Hi again everyone, i was curious as to what people use for their outdoor training areas. I recently bought a house with a about a 100 x 25 foot backyard and i finally have a low distraction place to train my dogs. The ground is in really poor shape it consists of mostly dirt and some grass that is really unhealthy. As soon as it gets wet it becomes a mud bath. i have often seen people in videos and so on training on dirt and sand, but is there any certain type people like to use that's more suitable?

originally we were thinking of doing an over haul and putting some nice grass down in spring but i was thinking with the size of the backyard with 2 big active dogs running around and relieving themselves the grass might not stand a chance. is there a type of grass that is tough enough to stand up to that kind of abuse?

Any ideas?

Rob

I found a link to how to build a dog run that suggests wood chips or mulch. sounds better than mud. any thoughts? and i'd still love some other suggestions.

http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/a2744-how-to-build-a-dog-run.html

Take care

Rob

I use to live near a swamp and had poorly drained soil so my yard was a problem. I had good luck with hard wood mulch but down here its costs a bit. I had it delivered by the ton. I was fortunate to live close to a park with a ball field and tennis courts so I did alot of my training there

Thanks Dennis,

The hardwood mulch sounds like a good plan, I have enough time till spring, to save up or find a good deal on it.

I like to train in my park too, and i do when it's possible, but i maybe the only one in a very populated area that knows that leash laws extend into the public parks (unless otherwise stated) and many of the dogs (99%) are not under verbal control.IT DRIVES ME CRAZY! Nothing disrupts good training like having to yell at some idiot to get his dog away from us and under control. i got a little off topic but it's good to vent.

Thanks again for your help,

Rob

I have used wood chips in the track around the kennel & in my 10- X 20 kennel in my yard. I also have a very wet yard. I get the drain off from the hillside in the woods behind my house. The back 1/2 of my yard is the lowest point, so it gets very wet & takes a long time to dry out. The track on the backside of the kennel ends up underwater after even medium rain fall & flooded in the heaver rain. I have found that the chips get decomposed & mushed into the ground over a short period of time. I used to fill my pickup 2-3x a year & spread the chips around. I finally went to washed pea gravel a couple of years ago & found that to hold up far better. They do also get mushed into the ground, but if you put a deep enough amount, it takes quite a while to work their way in. I have not replaced the gravel in 3 years. It is due now. That is with 2-3 dogs running on it daily. My dogs spend several hours a day out in my fenced yard. I'm not sure that I would spread gravel or chips throughout nmy whole yard.

Zoisha (sp) grass is supposed to stand up to heavy use. But it would take quite a while for the plugs to spread over a whole yard. I doubt that it would be very cheap, either.

Like Dennis, I use school & sport fields close to my house to do the majority of hard running & training my dogs.

ETA... Ditto on the loose out of control dogs.

Thanks Anne,

I was worried about the decomposition too, and 2-3 times a year is a lot in the long run... that is something to keep in mind.
Gravel had crossed my mind i assumed it would cost more, but of course it lasts longer that would make the difference. It's a good thing i have to wait till spring it makes me research and ask questions that i other wise probably wouldn't ask.

Thanks again Anne that was a big help,

Rob

Zoysia grass is very strong .... but like anne said it takes forever for the plugs to spread, and i have yet to find it in sod sizes ......... Wood chips might be the way to go

If money were no object I'd go for the new artificial lawns sort of like they use on the artificial soccer fields. No weeds, no stains, no mowing, and they still drain.

Since reality doesn't always allow for such expenditures my second choice would be the roughest grade cedar wood chips I can find. They'd only need to be replaced every couple years. The downside is you'd need to scrape them off if you wanted to plant something later but that's the price of putting down wood of any kind.
The cheapest option for mud control is a product called hog fuel. It works, but is the least pretty, and has a fairly small grind. It's also super cheap amd will break down in a season.

If you do decide to go the lawn route go to a feed store and see what they have for mixes in the large bags. We have several commercial grade mixes available at our store including something called tough turf which they suggest for horse paths.

Thanks everyone,

Cider wood chips sounds like a good option, i was thinking about the gravel and i remember an instance when my dog went to fetch something so intensely that he shot gravel backward hard enough to brake a window, so wood chips might make for happier neighbors.

Thanks again

Rob

Another couple of things I want to mention with the wood chips is....some dogs can be allergic to something in the wood & I ended up with a problem with mushrooms, the big yucky ones that turn black & messy when they rot, that the spores came in on the wood chips. I never had a problem with mushrooms until after I put down the chips. They are still a bit of a problem but not as bad since the chips are gone I put the gravel down. I used to almost fill 2 big trash can bags with the mushroom when I pulled they out each late summer early fall. What a pain in the A$$.