Help With Creating Your Dog Friendly Yard

With a little advance planning you can provide a save pet friendly yard that is attractive for people as well.

Dogs basically need to exercise, protect, play, rest, and potty! If you plan ahead to meet your pets needs they will be able to do all of these things without destroying your garden or injuring themselves. Try to think like your pet, all breeds have different personality traits and want different experiences in their outdoor areas.

Dogs need exercise, they also want to be able to protect and patrol your yard. That is their perceived “job”. Sacrificing a few feet around the perimeter of your yard can accomplish both of these tasks. I your dog has already built his own pathway through and around your yard, try to incorporate that into your plan. Then add a plant screen in one area as a private, cool place to take a break and rest. Planting beds should be planted densely to deter your dog from walking through and destroying them.

Of course, every dog will need a place to do his “business”! Set aside a corner of your yard as a toilet area. Train your pet to eliminate there. Cover this area with material that can be easily cleaned and rinsed. You may also want to add a marking post for your male dog.

Excerpts from – Sunset Magazine/Sharon Cohoon

To cover the bulk of the yard, synthetic turf or pet turf from Go Turf Direct is a great choice. Using synthetic turf will eliminate your need to water, fertilize, use pesticides, and cut your grass lawn. Conserving water in southern California is especially critical at this time. Synthetic turf will save your time and money while saving our valuable water resources. Synthetic turf will drain as well as natural grass and often better than thatched lawns that have not been regularly aerated. Good drainage results in less run off into our waste water system. Good drainage will return water to our aquifer.

If you do not plan to have a designated potty area for your pet, as discussed above, just clean your synthetic grass as you would natural grass. Periodically rinse through heavily used areas and use a natural odor/ sanitizer.