[derinasderun]

Right now,I have mud area around a paver patio for my dogs play area(aka backyard).I am landlocked and have cement retaining wall with drains containing my yard on 3 sides.a 6ft privacy fence surrounds the whole yard,with no way in save the gate.Two 15ft trees provide shade(a cherry and a plum tree).Grass will NOT stay,live plants are a no go.only doggy proof stuff can go in my yard! I need to corrall the mud! Would recycled rubber mulch,river rock,sand,or pea gravel work better for my doggy potty/play area? or am I better off just pavering it all in? or maybe suggest something I haven't thought of?

input please-esspecially those with a multi-dog household!

Points to consider.........

*health of the dogs from said surfaces(afriad hard surfaces would damage joints,stones may cut pads,etc)
* ability to keep clean and odor free(cleaner the better!)
* matenance-low matenance is better!
* weather conditions-heat,rain drainage.(don't want to boil alive,has to have good drainage.)

[Kimaamighed]

Rubber mulch gets extremely hot in the summer. Sand gets pretty soupy if you get a lot of rain and don't have good drainage. Honestly I would go with pea gravel.

[molaunterbizone]

I have pea gravel in a section of my yard (well, mine's a little larger than normal pea gravel), and it's awesome.

[accelieda]

Pea gravel.

[seosoftseo]

My whole back yard is pea gravel but it took a couple of years to get it graveled in good. With the advice of my friend who does landscaping we came up with this plan.
The first year we put down a bigger crushed rock(lime stone?), bigger then pea gravel but not big hunks of rocks. We had the dump truck back right in and dump it as he pulled out, then moved it around by hand(HARD WORK!). By the next spring it had almost sunk into the ground, which is what my friend said it would do. That summer we had another half load dumped, spread it, then had a load of pea gravel dumped, spread that. That stuck around pretty good. The next spring we had a another pea gravel load dumped(about $150.00 a load). Then the year after that too, now it's good
I like the fact That I can disinfect it with what ever I want or just hose it down. We did have to edge the open yard with landscaping ties or the gravel tends to drift away. I also have to rake it from where the dogs run and bank the sides. All In all it's worked pretty good. Now years later, because were not doing rescue, were thinking of dong half of it back into grass