 New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
#167028 - 12/05/2007 08:55 PM |
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We're looking at removing the grass from our back yard since it mostly died over the summer from a combination of dog pee and the fact that our sprinkler system broke. It's also not very environmentally friendly to have grass in the desert and we'd rather remove it to conserve water. Anyway, it's not a very big yard, and we have two large dogs that use it as their bathroom, so it gets a bit stinky (we pick up the poop regularly, but we obviously can't pick up the pee). We'd like to replace the grass with something that will be easy on the dogs' feet like washed gravel (the smooth stuff) or wood chips. Does anyone have any experience with either of these, or could suggest something different? I was curious as to whether the natural wood chips would absorb the dog pee odour or just soak it up and make it worse.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Jen Churchward ]
#167039 - 12/05/2007 09:23 PM |
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After reading this and puzzling over it for a bit, I would not suggest wood chips, as they will soak up the urine just like wood shavings in a small animal cage, which will smell if you do not replace it. Wood rotts naturally, and lots of dogs like to chew up and eat wood chips, and wood chips are not fun to walk on barefoot 
I had kennels with sand footing once, for urine all we had to do was hose it a bit, or let the rain take care of it, and the poop was easy to pick up. I think smooth washed gravel is an option, would just need to be rinsed and it would be harder to tell what areas were heavily used on gravel than with sand.
Thats all I can really think of at the moment
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Jennifer Marshal ]
#167041 - 12/05/2007 09:25 PM |
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Yes, this subject has come up several times, with wood chips always vetoed.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#167081 - 12/06/2007 11:02 AM |
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Although i didn't replace the grass with the material i am about to mention. I did use it in the area I trained Tucker to eliminate himself in since he has chose to NOT raise his leg but to be lazy and squat therefore damaging my beautiful lawn!
I purchased wood Mulch in bulk (Not wood chips, much softer and more like shredded wood) and spread it out in the area Tucker was being trained to use. I actually liked the fact that it did retain the urine as I would then just remove the offending area and replace with fresh. I guess its more like a big dog litter box...lol.
But its was only easy for me because he was trained to go in one area only. So if you are willing to possibly have the dogs only relieve themselves in one chosen area you could go that route for that area and then chose whatever looks best to you for the rest of the yard.
Wendy
Don't complain....TRAIN!!! |
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Wendy Lefebvre ]
#167135 - 12/06/2007 03:38 PM |
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What about that fake grass? There are a dozen brands and some of them look and feel very realistic. They claim that you can pickup the piles and hose the rest through the grass and into the ground.
I'll warn you that the brand I looked at was expensive.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog frien
[Re: Jen Churchward ]
#167150 - 12/06/2007 04:25 PM |
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Sand tends to get tracked everywhere and can get quite hot in the summer. It can also reflect heat back at your house and make it harder to keep cool. Otherwise I don't see any problems with it. We have grass and even with 4 dogs it stays relatively nice except for some holes Xena dug.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog frien
[Re: Cathy Goessman ]
#167202 - 12/06/2007 09:53 PM |
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I don't like gravel because leaves and dirt get into it and make a big mess. I guess that may not be a problem where you are though.
Pinestraw is nice and not as absorbent as wood mulch. It stays put fairly well but does not last as long as mulch.
But it is expensive. When I was a kid I never woulda thought people would pay for this stuff.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Jen Churchward ]
#167209 - 12/06/2007 10:47 PM |
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Hi Jen, i put pea gravel in my backyard, completly covered 2/3 of it because i got sick of having to basically give them a bath after going outside in the wet seasons (grass is looong gone from running). It's great. Get more than you think you need. I put down 22 tons and can still use another 10, all ya gotta do is wipe their feet and cleaning up after them is simple,
AL
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog friendly?
[Re: Al Curbow ]
#167246 - 12/07/2007 08:09 AM |
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Ditto on gravel for high traffic areas - doesn't track into the house, looks tidy, cleans up easy and keeps the pads in good condition.
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Re: New back yard surface - what is most dog frien
[Re: Al Curbow ]
#167252 - 12/07/2007 08:34 AM |
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Hi Jen, i put pea gravel in my backyard, completly covered 2/3 of it because i got sick of having to basically give them a bath after going outside in the wet seasons (grass is looong gone from running). It's great. Get more than you think you need. I put down 22 tons and can still use another 10, all ya gotta do is wipe their feet and cleaning up after them is simple,
AL Al, do you find that the dogs running on gravel has caused any painful or hurt pads? That would be my only concern. My yard is grass surrounded by graveled areas and although my dog lands in the gravel often when chasing a ball and isn't fazed by it, I don't know that I would want his whole running area to be gravel.
Jen, I don't worry about having grass in the desert. It's totally worth it. Gravel gets way too hot to walk on, much less run on in the summer (I live in Phoenix, one of the heat capitals of the country).
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