There are many opinions about what material is best for outdoor pet potty areas.
Want to get right to the TRUTH?? 🙌 Want solid advice from a landscaping pro who’s been at it for almost 30 years?? 👍
Ok!!! LET’s GO!!!!!!!

Garden Guy + Gal , on ladybugs 🙂

dog friendly advice needed 🙂
Dogs killing your grass and ruining your backyard lawn? Furbaby need an outdoor potty area? Todd Farber, Texas horticulturist, lays out the BEST material for dog toilet and outdoor potty areas.
“The solution is to design landscaping for the pet and then design landscaping for the client. When it comes to pet toilet issues, we look at where the pet does his business right now. If we can find a common area, we turn that area into an exclusive pet potty area for the dog(s).”
👍 THE ONE THING PINTEREST WON’T TELL YOU!!! The BEST material for dog toilet and outdoor potty areas…..

drumroll pl–ee–asee!!
🙌🙌MULCH!!🙌🙌
Todd recommends using pet safe MULCH for the dog toilet and outdoor potty areas and NOT pea gravel. BAM!! YOU just scored a FREE Dog-friendly landscaping idea!!!!
“Pets don’t like walking on outdoor landscaping areas made of pea gravel or other types of rocks. I know Pinterest disagrees, but this is my real experience with thousands of backyard landscaping clients of what really works!” quipped Todd.
MULCH mistakes to avoid: “We use shredded hardwood mulch with no dyes. I stay away from red mulch and black mulch. They contain dyes and petroleum products that are not safe for pets or the environment,” added Todd.
🐩💕NEW PUPPY TIP— Sent out the new puppy announcement?? GREAT!! When your furbaby gets home, make toilet training in this new mulched backyard area a priority.
“If you have a young dog, this mulched pet potty area is the place to begin outdoor potty training.” This is a win-win for the pet owner and the pet too.
🐶💕Have an older dog? If you have an adult dog, look for the most common backyard areas they urinate and go poop in. Is there a place where they might be able to be trained to “do their business” in the backyard? If so, make the outdoor dog potty area there!
Bonus 👍🙌 OUTDOOR DOG AREA IDEA!!!! You can also CREATE A PET RUN for adult dogs and sneak in a pet potty area there! We address that in our next blog post: ‘How to create a dog run for your pet’
So now you know!! THE ONE THING PINTEREST WON’T TELL YOU!!! The BEST material for dog toilet and outdoor potty area…..MULCH!!
That’s the dog toilet and outdoor potty area secret you wanted!!
What other backyard landscaping ideas for pets would you like answers to? Comment below!!

Want to know more about this topic? Have an opinion? Let us know….
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XOXO- Sabrina
My chihuahuas aren’t big fans of rain/snow. I want to build them a protected dog potty area behind and under my deck stairs. If I use mulch for the substrate should I first put down landscape fabric, sand, or something else for drainage and smell?
Thank you!
Hi! If you use the shredded hardwood (or natural mulch) the urine should act as it naturally would in regular grass.
Hello There !
I just wanted to THANK YOU for your great answer to our dilemma about removing most of our lawn in the front and backyard. God bless you and yours.
You’re welcome!
You sound like my husband! He wants our 8 wk old pup to use mulch instead of burning his grass. I get it, but the pup only wants to eat and play with the mulch rather than doing his business on it. Any suggestions?
This is probably temporary as he is a pup. Continue to have him only do his business in this area and don’t give up. 🙂