I have used sand in the past, and I like it. Problem is that I have a slight slop in this house and the rain has washed the sand off.
I'm trying to decide between adding more sand, which would last for about 1 year, pea gravel, or gravel 57. I will not consider concrete or wood shavings.
Is there a mayor difference between pea gravel and sand?
Does gravel 57 would hurt the dogs pads?
I have clay and it is a mildly shade area. I control bugs year round, so fleas, flies, ticks, etc. are not a concern.
Please help, I don't want to make a mistake with this. It is a lot of work.
I sure wouldn't use 57's , you would have lame dogs. Pea gravel would be the only thing I would use given the fact you don't want concrete. I have used it in my puppy pens, but also put down Sweet PDZ in the summer , as the urine attracts flies. The PDZ is not harmful , and it does control flies.
I have Pea Gravel and I use Sweet PDZ granules in the summer. I use the granules in the grassy 40 X 100 area too when needed. Usually when there has not been rain for awhile to control odor. The powder does not work as well and is too dusty IMO.
Thank you for your replays. I'm not going to use Gravel 57. Why did you pick pea gravel over other materials? I use patio stone for the heavy transit areas.
I used pea gravel many years ago but discovered (while pooper scooping) that my dogs were eating it. I replaced it with cement (rough finish) and have not had a problem since. It is easy to clean ...... I have Kuranda dog beds for them to rest on.
I wonder why would dogs eat pea gravel? I guess they eat sand and I just don't notice it. It is looking like I'm going to stick to sand. Thank you all for your help!
Pea gravel will also travel downslope over time. I've had pea gravel (replaced with concrete as cleaning pea gravel is a pain) - they do eat it, particularly as puppies, for maybe a month. It's small enough it doesn't cause an issue at all, so that's not why I chose concrete. They also tended to try and dig out of their runs, no matter what I had beneath the pea gravel to discourage that. Personally, I'd hate sand - used to live in Florida and while the beach is fun, I hated dealing with all the sand all the time!
