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Originally Posted by DoggieDen  I need some ideas. I am opening a doggie daycare and putting in a fence for an outside area. The problem is that there is no grass. I am using a part of the parking lot. Any ideas what I can put down for the dogs? Astro turf? Gravel? |
You have got a couple of options if you are going over top of asphalt..
The best but also the most expensive choice is a synthetic grass offered by a company like Alternascapes..
FieldTurf Synthetic Turf For Dog Applications by AlternaScapes
Awsome stuff, comes with a 20 year guarrantee and a labor and material guarrantee as well.. A bit on the pricey side at around $8.00 - $10.00 per sq/ft installed.. So a 10 foot by 10 foot section is going to run you between $800 to $1000 dollars. They do give discounts for larger orders, I had a 7000 sq/ft parking lot laid over with Alternascapes about 4 years ago and it cost around $38,000 for the job..
Don't worry about not having grass, when dealing with commercial Doggy Daycare the grass will soon be dead and dirt and mud will replace it.. so "not having grass is a good thing"...
Stay away from gravel, (GRAVEL IS BAD!!!!!!!).. Some dogs have nasty habit of picking up rocks to play with, chew on, etc... and on will occasionally swallow them. 90% of the time, small rocks and such will pass right through there system but there are also times when they won't and thus the dog get's an intestinal blockage that will cost the owner Big $$$$$ to get surgically removed.. I have some XRAY film here from when I worked at the Army Vet Hospital of a dog that had decided to ingest rocks.. Also when the rock is removed and the vet gives it to the owner they are going to be mighty curious where it came from... so stay away from Gravel...
You can choose the inexpensive way which is wood chips, preferably NOT pine bark (it's a mess).. but some wood chips that you buy from the local feed supply store.... or wooden mulch (ensure that it is NOT chemically treated for termites or other bugs and that it IS NOT colored).. stay natural, again as dogs love to chew on and ingest things... I have found in the past that even in the event that a dog eats natural mulch it basically does them no harm and adds a little fiber to the diet
...
Also ensure that your fencing is SUPER SECURE... anchored into the asphalt about every 16 inches with curved rebar and also run a wooden planks on edge tied to and along the entire lower perimeter of the fence.. If you have a gate ensure that you don't have just one..... ensure that you have one gate and then another gate about 4 feet back of that gate.. so it takes the opening of two gates to get out...
With the two gate system a dog can't slip past and make a break for freedom, they simply get trapped in no man's land in front of the next gate....
Quick Diagram Below, Dashes and such outline the fence perimeter and the "X's" would be gates... (with a little no man's land in the middle.)
________________
| ......................|
|__....................|
X__X..................|
|.......................|
|______________ |
Hope this helps,
Bandit
Doggie Daycare Outside Area 
If you get the small pea rock it is comfortable to walk on, even for you sensitive footed small dogs. Some will absolutely get ingested, but again my vet said your lowest risk when all factors on various choices are considered. If you do not have the proper drainage and don't spray down with quat sanitizer daily - it too will smell nasty come spring if you are in a heavy snow climate. So be sure you look into how it will drain and clean daily :0 
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