# Friendly Stone mulch For Dogs



## rjordan393 (Dec 11, 2010)

I have a landscaper coming to do some backyard work and he suggest a mulch in an area I am setting aside for them to get exercise and to use as their bathroom. I was planning to have wood chips put down and then an a fence installer says to consider a stone mulch. The problem is; I think the dogs paws will get sore or cut on the stone. Is there such a thing as dog friendly stone that has color such as red in it?
I do not see anything on the net.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would assume if its river rock, the stones will all be smoothed out on the sides from being tumbled and rolled. Stone like this shouldn't cut up a dogs feet, and would be preferable to any kind of wood mulch. I have no idea if it comes in a red color.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I doubt that dog's paws will be a problem with stone mulch. There is also a product called pea gravel you might want to look at.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

The one vet I worked for had river rock for the kennels. We have also had river rock and pea gravel in our yard. Neither of them ever bothered the dogs, except some dogs refuse to use it for a 'bathroom'. My chows won't use rock but my other dogs would. Chows are finicky with their bathroom habits. 

It does one big advantage over mulch.....it doesn't get tracked into the house like wood mulch does. When we put down fresh shredded wood mulch half of it ends up stuck in the dogs fur and comes in the house with them!


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## rjordan393 (Dec 11, 2010)

The wood chips that I was talking about is about 1/4 inch thick by 1 to 2 inch in size. I doubt that this would be a problem getting tracked into the house.
I do not want to use the straw type mulch because then it would get tracked in. The only problem that I see with the wood chips is that picking up their droppings might be a hassle and some of the wood chips may stick to their droppings. 
The stone mulch appears to be my only choice for the following reasons:
1. Their droppings can be easily separated from stone due to weight of it.
2. Their exercise area is on the downward slope for water runoff. 
3. Stone will allow water to pass through more easily.

I'll take a look at the available sizes of gravel including the pea.


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

RawFedDogs beat me to suggesting pea gravel. Most boarding kennels and daycares use pea gravel, as it is easy to clean, easy on dog paws, and doesn't get stuck in fur.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Ditto on the pea gravel...It was used at the boarding/daycare facility I worked at...Never had a problem with it hurting the dogs paws...

Also, we run our dogs on a field of loam and cedar mulch at a agility field I go to...Never had a cut paw, in fact, it is ideal running turf...however, I couldn't see it being great for potty breaks.
Dogs have very rough paw pads, and if their paws aren't rough, I promise they do adapt to rough terrain. :] just wanted to let you know that if hurt pads were discouraging you.

I think you could find pea gravel in redder colors. That would definitely be my first choice for something like this.


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## rjordan393 (Dec 11, 2010)

Thanks all,
Pea gravel is the way to go. 
CavePaws,
Did your boarding/daycare facility put down garden fabric before applying the pea gravel? Some on the net say stone will sink into the soil and will make it difficult to remove if the need ever arises.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

rjordan393 said:


> Thanks all,
> Pea gravel is the way to go.
> CavePaws,
> Did your boarding/daycare facility put down garden fabric before applying the pea gravel? Some on the net say stone will sink into the soil and will make it difficult to remove if the need ever arises.


When we put the pea gravel in our yard we did not put anything under it and it definetely started to sink into the ground. We eventually tried to remove it with a Bobcat to build an addition on the house and couldn't get it all up. It's been 15 years and it is still coming out of the ground in areas with every rain.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

rjordan393 said:


> Thanks all,
> Pea gravel is the way to go.
> CavePaws,
> Did your boarding/daycare facility put down garden fabric before applying the pea gravel? Some on the net say stone will sink into the soil and will make it difficult to remove if the need ever arises.


I've installed things like Grassy Pavers Grass Paver http://www.cleankennel.com/ for home owners for pet potty places, It does keep the gravel from getting scattered about, just install as normal but just use pea gravel up to just above the platic, and also keeps a nice looking clean appearance. I used a fine mesh netting underneath TBH, i'm unsure if it ever needed to be removed but the mesh is incredibly strong and as long as it was flat when installed shouldn't rip or tear.

Just thought i would throw this idea out there for ya


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

They didn't. The ground beneath the pea gravel was in itself extremely hard and rocky so it never actually sank into the ground. We did spray it down with this stuff called "AIP" (Anti-Icky-Poo) for cleaning and replaced it every so often but that was fairly easy as it didn't stick into the ground.

If you ever did want to remove it, I would suggest doing what Tobi said and putting something down under it like fine mesh.


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## rjordan393 (Dec 11, 2010)

I'll make sure landscape fabric goes down before the pea gravel. Thanks.


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