[beagletails]

Well we have decided we need to make a dog run for our dogs. With the daycare kids getting older I need to have some play area that will be free of doggy messes and we would like to have less area to clean up and that they can dig and escape from. So here is my question. <span style="font-weight: bold">What is the best material to put down in a dog run? </span>

Concrete would be way too expensive as they will have 1/2 the yard.

Wood chips are not good because my silly dogs eat them.

Pea Gravel might work, but would it get in between their pads on their toes?

Actual gravel might make cleaning up after them a little tough.

Sand might work, but would it get too hot in the summer? And wouldn't it make them filthy?

Grass never makes it in our yard because with 4 dogs trampling, running, wrestling, digging etc... it just doesn't have a chance.

Dirt is obviously too dirty and would be a muddy mess through the wet seasons.

So what else is there?

 

[mrsjenlester]

astro turf?

 

[Murphys Dad]

I almost giggled when I first saw the astro turf suggestion, but that might be a pretty good idea. It'd look nice, and you'd be able to hose it off.

 

[beagletails]

What may actually happen is that we give them several different materials in one. A little concrete pad, a little area of sandy dirt to allow for their bathroom area and for digging, an area of pea gravel to lay on in the sun, etc... I have been known to take large area rugs that we no longer use in the house and lay them out over bare areas in the yard. The dogs love it and when they get so filthy and disgusting that I can't stand it anymore then I just throw them away.

 

[fauxpasta]

The back yard of the house my boyfriend and I got a year and a half ago has a porch, a wooden deck in the middle, and almost all of what's left is covered in pebbles and small, smooth stones that are, at maximum, an inch wide. The dogs went through a phase where they ate a few of them from time to time (it took witnessing Bones throwing up a rock one night to wonder where individual rocks came from in their kennel), but on the whole, that has worked out well. The pebble layer is wearing a bit thin from where the dogs have worn down little trails, so I may have to go out with a rake one day to try to do some repaving. Makes sense for us in Texas to have pebbles instead of grass (pebbles don't need watering!); there is a large shade tree to prevent them from getting too hot in the summer.

 

[Brien]

Cement, Cement, Cement, Cement, Cement!

You'll hate trying to pick poop out of your bark, rock, etc.

We have a mainly cement one with rock on the far side which is all drainage. It make hosing it off a breeze.

Bodie usually poops on the other side of the house which is all rocks. And the feces sticks to the rocks. So presumably I'll have to add more rock at some point.

I know it's more expensive, but in the long run you'll be happy you did.

 

[beagletails]

Brien the only problem with cement is that we are talking about 1/10 of an acre of land at least. That would be about $10,000 to concrete. lol Right now the dogs have .22 of an acre to play on minus what the house takes. They will be getting 1/2 the back yard as their dog run now.

 

[Brien]

Could you pour just a small area? Something that would accommodate your dog's needs. Ours is 15' x 5'.