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What can I put on my deck?


Snoopy21
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So Briar has broken a toe running across the deck. Her nail went between the boards and stuck, which led to the broken toe. I want to prevent it happening again - do I need to stop her accessing the deck at all or could I put 'walkways' of something over the deck boards to make it safer? Any suggestions? 

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Are her nails too long? 

 

Its potentially just a one off accident. Boof, one of my pugs, got his claw stuck between two pavers. He all but ripped it out and we came home to blood everywhere. I didn't rip up the pavers. He never had another accident either. 

Edited by ~Anne~
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No, I have meticulously kept her nails short as she is still growing and I want her feet to maintain their shape. The same happened to my last dog, she split several nails, running across the deck. This episode has cost me $1600 so far and she needs to go back to the vet tomorrow. I'm not sure she hasn't done some permanent damage to be honest. 

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Would lightweight cheap carpet work, something thin that would dry out quickly rather than retain damp and rot the deck.  Or the artificial grass/turf rolls?

 

The constant problem with our old deck is loose nails that pop their heads up, can be nasty to step on with bare feet - have you checked that has not caused injury rather than just the gaps between boards?

 

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Carpet would be good. Shade cloth would be ok...maybe slippery? I'm pretty sure it's the gap between the boards. My smaller dog has never damaged a toe on the deck - his nails slip in and out between the boards easily. The bigger dogs just seem to wedge in there. I can't believe I'm the only person who has had this problem! 

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Rubber is expensive - same as the black rubber belting used for horse-float ramps etc, great stuff but costs the earth.  Shade cloth would be okay if well fixed, I have some on the ground and it is okay to walk on, OH says it looks tacky, he's probably right.

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Marine carpet or fake grass? 

 

Or or can you lift the battens and put them down again with no spacing. You'll need a few more battens. 

 

Or lay brace board over the whole lot so you have a dance floor not a deck 

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If you like the look of a wood deck, I'd be inclined then to look for a product to fill the cracks - if there is such a thing. Like a wood filler?

 

You could have something attached to the deck from the udner side and then fill the cracks. Im not sure how feasible that would be, but maybe worth considering. 

 

Otherwise, marine carpet sounds like the best suggestion.

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On 17/04/2017 at 9:03 PM, mingaling said:

Marine carpet or fake grass? 

 

Or or can you lift the battens and put them down again with no spacing. You'll need a few more battens. 

 

Or lay brace board over the whole lot so you have a dance floor not a deck 

I like the idea of lifting the boards and re-laying them. Marine carpet is brilliant stuff - I use it in the whelping box - but being constantly damp isn't going to do the decking much good. 

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I have had heaps of rescues running over my deck, all sizes from mini toy to giant breeds and have never had one catch a nail.
I vote with mingaling - the boards have been laid too far apart. You will need to either relay the deck, or keep the dog in snow boots.

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On 4/17/2017 at 6:42 PM, Snoopy21 said:

So Briar has broken a toe running across the deck. Her nail went between the boards and stuck, which led to the broken toe. I want to prevent it happening again - do I need to stop her accessing the deck at all or could I put 'walkways' of something over the deck boards to make it safer? Any suggestions? 

The boards may actually be a tad too close the width of a dog nail apart  may need to be increased a slight amount? ;) 
Clip nails so there is no 'hook'... I second marine carpet ! it is brilliant stuff, you can't kill it!!

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Marine carpet sounds like the go. We are having some renovations done anyway later this year, and he deck will be impacted. I'll see if we can lift the boards and replace them closer. Marine carpeting should be good in the meantime maybe. Do I buy it from Bunnings or somewhere like that? 

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Persephone - Briar is a mastiff and my last girl was a Dane cross, so it's the big dog nails that get caught. Riff Raff the staffy cross has never busted a nail in it. Maybe what I actually need to do is train the dogs not to run on the deck? I wonder if I could do that? 

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2 hours ago, Snoopy21 said:

Persephone - Briar is a mastiff and my last girl was a Dane cross, so it's the big dog nails that get caught. Riff Raff the staffy cross has never busted a nail in it. Maybe what I actually need to do is train the dogs not to run on the deck? I wonder if I could do that? 

I've encouraged mine to avoid floorboards when playing indoors - they gravitate to the slate or rug. And Zig would not DREAM of lifting his leg on our large deck even when a visiting dog or one of the girls pees there. So yes, anything is trainable. 

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On 4/19/2017 at 11:54 AM, Snoopy21 said:

Marine carpet sounds like the go. We are having some renovations done anyway later this year, and he deck will be impacted. I'll see if we can lift the boards and replace them closer. Marine carpeting should be good in the meantime maybe. Do I buy it from Bunnings or somewhere like that? 

 

Yes you can get it at Bunnings.  I'm about to pull up my sunroom marine carpet (today) so if you were close you could have it!  You may only need a piece like a hall runner, running from the door to the exit point off the deck?

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