I guess it must suck to clean up after the dog twice a day, but maybe it would help to consider that people who don't have a yard have to pick up after the dog every time they walk it. My other thought is that you could perhaps train him to use only a certain corner.

I know this may not be an option everyone would consider, but here goes: I feed my dog a biologically appropriate raw diet, as in, NO KIBBLE. I won't go into what all that includes (you can research it) but the effect is very noticeable. Because there is no 'filler' in their food, dogs fed this way have much lower poop volume, it has much less odor, and if you don't always manage to clean it all up, it just dries up, crumbles and disintegrates. It's not like there's no cleanup, it's just much easier to deal with, not to mention that the diet is extremely healthy for the dog.

We have 3 large breed dogs, and even though we have a small backyard they always get walked 3 times a day at least and we pick up after they poop.
If by chance they use the backyard its picked up immediately.

It's really best to pick up after your dog whether in your own yard or especially out on walks BUT they do make 'potty stations'. Check out "the throne" http://www.royalhound.com/Products/Product.html or "potty park" http://www.pottypark.com/

vartenouche, I totally agree. We also feed our dog in a similar manner and the poops are actually not that disagreeable - and they do dry up and disintegrate.

I also think that the poster should try to train the pup to go in one specific area of the yard - you'll have a much easier time picking up the stuff.

How bout keeping a designated trash can available with a poop shovel nearby so whenever you want to use the yard it will only take a sec to clean it up and otherwise do it once a day. Two turds at a time seems like a quick pick up, especially if you don't have to hunt for them.

i clean up after my dog every time she goes cuz she thinks it's a snack.

How about paving your backyard with sealed, stamped concrete? The sealer would keep the smell from sinking in, and the pavement would make it easier to pick up the poo. It can also by sprayed down with a hose AND it looks nice.

As the owner of an inside-dog, it's actually lots easier to deal with their poop that way. You simply are forced to get onto a schedule, and your dog adapts quite quickly to it.

My yard is about 200 square feet, and my dog has never used it as a bathroom. He gets walked 3x a day. First thing in the morning, as soon as I get home from work, and once around the block before bed. Each one of those is a bathroom break for him. It works for us...

If your dog is out in the yard on his own during the day, you don't really have much choice other than getting into a routine of picking it up daily. A doggie dooley (google it) is a good way of disposing of it if you don't like having a trash can full of crap.

...and my "indoor dog" is an 85 lb lab, so there's lots of poop.

Have you thought about getting a Pet Loo (www.thepetloo.com) or something similar? I was living in an apartment with my dog until recently and had one of these on the balcony – they are really excellent.

… And yes, a raw diet is excellent! Dry, crumbly poop, and a shiny healthy dog.

We did a raw diet and it was not only better for the dogs, it was better for the yard, our budget and no bowl of kibble to kick over in the middle of the night when you stumble into the kitchen for a glass of water.

Make sure to do your research however, there's as much good information out there as there is wishy washy stuff that people think their dogs need to feel good!

I would definitely suggest changing the what you feed your dogs. I grew up with two labs and we noticed over time, and after talking to their vet, we needed to switch dog foods. We actually switched several times as they aged because the dog's digestive systems changed. I noticed that their poop's smell changed drastically after changing their food. Now we also had fairly large back yards and, poop is in general a good fertilizer, so we didn't really have a problem except in the winter.

If you had wee wee pads in earlier training you could bring them back again and use them to train him to head to a certain corner? When my roomies dog was done with pottie training his owner kept the pads in the bathtub for a while after he stopped using them. Now (he is 6) if he really needs to go and no-ones come home I've heard he will go in the tub (though its a rarity). In 2 years he's gotten sick and thrown up twice - both times in the tub. Best doggie ever.

Um I use biodegradable poo bags, I scoop up tie throw into trash can, then I hose down the pee. If your dog has such runny poos and hard to clean up seek a vet.

I would get an in ground waste disposal system like this one http://www.petco.com/product/12232/Doggie-Dooley-Pet-Waste-Disposal-System.aspx?CoreCat=LN_Shopping_DogSupplies_SanitationandLawnCare. They're relatively inexpensive and save you the bending, baggies, and smell of disposing in a garbage can. Pair it with a long handled scoop or claw, and it will only take a couple of seconds after each trip outside, and won't feel like such a hassle. There are also several products on the market (from sprays to powders) if you're dealing with any urine odor that will take care of the problem.

I agree with everyone that says that you should keep him inside more and get on a walk schedule. I do the same with my 65 lb lab/border collie mix. She's pretty much trained to poop right when she gets outside for the walk, then I pick it up and put it in the dumpster. The walk is the reward for the quick potty and it's pleasant for me since I'm not carrying around a bag of poop!

