Dog Poop

Yes, I really do want to talk about dog poop!

So we have three dogs. I don’t talk about them much, do I? Dexter is my favorite –  he just turned six. Tessie will be 5 this summer (she was the first one we got – also my least favorite), and Ruby will be 4 in June. I call them my chocolate, vanilla, strawberry dogs as Dex is black, Tessie is white/cream and Ruby is Irish-setter-red.

We live in a dense little neighborhood with about a third of an acre of “land”. It’s not “land” per se, just a little swatch our house sits on. In the back I have used garden fencing and created a roughly 10×10 area for the dogs to do their thing in. You know – peeing and pooping.

But after four years and 3 dogs using it for this purpose, this little area has lost nearly all of its grass (such as it was) and it’s now, especially at this time of year, a patch of mud. Which gets tracked into the house everytime the dogs come back in and makes me oh-so-happy. No, not really.

So I need to do something to that space. But what?

Planting grass is really not an option. It would take too long to grow (and the dogs would have to be pottied elsewhere while it did) and then as soon as the dogs had access again it would be ruined. Poor baby grass.

So I’m thinking of an alternative surface. I’ve done some Googling, thank-you-very-much and I see recommendations for pea gravel, concrete, mulch/wood chips and artificial turf made specifically for pets. Anyone done anything like this, or know anything about it?

• Pea gravel seems to be the most recommended but will the dogs actually “go” on it?
• Concrete seems too rough on their feet, and ugly to boot.
• Mulch/wood chips seem like they would be tough to keep clean.
• The stuff marketed for pets is a maybe…but pricey.

If you have dogs who use a small portion of your yard for their business, what do you do about that surface as it deteriorates over time?