Gun Dog Forum

So I have finally decided that when the dogs go into the back yard to do their thing, they need to be sectioned off.

I was going to fence off a 12x12 section for them. My question is, what is the best thing to put down for them. I don't want to have to deal with mud. I was looking at synthetic grass but that is about $10/sq ft. I was then thinking of putting down mulch but then when my make pees (he pees like a girl) he will splash all over his legs.

Has anyone used synthetic grass with dogs and had success? Do you know of a cheaper product?

Any ideas?

No offense GSPVIS. You would have alot of fun adding up the dollars I spend on this hobby called dogs but wow ...........ONLY IN AMERICA!!!!!
The economy might be tanking but I get to live in a country where people are looking for something better for their dog to take a crap on!

Gspviz,
I know what you mean. Never tried synthetic grass, some good ole pea gravel would be the best probably, it drains well, and pretty maintenance free, get a horse scooper for the crap and the pea gravel falls right through.

Just a thought.

Chip

Would they do their business on paver/patio blocks? Those would be cheaper than the artificial grass, and easy to clean. I have seen mulch used too. Maybe if it was the really shredded kind it wouldn't splatter. I would always worry about my knuckleheads eating it though. The pea gravel sounds like your best bet.

Snow has melted here and my front yard is yellow! I cringe everytime I see all the lawn repair that needs to be done.

Pavers would just splatter the pee all over his legs I think. I have seen him pee on the sidewalk and its not a pretty sight!

I had a nice sod job in my back yard last summer and it will need to be totally redone at this point from these crazy dogs.

Boy was I having a moment when I suggested that! Forgot about the splatter factor.

No offense but why do you have a yard if not to enjoy it and for your dogs to enjoy it? To me it makes no sense. Kinda like buying a $100,000 dollar painting to hang on the wall and look at makes no sense. You can't have dogs and yard of the month too. Dogs are gonna be dogs like kids are gonna be kids. JMHO

Ive got three dogs and have never had a problem. As soon as the yard starts to green up the spots will be gone. Between our three and the neighbors husky our yard gets used a lot.

Ezzy

Get him a couple of pair of high top wee wee boots.That way when he wee wees,the wee wee won't splash on his legs.

No offense but why do you have a yard if not to enjoy it and for your dogs to enjoy it? To me it makes no sense. Kinda like buying a $100,000 dollar painting to hang on the wall and look at makes no sense. You can't have dogs and yard of the month too. Dogs are gonna be dogs like kids are gonna be kids. JMHO

heck ya and bring into the house all the mud ya want, cuz your my dog and I'll still love it!

will grass not grow in the sectioned off part? you could always throw down some oats... they'll grow like wildfire and be similar to grass basically. My dad always uses oats when we move dirt in our yard since it just takes off so fast. The darn rabbits love the stuff too, and our dog loves to chase the rabbits! lol

Seriously is this a place where grass/oats can't grow?

All,

My yard is smaller so any activity in the yard just tears it up. I cannot let them do it anymore becasue I really don't feel like wiping them off every time they come in the house, i don't want mud all over the place.

Also I don't care if they don't get exercise in the yard, I exercise them enough off leash that they don't need a place to run around and ruin behind my house.

I was just asking if anyone had any suggestions, that's all.

So if you do not have a suggestion, please hold you comments because they really aren't getting me anywhere.

Thanks.

Sorry about the "Only in America" comment. I was just pointing out how fortunate we are to have been born in such a great contry.
After reading all of the comments and re-reading your original post maybe you should just put up a kennel. I also have too much money stuck in cultured sod to let my dogs ruin it. I went the route of putting in kennels and the only problem I've had is the run off from the kennel buring the grass for about five feet around the kennel. I remedied this by digging a two foot deep, three foot wide trench around the kennel and filling it with pea gravel and landscaping rock. It worked well.
By the time you spend the money to fence off a 12 x 12 area you could probably build a functional kennel. If price is a consideration you could even make the surface out of wood (like a mini-deck) instead of concrete.
I had someone suggest the oats idea but my concern for you would be that in a 12 x 12 area the dogs would probably beat it down and you'd have mud.
Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

Somewhere I saw plans for a doggie septic system. Try searching for something like that. You'd probably have to build a kennel with a concrete pad and then have the pad drain into the septic system. Let us know if you find something that works.

