# Dogs have destroyed yard



## tryanthing (Jan 29, 2012)

My two large dogs love to *run*, (they are not digging up the yard) but unfortunately my yard is now dirt. As soon as the snow melts I need to redo the yard.

Planting grass will not work. Sod... dogs will destroy. Any landscaping ideas that dogs cannot destroy that are not going to cost an arm and a leg? I was thinking pea gravel but they will kick it up and make paths where they always run. I need ideas please.


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## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

1" rock (they call it "desert landscaping").
Ankle breaker though.
Or teach dogs to quit digging and seed.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Is your yard big enough to build them a run? Sounds like they have designed one they like. Landscape around it. Can you share pics or a sketched plot plan?

What are they, how old, and how big?

Taxidermist, real looking eyes, and mechanical motor parts you can turn off and on? Stepford Dog approach?

Guessed not.


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## tryanthing (Jan 29, 2012)

Stepford dog???? ummm... lets go with NO!

Lab/Newfie and Shepard/Husky. Both 70 lbs. both 2 years old.
Yard is not big enough for a run.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

So what, you were too cheap to go with pedigree puppy mill dogs with papers? Sounds like a magical mutt mix though. They must look and act hilarious. 

I was serious, in my ancient landscape designer days I learned not to fight the animals with which we share our sacred land. They do have run paths they like so why fight it? You can keep them on those paths with some clever placed obstacles and even some simple grade changes. Everybody ends up happy.

Trust me? Send me a sketch of the yard with the paths they have carved out for themselves. I will help you. Let's post it all here for others in similar situations. 

The huskie genes in one of your mutts must be in heaven right now and wondering why it has been such a warm winter? I had friends in Philadelphia with arctic purebred dogs. 101 in the summer was devasting without the water features I added to their landscape. Of course they never shook the water off outside.

And when God decided dogs could be domestics, he must have had labs in mind. Tongues always out, tails wagging. We should all have such dispositions. 

Do they bark? Do we have to build sound baffles in for neighbor relations?


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## tryanthing (Jan 29, 2012)

The yard is actually "L" shaped, the small part of the L is all patio blocked the corner of the L is the most warn out area from running around the corner, and the large part is the main part of the yard. I don't have pics of it.

Not worried about the barking, it keeps the idiots away!


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

Let's be honest here. If you have two big dogs running in your back yard, it's always going to look like you have two big dogs running in your back yard. You'd be surprised how much "damage" these two little turds do in our back yard - and it's a huge yard.










You're pretty limited in your options. Landscape it with non-organic material, limit their time running loose in the yard, and take them frequently to parks to run and play.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

You never want to use pea gravel for anything but decoration in a flower bed or landscaping. Anything round will never lock in and hold.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Plot plan and an idea of how big the yard when you get a chance. The Shepherd/Huskie gene mix was not what I was expecting to see. Cool looking dog!


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

You know dog pictures like this could put puppy mills out of business!!!

Dogs end up in pounds because they are mutts and deserve to be there. Noone should, ever, ever, rescue a mutt if a purebred puppy mill offspring is availed.


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## titanoman (Nov 27, 2011)

sdsester said:


> You know dog pictures like this could put puppy mills out of business!!!
> 
> Dogs end up in pounds because they are mutts and deserve to be there. Noone should, ever, ever, rescue a mutt if a purebred puppy mill offspring is availed.


I would take a cross-breed over a pure-blood any day.
Usually much smarter, and no "I'm a purebred" attitude.


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## Jay 78 (Mar 2, 2011)

I was going to be sarcastic and offer the solution of using AstroTurf. On a whim, I Googled 'astroturf for dogs', and behold, it's out there. 

http://www.progreen.com/dogrun.htm
http://www.ondecksports.com/Products/Turf-for-Dogs

There are even more links than these two.


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## tryanthing (Jan 29, 2012)

I know it is and it looks great, I got a quote ... I could buy a new car for the price... I need another suggestion.


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## Jay 78 (Mar 2, 2011)

tryanthing said:


> I need another suggestion.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

titanoman said:


> I would take a cross-breed over a pure-blood any day.
> Usually much smarter, and no "I'm a purebred" attitude.


