Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Dog Run

Options
  • 28-01-2010 10:01am
    #1
    slookie
    Registered Users Posts: 695 ✭✭✭


    We recently sectioned off an area of our back lawn with a run for our dog. At the moment with all the rain, and with all the trampling around making the run, it has gone all mucky inside where the dog will be. What could I put down to keep it some bit clean, and easy to maintain? Also, something that might deter him from digging. Concrete is not an option as I want it lawned again in the future. Sand, sawdust, bark? Anyone any suggestions?


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    TooManyDogs
    Registered Users Posts: 1,634 ✭✭✭TooManyDogs


    Laying down paving slabs would probably be your best option, put a base of sand down and then just lie the slabs on top, that way you can remove it whenever you want to put down lawn.

    Just putting down sand/bark/sawdust will only last a short while cos your dog will keep churning it into the soil when he's walking around. We tried all that and it simply doesnt work. Paving slabs will deter the digging too.


  • Options
    #3
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    If you want it lawned again bark mulch would probably be best esp. if you need to go over it with the lawn mower eventually.
    It will break down over a year though but the grass can poke through if you rake it all off when the weather improves. It won't damage the lawnmower like sand or gravel might.

    Another option as said are patio slabs which are very handy, but the ground needs to be nice and level, or there's rubber tiles like you can get for playgrounds but they are pricey enough.

    If the dog run is a permanent feature then it would be more practical to just put down permanent patio slabs even in summer dog runs can get pretty mucky and smelly if the dog pees in it a lot.
    Another option, if it's a big garden, is to have patio slabs and then have an extension on the run that has a grass bit that the dog can have access to now and then.

    If using bark mulch avoid that bark mulch made from cocoa bark (or whatever it's called) a soft pine one would be better.

    I have patio slabs in the dog run but just outside it I use bark mulch it's very handy to put over mucky patches but buy an extra bag more than you think you would need for good coverage, it's a cheap handy temporary solution in this weather. Sand goes everywhere.


Advertisement