I second the the peagravel idea! Thats exactly what i did, and it works great. I just dug about 8 inches down in a 12x12 ft. square, and filled with bags of pea gravel, and it works great. I do have to clean up pea gravel around the edges though. They always knock some out.

My suggested would be to have a small area based with tamped limestone findings where the dogs are trained to do their duty. the limestone will absorb most odors well. Easier to pick up than with pea gravel.

An attractive but very hearty, deep rooted, urine tolerant lawn would be to establish modern turf-type tall fescue lawn.
Once established this turf will stand up to most dog activity.

I'd also recommend the pea gravel, at least 4-6" deep. If you're concerned about odor, put lime underneath and pack. To keep the gravel within the fenced off section, you could build a small retaining wall less than a foot tall out of any landscaping brick, block, or rock around the interior or exterior of the fence.

An attractive but very hearty, deep rooted, urine tolerant lawn would be to establish modern turf-type tall fescue lawn.
Once established this turf will stand up to most dog activity.

Yes I sodded with tall fescue but I didn't have the ability to keep the dogs off it until it rooted well (lessons learned :roll: ).

With the pea gravel, do you think pee would splash up? Like I said my male will crouch (barely) and pee straight down (about a foot off the ground). I just dont want him splashing all over his legs then coming in the house and getting it all over.

No, there's so much drainage with pea gravel, I doubt there'd be much splashing. All our dogs are kenneled on pea gravel, and our females don't have a problem at all... it's clean stuff.

This might be what I do.......

You are right I was not being very helpful on my last post and I aplogize about that. Here is a product you might be interested in and may be able to purchase in you area.http://www.lagrass.com/pets.htm. It looked like a neat product but I know for a fact they don't have anything like it in my neck of the woods but I live in very rural area. Perhaps you can put it in an area where the dogs do their business and keep them off the real stuff.

Yea that is the type of stuff I was looking into. They just want too much dang money for the stuff.

Pine straw.

Well I did it. I used pea gravel. The dogs don't mind it at all. It is so nice just letting them into the house and not having to wipe mud off of their paws.

I clean up the bombs 1x a day and also spray down the stone with water to keep it clean.

I will post pics soon to show you all what I did.

Matt

I got a couple PM's asking me how I made out with the area.....

It works great. Dogs do not mind doing their business on the gravel at all.

See the grass that they ruined that I am trying to regrow!!!????? :roll:

if you have a very sunny spot, plant zoyzia grass. You cant kill the stuff!

Astro turf doesn't seem like a good idea to me, mostly because it will hold an amonia like smell after a while. I would go with gravel. Yours looks great!

This post is unbelievable, but I guess a lot of things are...................... to a redneck from oklahoma.

Redneck in Indianer too.....LOL :roll:

GSPVIZ,

Is this still working out good for you? I am thinking about building something similar, I am also watching my yard go dowhill very quickly!

I have 3 dogs doing their business in the back yard and hanging out in the back yard.I clean up the poo everyday.
They are in and out of the house during the day. I wipe their feet when they come in and no problem.
The grass comes back every spring.

Yes this is working out great for us. No need to wipe them off anymore

I have 5 setters that run free in the yard , 3 years ago i put so in pea gravel , worked great but dogs still perfured the grass or dirt it also hur their feet . This year i put in a gravel that is 1/2 way between sand and pea gravel [size wise].
NOW
THE dogs would rather poop , piss and play in the squeegee then the rest of the yard .
It is also ezy to clean and you can wash it down.

i recently tried planting seed in the spots he ruined, but none of it took. He kept running through those spots and/or peeing on the seed. That's why i pretty much made up my mind to section off an area of the yard for him to go in. i plan to build it a little smaller than what GSPVIZ built and possibly put some bushes around it. Now its just a matter of finding the time to do it.

I use chat gravel in the kennels. Like the stuff the put in horse rings and such. It's dusty at first but after a rain it settles into a nice concrete like flat base, BUT it remains very absorbent and the urine never sits on tope like concrete. Soaks right throu. Last time I ordered regular (larger) gravel and was worried about the "sharp edges" but no one has had any troube and I have not had one cracked, cut, or sore pad after any field work since then. Not one.

if the weather is really dry for a longtime, it can get dusty