synthetic turf.

@Lyn Nielson thanks, but I meant artificial/synthetic turf when I said ”non-turf”. Any other suggestions?

Use grass seed instead of sod. One bag of seed will allow multiple reseedings.

@apple_pie_order thanks for you suggestion, but grass will not survive a dog run. I know that for a fact. every time I seed my dog will not be allowed back there for over a month waiting for the grass to grow.

I still think artificial turf is your best choice. There are some fairly decent ones that are designed to deal with pet waste. However, they are pretty pricey.

@melindas1977 my concern on turf is aesthetic, though. Wouldn’t it look weird next to real grass? Also I’m also concerned with environmental friendliness.

Why not wood chips like you'd see at a dog park? Very dog friendly. As far as kid friendly, why would you want your kid to play where your dog is peeing and pooping?

@Kendrah You’re right. The kids won’t be in the dog run often, but you have to look out for those sort of potentialities as a parent.

Why not find a fake turf that is not green? Get a light tan or light gray, if available, so it will not get too hot.

You will not have fake green up against real green.

If the areas are separated by a patio or deck, I don't think it will look weird at all. But I am suggesting quality turf, professionally installed, not the stuff on roles at your local HD.

Maybe investigate rubber mulch? IDK, as I, nor any of my friends, have used it. It just seems like anything loose like gravel, bark mulch, etc., is a maintenance nightmare.

I have read that some people claim clover is resistant to dog urine so investigate that. While white clover can be toxic to dogs if they ingest a large quantity, microclover is supposedly non toxic. Again, I have only read this and have not had any actual experience but you can look into this idea. Are there any dog owners who have successfully used this?

I second the suggestion of wood chips. They are what are used at all the dog parks in my area. If you are concerned about kids - and I have a hard time imagining why you would - then use playground chips that are tumbled to remove any splinters. More expensive than plain old wood chips but still way less expensive than anything else.

Stay away from any rubber mulch if you wish to be environmentally friendly.

What’s a dog run? What’s the purpose? I say this as a dog owner who list occasionally does their business in the yard, who gets the ball tossed to them in the yard, and who doesn’t need a special spot to pee. You can get rocks to go in the water of female dogs that helps with the acidity of their urine.

Confining the dog to a small space is what damages the turf. When they have the run of the whole backyard, they dont wear out the same spot through repeat traffic.

KT, have you owned a dog? Dogs can certainly establish favored pathways and spots and repeated travel along these routes will definitely wear down turf. And the larger the dog, the faster.

Confining the dog to an appropriately sized run reduces the waste pick up and disposal chores as well.

Also could be a security advantage.

I own a golden retriever. Walk your dog, let it play in the yard and do Tue occasional puddle. Problem solved.

IMO no wood chips and for sure not cedar dogs can get it into their paws and often have nasty reactions. We have pea gravel and fake grass in our huge dog run. We find our 150 Lb dog pees in the gravel almost always same with poop he can kick the gravel to cover up he uses the turf mostly for naps. He goes for walks 3 x a day but sometimes we are out and he has a doggie door for acess to the dog run

“ You’re right. The kids won’t be in the dog run often, but you have to look out for those sort of potentialities as a parent.”

But what is the potential problem if a kid happens into the wood chip filled dog run? Help me understand what I am missing here. Lots off kids playgrounds have wood chips. They seem kid friendly. The dog parks we frequent with woodchups do the best in the rain. And when they eventually get spent and mucked up, you just put down more.

We have pine straw in our dog run, we use low black iron fencing (that just hooks together, maybe 30” high, as panels) to seperate the run from the rest of the yard - we walk him AM/noon/PM but I really like knowing there’s nothing in the gass and our backyard sod still looks great 5 years later - steel edging keeps the pine straw contained and neat

Do people with dog runs not let their dog hang out in the backyard at all? I’m genuinely curious about this whole thing. I’ve never heard of a dog run till this post

@WestCoast Hopeful not people who want to have lush nice back lawns. When we’re back there enjoying the yard, absolutely the dog will be with us access to the real grass and what not. but when unsupervised, he can be (not always) destructive to the lawn, digging and whatnot. He’s walked 1-2x/day (mkst often 2x). The dog run is meant to be an outdoor space for him to have unsupervised outdoor time. If a tradeworker is in the house and we need a place for him where he won’t cry in a crate. Early morning rush out the door to drop the kids off to school and no time for the morning walk, just let him out.

@Kendrah throwing woodchips, ingesting them, “collecting” them to bring into the house. Toddlers do weird stuff when given the opportunity. We do our best to make sure they’re not getting into things they shouldn’t but I dare you to find a parent with a perfect track record on that.

Newly built public park playgrounds do not use woodchips anymore (at least I havent seen one in a long time) for the very same reasons I’m concerned with.

My school just put down new wood chips in September! Totally commonplace here.

This post goes to show how differently people live. I can’t picture a time my dog is unsupervised in the yard and destroying it. We’ve had dogs my kids whole life and they’ve always Kaur been in the yard with us.

I have purchased synthetic turf from both Lowes and Home Depot with success for my dog.

Just make sure you install it correct and brush the sand over the turf after it's installed so it doesn't blow away.

I also have a product that gets applied to the turf dogs use to eliminate the odor.

odor eliminators

“Also I’m also concerned with environmental friendliness.”

Don’t have a grass yard.

@WestCoast Hopeful our dog hangs out with us in the back patio/ backyard all the time but it’s so nice not to wonder if there is waste scattered about

imo if there’s plenty of backyard why not have a designated area

"I can’t picture a time my dog is unsupervised in the yard and destroying it."

When we are home we let the dogs out to run around the fenced backyard. High energy dogs that get walks and need/want even more time outside. If they had to be supervised all the time, we would have to spend hours in the yard.

You have been lucky not to own large high drive prey-driven dogs!

My one shepherd mix has ripped out metal downspouts because lizards hid in there. She ripped one of the bug screens on our FL pool cage, going after a lizard! Luckily we don't have chipmunks or she would have dug up the whole yard! She has killed several snakes, rats and squirrels that have wandered into our fenced backyards over the years.

If someone knowledgeable had gotten her as a puppy, she probably would have made a good police or search & rescue dog. We adopted her as a 2 year old and spent lots of time/money on training, but you can never completely get rid of that natural prey-drive. That dog is 10 years old and hasn't slowed down too much!

Like I said to each their own. I agree of there is space use the yard however works for you but let’s not pretend any of this is good for the environment. If it works for your family to have an areas for the dog and a lush green yard too, amazing. But it’s not environmental friendly. I still wouldn’t change our large push green yard, we do love it.

"Do people with dog runs not let their dog hang out in the backyard at all? I’m genuinely curious about this whole thing. I’ve never heard of a dog run till this post "

@WestCoast Hopeful - I don't think anyone is trying to convince you to change your approach - you just asked about how it worked so folks chimed in with their experience

Agreed and it’s interesting how others plan their yard and how their pets fit in. I never thought anyone was asking me to change anything

No rubber mulch, if the dogs like chewy things they might swallow it.

Why not pavers spaced apart with gravel or rock. YOu could hose it down and have somewhere for the water to soak in.

This run has some artificial turf but you could just lay a small outdoor rug for lounging.

Oops I just saw you want no rocks but if they are 3 inch river rock a child couldn't swallow them or scratch themselves.