Our garden like many other multiple dog owners has slowly turned into a dirt patch where once a lovely lawn was! The garden is for the dogs though so it's just one of those things but have been thinking lately of replacing lawn with shingle or bark .  The dogs happily go to the toilet either on grass or a shingled area we already have.  Just wondering what other people have done to try and have a garden that looks nice but is dog friendly.

We fenced half of the garden off, the part furthest away from the house is now garden for plants, lawn etc and the half closest to the house is patio, it works really well.

We are in the process of doggy profing our garden. Fencing off the bottom, putting in a row of 3 kennels with 6 ft runs and the remainder of that section will be stone. We have a patio area in the middle of our bit and will probably be putting stone around the patio. We also have 2 borders with grass in and a large rabbit run in one of those, a path leading up to a patio just outside the house.
All very low maintenance and easy to clean :)

our garden is set out into three areas furthest away is grass plants and greenhouse  the middle is the patio where the waterfall and table and chairs are then the third part nearest to the house is fenced off with a gate.. that is the dogs area all flagged easy to clean and suitable for all seasons as the house keeps it partly shaded and they dont get muddy in the winter or on rainy days,  we also have table/chairs in the dog area so I can sit with them and they are still shaded.
I do let my dogs in the whole garden to play (nightmare when I forget to turn the waterfall off as they love to stand over it and get soaked then run into the house ..soaked beardies in the house  not recommended) LOL :)

Thanks for posting this one ... I will await answers with interest.  I've been thinking about my once lawn now dirt patch too.  Have thought about slabs, don't like them, but am coming to the conclusion they might be the best option, and probably best in view that I'd like to move before the end of the year.  Bark I do know you have to be careful to avoid the sort that contains cocoa bits, which are apparently toxic.  A friend has laid an area of artificial lawn, but it's not really for the dogs, it's just to get green under a very shady area - not sure how this would work with diggers (of which I have a few)!
STARRYEYES ... my dogs would love your garden, a waterfall to themselves, absolute bliss!!

Where we used to live we divided the garden in two and had one half for the dogs and one half in recovery ( a handful of grass seed thrown on the surface) then we would keep changing halves. (Shingle is very hard to pick up poo from) but white tree bark, the inner part of the trunk as opposed to brown outer tree bark is also good and clean for dogs.
http://www.gardenandbuilding.co.uk/conifer-woodchip---10-40mm-2290-p.asp

We gave up with our lawn (the word lawn is used in the loosest term here!) and we have put down astro-truf, it's the best thing we did, very easy to maintain and the dogs love it. Can be expensive if your covering a large area though.
Regards
Karen

Is astro-turf only expensive for large areas? My garden isn't huge, 40ft by 20ft but when it rained a few weeks ago my mental rottie rescue completely ruined the grass from running to get a ball lol.

I am thinking about slabs or astro-turf now - it's just an area of hard dry mud now with grass round the outside.

Hi,
Our garden isn't big, we have a large decking area and a large shed/Kennel at the bottom leaving an area of about 25ft by 20ft aprox and I think for everything it was £700, but a friend who does golf courses got us a good deal.
Karen.

Lollie, would your friend sort out good deals for other people?  I went to view a centre that fits astroturf and although the prices ranged from £20-£40 a square metre for the 'faux grass' it costs the same again to get it fitted. My garden sounds a similar size to yours and I was quoted £3K

Wow £700 is a bit too much for me sadly :D

Maybe I will look into slabs instead!

4 dogs and what looks like a bomb site here instead of the nice lawn I used to have.   We're just waiting for a quote on artificial grass, it might not be environmentally friendly but the size of the area concerned and the trees around it is hardly like to bring the world to a halt...  A further section is now slabbed for easy cleaning.

Depending on the size of the area, there are lots of lengths of artificial lawn on EBAY for not too much money.  Can't comment on the quality though.

How do these artificial lawns work with diggers though? Digging dogs that is! Or don't they try to dig it 'cause they're clever and can tell it's not real grass?

That's what we have in theory, though patio would be exaggerating, ti's slabs where the concrete ran out.

Hubby is promising to redo the dogs bit pout in channels that go direct into the drain etc.

I extended my patio area and fenced off the lawn using some old fence panels and a nice gate.  However one of my dogs will not wee on the slabs so today I am taking up a very small area of the slabs in one corner and laying down a couple of rolls of turf so they can use that and not ruin my lawn.
Its only costing me £6-£8 for the little bit of turf so when it gets ruined I can just lift it and put down more, also in the winter they will not need to go down onto the main lawn at all so no more mud indoors and a beautiful lawn.

Would you not be better laying some chippings or bark for a pee area, as the turf will soon become just dirt?

We still have an unpaved bit in the dogs area, and the grass disappeared, and it is just the dirt now, but it is the area they prefer to toilet on.

Would you not be better laying some chippings or bark for a pee area, as the turf will soon become just dirt?

We still have an unpaved bit in the dogs area, and the grass disappeared, and it is just the dirt now, but it is the area they prefer to toilet on.

My girl will only pee on grass and I am having trouble getting her to pee on the bit I have done for them because its in a place she is not used to.  She has been but hangs on and on and gets all stressed about it.  I am of course giving her loads of praise when she finally goes.
I have decided now though that once I have got her used to using that area, because it is small I will replace the turf, when its had it, with a small bit of artificial grass.