Dog-Friendly Backyard: Ideas, Tips And Tricks To Keep Your Dog Safe In Your Backyard

Dogs love the backyard, especially when you, their favorite human, are there to play and interact with them. By making your backyard dog-friendly, you and your dog will want to spend even more time together in this fun space.

Creating dog-friendly backyard landscape gardens and adding special features to keep your dog safe and comfortable is easy. And especially important for outdoor dogs. These projects can be as simple or as complex as your time and budget allow. Let’s explore how to ensure that your outdoor space is perfect for your backyard-loving pooch.

Choose a dog-friendly backyard ground cover

Your backyard is probably covered in lawn grass, which is typical of most homes. However, you may end up seeing brown spots that appear where your dog urinates.  One way to prevent these brown spots is to rinse the grass with water shortly after your pooch does their business. Alternatively, you may be able to train your dog to urinate in just one area of your backyard, creating a backyard dog potty area and leaving the remainder of the yard clean and green. Or you might choose to replace your lawn with one of these green ground covers for a dog-friendly backyard:

• Durable grass blends: Depending where you live, you could reseed your backyard with hardier grass varieties such as buffalo grass or Kentucky bluegrass, which can stand up to heavy use.
• Artificial turf for dogs: Installed properly, artificial turf is a low-maintenance ground cover that will not turn brown where your dog urinates. You also don’t need to mow or weed artificial turf, so you’ll have more time to play with your dog! As a bonus, artificial turf may prevent your dog from digging.
• Clover: As most homeowners are aware, clover is a very robust plant. Clover’s toughness allows it to easily stand up to dog urine without turning brown. Plus, clover is safe for your dog to eat. Clover may be a good choice as a ground cover for a backyard dog potty area.

If you’re willing to give up some of your green space, think about covering all or part of your yard with one of these no-grass, dog-friendly landscaping options:

• Mulch: Mulch is a dog-friendly backyard grass replacement and is inexpensive. Avoid cocoa mulch, which is toxic if ingested by dogs. Wood chips are another dog-friendly alternative and are less likely to be tracked out of your garden beds than shredded mulch.
• Rock or gravel lawn: When selecting dog-friendly backyard landscaping rocks to replace part of your lawn, choose the right sized stones to accommodate your dog’s paw size. Tiny stones, such as pea gravel, may get wedged between the paw pads of large dogs. Avoid very dark rocks, which can get hot in warm weather. Stay away from jagged stones, too – smooth rocks, such as river rocks, are best for your dog’s tootsies.

Dog friendly backyard landscaping ideas

• Keep your backyard dog-friendly and safe by avoiding toxic plants: Many common backyard landscaping plants, including azaleas, lilies, hydrangeas, and yew shrubs are dangerous for dogs to eat. Some plants can cause nausea, vomiting, or even death if ingested. The ASPCA maintains a comprehensive list of toxic and non-toxic plants that can guide your dog-friendly backyard garden choices.
• Skip the expensive plants: There’s no need to spend lots of money on special dog-friendly plants. Many easy-to-grow garden staples such as sunflowers, ferns, and impatiens are dog-friendly options for your landscape beds. Just purchase a few inexpensive seed packets and you’ll be on your way to an attractive outdoor space that is completely dog-friendly!
• Try some dog-friendly alternatives to mulch in your backyard flower and vegetable garden beds: If your dog visits your flower and vegetable beds and flings the mulch all over the yard, you might try stones as a ground cover in those beds, or simply put your prize plantings in large pots for a stunning floral display. Chunky wood chips may be a better choice than shredded bark mulch if you decide to stick with mulch in your backyard landscape beds. A short fence around your flower and vegetable beds may be enough to keep your pooch, as well as other wildlife, out of these beds.
• Use fertilizers and weed-killers with care: If you apply fertilizer or weed-suppressors to your lawn or landscape beds, be sure to follow the directions on the package carefully. For safety, keep your dog off the lawn for a few days until the fertilizer is watered in or it until rains.  Or, switch to organic or pet-safe fertilizers for a dog-friendly option.

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