Absolutely! :thumbsup: Our family dog for many years was a smelly thing my Dad and sister found in the paper. Imagine a Pecanese and Chiauauau (sp?) mix? Nastiest, yappiest breeds mixing it up? Ginger never barked unless something was up. She had this stupid rubber chicken toy we had to keep replacing. If people came over she would take it in sequence to everybody in the room, expecting them to toss it. She would skip those she did not like. They were usually the ones I could not stand either. 

She was territorial and anything in her yard without permission was free game. She could climb trees after cats by jumping from limb to limb which was a site most did not believe until they saw it happen. Unlike a cat, she could jump from limb to limb back down. I did put some ground rubber mulch around the tree so she would not hurt herself if she fell.

Dogs of any size were no match to her either, if anywhere near her space. 

Anyhow, as suggested, if the OPs dogs have carved a run path they like, I do say we landscape around it. All will be happy. From experience, it is rather like pinball machine designers must go through. I have done it before and am willing to share. Costs you nothing to watch this post.

Just need plot plan sketched and basic dimensions.


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## tryanthing (Jan 29, 2012)

Tried a treadmill too... they didn't like it to say the least... they ate it, well the part you walk on anyway!

Tried to attach a sketch of the yard... not working


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

tryanthing said:


> Tried to attach a sketch of the yard... not working


I've never quite figured out the easy way to do such things either. I think you have to post them to a common place like Photobucket first. Then copy the URL for the image location using the image button. That's how I do it. Makes sense. I would just as soon not have everybody tapping my computer at will for images.

Never mind. Obviously if you posted pictures of the dogs you know this. Sorry.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Just a comment slightly off topic. I have lived in two extreme places when it comes to pets. NYC and Champaign-Urbana. Night and Day. 

Say what you will of NYC, its noise, its attitudes and all. It loves animals. NYC has the highest per capita concentration of RESPONSIBLE pet owners in the World. Something like 8M people live in the city limits and half own and take care of at least one pet. 

Champaign-Urbana is different. Kids come in as freshman and live in the dorms for a year. They talk Mommy and Daddy into an apartment situation starting in year two. They get a kitten or a puppy. They party and some animals get loose early. Those lucky get to ride it out through graduation when all too often they are put out on the street upon graduation with the assumption that someone else will take them in. CU probably has one of the largest per capita populations of abandoned pets in the country. So much for higher education. There are large populations of second and third generation ferile cats.

A friend and I once vowed that in retirement we would build a domestic, no kill, animal rescue shelter to beat all others. I am not willing to admit that I am retired even though the issue seems forced. But the day comes soon. My fave has to be when he (and neither of us is gay although I hope it would not matter) found this cat that nobody wanted because it masturbated too much and drank water like a raccoon. Smokey was classic. 

I've been pet free for a time now because I cannot commit to taking care of one. Medical situations. I am improving and I am thinking of something furry. Again. Of course I plan to race to a puppy or kitten mill. And I do not mean to put down legitimate breeders save for mutts are so much more fun and have character, not just breeding. 

It is nothing short of pure selfishness for me. I am just playing all angles. If there is such a thing as reincarnation? I figure if I am nice to other creatures and don't kill too many bugs, I might come back as a pet as spoiled as all mine.

So OP, let's get this yard of yours fixed for the beasts.


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## mickey cassiba (Mar 17, 2011)

:biggrin::biggrin:


sdsester said:


> Is your yard big enough to build them a run? Sounds like they have designed one they like. Landscape around it. Can you share pics or a sketched plot plan?
> 
> What are they, how old, and how big?
> 
> ...


:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## Cookieknits (Feb 1, 2012)

*Fix the dogs, not the yard*



tryanthing said:


> My two large dogs love to *run*, I need ideas please.


You said it all in your first sentence, and it sounds like your dogs NEED to run. Are they alone in the backyard all day? Boring. Do you have a six foot or higher fence back there? Even more boring.

These guys will settle down if someone takes them for a good, long run every day. If you can't do it, can you hire a neighborhood teenager to?

They seriously need a human pal to help wear them out, and if that happens there will be less running back and forth wearing a path in your backyard. THEN, you will be able to seriously think about fixing the landscaping.

I am not just lecturing. I have been there. You would be surprised how much grass two corgis can kill fence running.


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