Well, it has happened at last. My husband and I both start new jobs on Monday (yeah) and we are just now getting the dog run up. It's about 40' x 13' so a nice big area to play in. I've buried rocks all along the fence line to prevent him from digging out, and will soon have a nice hose for him to stay in. I do have a couple of questions though relating to this dog run.
It is through the debate my husband and I are having that I need to ask some info. The most important thing is, how can you teach a dog to just use one section of his yard as a bathroom? For some unknown reason, my husband feels that planting grass is a good thing even though our dog is a digger, so if we train him to go in one spot, the grass is more likely to survive. Plus, there is a window right by his area, and we want him to go a good distance away from the window.
Second, would anyone have any recommendations to what is good for a dog run? Right now it's simply dirt with a few weeds that have popped up. I say leave the weeds, they are cool, and softer to lay on. Husband says they will be sticky and kill them all. These weeds do not have stickers (don't know if they every will) Just simply big leafy things. May even help keep some of the yard cooler.
Third, if we go with grass, is there a type of grass that would do better in a dog run than another? Or perhaps some kind of plant that will be nice to lay on, yet easy to take care of, and good for puppy. He still likes to eat almost everything he comes across, though he does favor grass. Oh he's 20 months old, 85 pounds. Blue healer, border collie, and black lab.
Yes dog will go for nice long morning walk before we lock him up for the day. Doubt he will get an evening walk as I won't return home until 11pm. But he will get to come inside and play fetch and have some people time while I wind down from work.