How to prevent dog from pooping in a certain area of the yard?
We have a pretty large backyard, and our dog lives outside full time. She has a house (that she rarely sleeps in but that's on her own accord) and protection from sun and a continuous supply for water and we bring her in when the weather gets extreme. In the past, the she used to poop in one area of the yard, a corner near the backwoods, but in the last year or so she has been pooping all over the yard. She has taken to pooping on the concrete of the pool deck, on and around the wooden steps, and near the cabana. We have tried several methods to delineate the areas that we would like her to go including, cayenne pepper and oil, cayenne pepper and vinegar, and chemical products made to deter pooping where they are spread. Nothing seems to work.
This is increasingly becoming a problem as we are using the yard a lot more often, and people are always having to watch their step and its becoming harder to enjoy the outside space. The area of the yard she is allowed to poop in is pretty sizable, so it is just the problem of getting her to poop there.
Any help or advice will be much appreciated, if not for my sake then for hers! If this problem can't be resolved soon, then a kennel might be the next step, something that we don't really want to do. I hope someone out there can help us out!
It sounds like she is pooping closer to the house. Maybe something scared her and she doesn’t want to go in the back/wooded corner anymore. Do you have coyotes where you live?