Also, even if you don't want to go to the extreme of the raw diet, there are some really great dog foods available now that are biologically appropriate and will make your dog's poop much more consistent, low in volume, and less smelly. I like California Natural and Orijen brands.

1 for the raw diet

I agree about changing to a healthier diet (not that your current diet isn't healthy already). I did not have the time to devote to making my own food or doing the complete raw diet, but I found a wonderful middle ground between homemade and raw -- The Honest Kitchen. Check it out and see what you think. Very easy to prepare. Not cheap, but worth it.

I too just take my dogs on 3 - 4 walks per day (depending on whether its the weekend or during the week) and that's when he goes -- pick it up right away and that's it.

Good luck!

I don't own a dog, but I've doggie sat for several dogs two poodles (a mini and a regular), a 14-year-old black lab, and a a corgi. All of them had back-yards for bathrooms and all of their owners just cleaned up after them. They didn't have a doggy door, there were set times to let them out, and I didn't have to clean up EVERY time but it was easy to go out once or twice a week (usually before mowing the lawn) with the little broom, and one of those 'lobby dust pans' on stick like they use at theme parks.
Walked to the trash bin (where the dust pan lived) and dumped it in.

I'm surprised no one has yet commented on how awesome that crocheted dog is!

You can mark off a designated area (e.g., the back 5 feet of lawn) and train him to only use that area. You'd still have to stay on top of cleaning up after him so he can do his business there, but it would make your use of the rest of the lawn easier and more enjoyable.

Does anyone have any links for the raw diet? I have the same issue (plus my dog is chunky and needs to lose some weight...)

My brother and his wife litter trained their puppies for their apartment. When they moved into a house and had a big backyard we asked them if they would poop there. My brother laughed and pointed out why should he have to walk all around the yard picking up poop when they would do just as fine continuing in their litterbox. You just have to make sure you have a big enough box and clean it out. They will usually poop around the box if it is too full.

The image for this post is fantastic

Hi Mary,

I don't if you're renting or if you own, but if you're allowed to "modify" the yard a little, I've seen people do the following in the past:

Section/fence off a "strip" of land on the side of the yard (so not to take up too much space) and create a graveled area, so you can either leave the poop and pick it up when you can or hose it down into the earth. I'm not a landscaper, so I don't know the details of layering what kind of sand, stone, etc. to get a proper drainage effect, but there are tutorials online.

sleggo, here are a few links. One is for a book I found helpful. Keep in mind that feeding raw requires a change of lifestyle and/or mindset, but as you can see from a number of posts here, it's totally worth it!

http://www.dogguide.net/raw-diet-basics.php

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/4_6/features/5362-1.html

http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Dog-Food-Make-Easy/dp/1929242093

I have a big backyard and my Lab mix trained himself to go in a specific area, which makes it much easier to clean up.

Consider changing your dog's diet. The raw food route was a little too expensive for me, but a number of higher quality dry foods will decrease a dog's output significantly.

I wanted to reiterate again how wonderful the Honest Kitchen food is. Their website is

www.thehonestkitchen.com

It's basically dehydrated almost raw food. Fresh meats, veggie and fruits made in a plant that manufacturers human food. This is the only food that the FDA stamped ok for human consumption (not that you'd want to). My dog was healthy anyway and I always fed him premium kibble (Evanger's, Innova, etc.), but noticed a huge difference after changing over to this, including his bathroom breaks :)

Maybe you could create a "bathroom" station somewhere in the yard where your dog could go. A small, non-porous concrete pad with drain and water spigot, where after your dog goes, you can wash their waste away. This would centralize your dog's "business" location thereby reducing odors and maybe with some creative gardening it could be camouflaged from the rest of your yard.

Just an idea.

There is a product on the market called "Pet-a-potty". It essentially looks like a low, white flower box. You can either put faux grass, or sod in it, and it is used as a doggy potty area. I have one of these and it works great.

There is a tray underneath that catches - ahem - "liquid" and I keep kitty litter in there. It really helps to mask the smell. The product works really well, but I still clean it up every time the dog poops because I don't like to look at it.

This thing doesn't come cheap, but I am actually selling a brand new one if anyone is interested. In a weird stroke of luck I ended up with 2.

julieleanne@gmail.com

If anyone is interested, here's a great 'raw diet' website. I suggest doing your research first, to find out what would be best for your pet. (this is also a fantastic diet for cats, and this site will tailor the diet to your cat).

www.wysong.net

I wholly recommend a raw diet as others have suggested and for the reasons they cite, but if you're not ready/don't want to do that, you could train your dog to use only one area of the yard. Shouldn't be too difficult if he's food-driven!

