was time to go after they learned. And they got lots of praise.

[jetscarbie]

I wish I would have done this when my dog's were younger. I guess by the time I finally potty trained them...I was just happy they went outside. LOL

My friend has a pee/poop area. It's right next to her woods. Never thought I would say this about a poop area....but it's amazing. She put landscaping stone in a huge circle. In that circle.....she planted some grass. That was gone the first year though. Now she just puts down pea gravel. She has a couple of benches surrounding it and in the middle....she put a small water fountain. All around the circle, she also planted some of that tall grass brushes. She has about 5 pee post in the circles. You can find them on amazon.
She also has an underground waste box. They are on amazon, also. It's made so you can open it up and put the waste in it and it breaks down.

[Draugr]

I buried a 6x6 post in the ground, it sticks up, about...oh, 4 feet or so? It's in the middle of the back yard so it stands out as something to pee on.

Once he pees on it once it is a spot he will naturally return to, to do his business. You can follow him out and once he is done, if he's chosen that spot, give him a treat. Ignore him and do not treat him if he doesn't use that spot. He's smart and will catch on pretty quickly .

[marti]

GSDs are brilliant dogs. Use the same word.
I use 'out', even the new shelter dog has picked up on it in the first full day with me.
Then I walk the dog to the area on a leash and say 'out'.
Today she was wandering a little off the path to the 'out' but once she got there she used it for both eliminations.
Then I say GOOD OUT!, good out, dog's name, Good out! They love the word good,
She is becoming proud of her 'out' in the approved place.

I use a mulch path area adding more mulch as it disappears because its' in a wildflower area.

[Joyb0218]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

I don't know if I'd fence it, but you can build him a kennel/run for that.

I really agree with this. We have a run up and Reese goes in one area all the time. The run is about 45 feet long, but he automatically goes to the back end of it every time (quite convenient for pick-up!). So, maybe you could put up the run over the area you want? Reese will be 4 months old tomorrow and if he has to go bad enough, we even let him out off his leash not attached to the run and he will still go right to that area and potty without fail.

We do take him out every hour (which is good for him, better than it was every 20 minutes!) and put him on the run. When he is done, he barks to come back in. I think it works so well because he doesn't have any other option or any other place to go. We've had our run since we got him, so for two months, very consistently he goes on it to bathroom. Come to think of it, he won't even go pee anywhere else, even on a walk! He waits till we get home!

[JakodaCD OA]

I don't know why, but the majority of my dogs have always ended up having a certain area where they would just "go" naturally...

In the end, I'm just HAPPY they GO outside