I have a small desert yard and I've been struggling for years to landscape it. It's got a half circle of flagstone with a firepit that I'll be keeping.

When I bought it, I had those gravel rocks which I took out because they were tearing up my dogs paws. I attempted to grow grass for a bit but just couldn't manage with the scorching desert summers and cold winters. I then put in DG (decomposed granite) and was originally going to go with a desert tan/gold but was talked into red. The red looks great....but my dog tracks it inside and turns all my carpet and rugs a pink-ish red. So that's got to go ASAP, as I'm replacing my carpet upstairs this summer and don't want it ruined.

I'm currently torn between these two options:

1. Artificial grass. Pros are it's super low maintenance and dog can't track dirt and dust inside, I would also probably go sit outside more with grass versus dirt. Cons are that it gets super hot in summer, it doesn't really fit my desert aesthetic, and it's super expensive to install.

2. Re-doing the DG in my yard in another color (a super light tan). Pros are that I love the look of DG and it's cheap to install, plus it stays a bit cooler in the summer. Cons are that my dog will still track some dirt and dust inside, but that's also just a given considering I live in the desert.

3. Re-doing DG but also adding in either more flagstone (with gaps for the DG between, kind of like stepping stones) or river trails throughout with gravel to try and minimize how much DG my dog picks up in his paws and help him shake some of it loose.

Any thoughts? I really want this to be my last yard-makeover so I'm trying to choose right. My biggest fear is that I'll put in DG and have it still staining my carpets inside, or that I'll put in artificial grass and hate the look of it and be out several grand.