But really, having a dog who eats raw is just so nice. Small, infrequent poops. What could be better.

I would determine a specific place you want him to go, and begin to train him to go there. Make it private for him with a little screen, or perhaps some tall grasses. Don't let the kids or others go there. It's his. Put his smells there, if he goes other places, disinfect.

Put in the Doggie Dooley right there too if you can - makes life that much easier (you'll need to dig down 4 feet to install it). Reward and praise him when he goes there. Ignore, then Disinfect when he doesn't.

You didn't say if he's out there alone or only when you are. If he's out alone, it will help if you can block him from parts of the yard except that part, and kind of "lead" him in the right direction. I actually used lawn chairs to kind of direct mine to the spot. Mine got the idea very quickly. Once he's done it there a couple of times, you know you'll have success.

Shepherds are smart, you just need to give him the information in a way he can understand it, and be patient.

AZkathy - there's one version of the Doggie Dooley that doesn't need a 4' deep hole... I think it's called the Prism? It needs a *minimum* of 20" deep. They suggest if you've got more than one dog, you can dig an extra foot deep.

http://www.petco.com/product/12233/Doggie-Dooley-Toilet-Prism-Pet-Waste-Disposal-System.aspx

Our landlord installed a small gravel area like lauren81 described right next to our garage. Our black lab is supposed to potty there exclusively, and he does when someone is watching. However, if left to his own devices he will leave a present on the grass every time. Stinker.

As a veterinary technologist I have to add my input here... if you decide to go with a raw diet please make sure that you take good care of your dog's teeth by either brushing or giving them good chew toys, such as dentabones. As unhealthy as you think it may be, the regular dry/hard kibble helps to keep teeth clean be wearing away at the buildup on the outer surface of the teeth. I've seen many dogs on raw diets with absolutely DISGUSTING mouths. So just be wary of all aspects of their health!

I must add my 2 cents in as a vet tech as well.

1) The whole kibble 'cleaning the teeth' is kind of a myth. I have clients that actually think that Milkbones clean their dog's teeth too, thanks to great repetitive marketing. I've seen fantastic mouths on dogs with who just eat canned food, and the raw patties. The new school of thought is that those carbohydrates (Being the basic sugars that they are) can STICK to the dog's teeth and actually cause tartar build up. I work specifically with an Internal Medicine Specialist as her personal technician who was on faculty at the teaching hospital for quite some time, and she always says that "A dog needs something to chew ON and CHEW up" The slight difference is this chewing help to clean a dog's teeth and it also gives them great satisfaction as well. Not to mention brushing teeth is much easier than it seems with the art of repitition.

Another thought- there are decent pre-made raw diets, decent kibbles, and decent canned diets. Home cooking is an option too, just make sure that the diet you choose is BALANCED. You would not want to feed a dog just chicken breasts as there really needs to be a good calcium to phosphorus ratio etc... I am not going any further on this because it seems like it needs to be a discussion in a dog nutrition forum and not here. BTW- good one to check out is ourdogsonline.com

Sorry that this was so off topic, I just felt the need to put my 2 cents in! On the topic of your yard- A good quality diet and mulch. (assuming that your pup does not eat things like mulch) Quality diet = less stool and vet bills! I know that mulch may sounds silly but we have multiple dogs (with a smaller backyard) and have made a nice area for them to do their business and play, and use a pine mulch in that area. No more grass burns from the urine. This would work well for you if your dog does not eat mulch.
It smells good too!

I picked up a book by Elizabeth Bublitz who specifically does pet-friendly landscaping at http://www.pawfriendlylandscapes.com (she has some great tips on her site in the portfolio section) and she has some really good tips such as using specific ornamental grasses and using 'pathways' so our dog wont ruin grassy areas when patrolling the yard.

Another idea if you can afford it is to hire in a company to pick up your dog's business 2-3 times per week. With 1 dog it would be pretty affordable.

A couple of last comments on the raw diet for those interested. Raw doesn't necessarily mean pre-made frozen patties. Although I do use those to some extent, they are very expensive, and using them exclusively is not really ideal for the dog. I also make my own balanced dog food and, most importantly, feed my dogs raw meaty bones. That means she eats the bones, too: chicken (backs, necks, wings), turkey, whole fish, etc. It provides calcium and phosphorus, and her mouth and teeth are beautifully clean.

In nature, meat-eating animals eat bones. There are some good pet food companies, but most have marketed (brainwashed) consumers away from more natural feeding methods. There is obviously a movement back in that direction, though. FYI, I feed her the meat/bones outside to avoid any mess in the house.

Just remember, never feed cooked bones.