Artificial Grass & Dogs

[sheena]

I found an old thread on this, but it was 4 years old....so thought I would pop the question again. We have a fenced in part of our veranda, in which my girl spends most of her day. It is approximately 12 sq meters & has a wooden slat floor. She has a kennel & a day bed there & I use it as a transition area for her to drop all the dirt or dry off after swimming before she is allowed to come inside. I bought a couple of cheap sq meter pieces of artificial turf from Bunnings & put it down, and apart from looking good she had fun rolling on it & scratching her back after a swim this morning. I was thinking maybe of laying it over the whole area. Most concern, would be, does it give off dangerous chemicals & would she be inclined to wee on it. I am thinking that, she would not wee on it as she would think it were carpet. The area is open to the elements on ocassions, if the rain is blowing in that way & it gets the western sun.

[Salukifan]

Most concern, would be, does it give off dangerous chemicals & would she be inclined to wee on it.

Yes, and possibly.

I'd not have it where my dogs are.

[Staffyluv]

I have a friend who has a small courtyard and had two dogs (poodle and small pom/terrier cross) - they did fine on it.. She said it was great but she also walked her dogs everyday and they were mostly inside dogs..

They did play on it though and she just used to pick up poo (like we all do) and hose it down every now and then (if we had no rain)..

It was the professionally laid stuff with the proper drainage etc all done..

I used some fake grass on a verandah for old Ollie in a house that I had in Lismore (he couldn't get down the stairs on his own while I was at work) - he didn't like and wouldn't walk on it (I think it just felt odd to him).

So I used to just go home every lunch time to take him out the front to pee. He was old and used to sleep most of the time I wasn't there..

[MsKatie]

We have fake turf in our yard - have had it for a few years and not had any problems with our dogs on it - the only issue is that it gets hot in the sun in summer but our yard gets lots of shade and the dogs have a cool paved area so it doesn't seem to bother them.

[MsKatie]

This is it just done

[sheena]

That looks really neat KHM Did you use an expensive one ? I was thinking more along the lines of cheap stuff from Bunnings, but if it gives off dangerous chemicals, then I might opt for the stuff you put down in caravan annexes & maybe a bit of outdoor carpet at one end....the type you use for boats etc.

[Loving my Oldies]

SASH (Small Animal Specialist Hospital) at North Ryde in Sydney has a large fake grass area where the hospitalised dogs are taken to toilet and the stench is just incredible. It must be such a breeding ground of disease and, although I have been there many times over the years and cannot speak highly enough of the vets and other staff, it beggars belief that an animal hospital would have such a stinking area just outside their entrance.

I am very anti fake grass because yet another unnecessary product made of petroleum that will never degrade and just add to pollution.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Dame Danny's Darling