We have about 1/4 acre fenced yard, about half of it is front yard. In the back, a slightly larger area is a pool, grass, and garden areas, and a slightly smaller (fenced off) area of primarily grass is for our 4 dogs. Due to dogs being dogs, that area is thrashed, and when it rains becomes very muddy. Meanwhile, we found out our puppy has a contagious, hard to contol fecal infection.
Due to the mud and the difficulty in keeping the area clean, I’ve wanted to install hard scape to get things under control and clean. My husband, who doesn’t clean up the mud or poop, insists that we need it to remain "a grass yard," and he will start cleaning mud and poop. I have known my husband 25 years and know he won’t do this consistently or well. Further, we already have a lovely large grass and swimming pool area. We don’t go in or really see the dog area. More importantly, the mud is a breeding ground for disease.
Money is not the issue.
I have told my husband that I insist on pavers or concrete, and he says it’s out of the question. Honestly, this is a huge issue for me. I hate filth and chaos and disease and don’t want to live in this household anymore if we have to just live with it. My husband’s proclivity towards chaos is always a problem for me, but now it’s affecting the health of my 4 dogs.
Edited to add: I just looked it up, we’re actually .37 acre.
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I’m guessing you might be referring to giardia when you refer to the fecal infection? If so then yes, keeping them on mud makes it harder to clean up. It is highly transmissinle including to humans. Concrete or hard floor would be easier to clean. But more importantly you need to separate the sick dog away to prevent transmission to your other 3 dogs, or it could end up as an endless cycle of reinfection.
Info: how large are these dogs? A fourth of an acre for everything you described isn’t very big for four dogs. Do you really have the space to take away grass and it not be noticeable?
Am sincerely curious… why have four dogs in a cage? What’s the point of having them? No cuddles, no playing, no couch sharing?
For someone who says they cant handle filth and chaos, having 4 dogs that spend a lot of time outside possibly unattended is a choice.
I don’t know if he is necessarily in the wrong for not wanting hardscape (dogs will pee and poop on the hard surface and still present similar problems, its just easier to clean) and your not necessarily in the wrong for wanting a better solution. But your reaction of not wanting to live in your home because of it is extreme.
If you do want to update it, i would recommend some sort of compromise like pea gravel or synthetic turf.
Yes, 4 dogs is a lot. They’re all rescues, and that’s important to us. They spend very little of their day shut in the yard; I let them out throughout the day, but they’re much happier playing tug and wrestling in the house. I’m hoping for anything other than grass, but we’ve had synthetic grass and in our area, it’s too hot in summer.
Pea gravel is impossible to clean up diarrhea from. I’ve tried. Concrete is much easier!
You are NTA but also give him a chance to clean it and if he doesn’t be more insistent.
At a guess you are talking about giardia?? If so, treat all dogs together. If one has it they all will. And do the wormer/antibiotic mix of treatment not just the antibiotic. Use a disinfectant suitable for the area and spray each area after cleaning. Otherwise they will pick it up again. I assume it’s winter where you are because sunshine is a big help and without it you need to pay extra attention to disinfecting.
NTA I think the idea of concrete is perfectly fine. Just put some outdoor dog beds/cots or hay out so they have something softer to lay on.
NTA. Mud fucking sucks. We only ever have one dog and when we rented, we used to put booties on our greyhound because we’d have to spend 20 minutes digging mud out of his big old galoot feet otherwise (the landlord had beige!!!!! carpet). We bought our house and it has a very small yard and we thought we’d try it with grass and nope, we got artificial grass after the first year and we have no regrets.
Our greyhound passed in 2011 and we have a small dog now. Starting this summer we’ve been dealing with off and on diarrhea triggered by food sensitivities and it’s been nice to be able to have an easily washable surface without having to worry about adding mud on top of poop. Turf or cement or pavers—they’re all going to be equally hot—but you need something that is easy to clean and disinfect sooner rather than later and I think if you make him start dealing with the mess, it will be sooner rather than later.
Thank you for your empathy! Your point about hard scape being hot is an excellent one, I hadn’t considered that. Maybe we can put in a shade sail or two if Stubborn Hubby gets over his lawn fixation:)
Of course! I mean, it sounds like they just go out there to do their business which is basically what ours does. Shade sails are definitely worth it. And cleaning grass and keeping doggie bathroom grass looking nice is so hard and is it worth it? Ugh. One other thing to look into is an enzyme product for smells. We use one called Odo-Ban. I think we get it at Home Depot. It goes on the garden hose and you spray the area with it. It sprays an enzyme that breaks down the odor compounds and keeps the area smelling nice. Good luck!
Concrete is not always the best surface for your dogs. It tears up their paws, is hard on their joints, and gets really hot in the summer. If they’re just out there for short periods, it’s fine, but if they’re out there all the time, you’ll want to go with a gentler surface. Artificial turf (hose it off) is always a good bet. The look of (plastic) grass without the muck!