Dog Potty Garden - Future ExpatWhen I decided to adopt a dog, my plan was to teach my new dog to use washable pee pads in my condo’s laundry room.

It didn’t work.

I quickly learned that Milo needed a tree or plant to stand against when it was time to do his business. We would sometimes walk for a block before he found the right plant. He seemed to be drawn to boxwoods and decorative grasses, and I got an idea.

I was going to create a potty garden for Milo on my deck. 

Create a Dog Potty Garden on Your Deck:

I spent some time thinking about what I needed and realized there were 3 issues I had to solve if this was going to work.

1. Find the right plants.

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Milo is picky about where he will go to the bathroom, so my solution was to purchase a bunch of different plants with the hopes that he would be drawn to at least one of them.

2. Pots with low sides.

Dog Potty Garden - Future Expat

Milo is a small dog so standard pots would make the plants too high. My solution was to use as planters some clear plastic drip pans normally used underneath the pots as a place to catch excess water. Be sure to cut some holes in the bottom so water can escape or your plants will drown during rainstorms.

3. Urine dripping through to the deck below.

I live in a 3 story condo building in which there is a patio on the first floor with decks on the 2nd and 3rd floor directly above. I own the decks on the 2nd and 3rd floor, and I decided to create my dog’s potty garden on the top floor deck since it is off of my bedroom and would allow for easy early morning access.

The issue is that there are gaps between the deck boards and given Milo’s poor aim, my concern was that the urine would drip onto the deck and patio below.

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My solution was to place the plants on very low sided utility trays designed as a place to put your wet winter boots. I picked up 3 of them at the hardware store.

It didn’t work.

Milo definitely checked out the newly additions to the deck. But he was more interested in trying to see what was out beyond the railings.

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But what interested him most was the hidden gaps on the deck that apparently held treasures behind the gutters.

Dog Potty Garden - Future Expat

I never could get Milo to use the deck potty garden for its intended purpose.

Have you been successful at getting your dog to use a patio or deck for potty time?