Artificial Grass For Dogs Benefits & Buying Guide
Keeping your lawn in pristine condition when you have a dog can be an impossible task.
Dogs will pick the favorite spot in the garden and they will quickly begin to thin your grass leading to better patches of mud faster than you could imagine.
Dogs by their nature will be naturally digging and clawing around in the garden creating holes and bare patches that can destroy your perfect landscape, especially in winter.
Dogs will also urinate and create excrement around in the grass and dirt, leading to foul odors and smells that can be impossible to clean and deal with.
If you want to have a perfect lawn you really need to keep the dog off the grass or you can go with an artificial lawn.
Artificial grass is becoming more and more popular with pet owners in America and all around the world as it provides numerous benefits over its natural counterpart.
Let’s be honest, a dog isn’t the only thing that can upset your perfect lawn and most pet owner’s don’t have the time to make sure their lawn is always looking in pristine condition. Weeds can grow stubbornly and even if you work hard to keep your garden weed free you can still see that they always find a way to grow back.
If you are considering redoing your lawn with artificial turf and grass, we have compiled a list of benefits, cons, guide and the best supplier so you can make a more informed decision for your garden landscape.
Benefits of artificial grass for dogs
Artificial grass can look perfect all year round
It’s almost impossible to keep a garden looking full, fresh and healthy all year round, especially if you live in a climate where is it cold during the winter like I do. If you have a cold climate and an active dog you will probably see more mud than grass during the winter months.
Artificial grass really needs no upkeep and it can look perfect and weed free all year round.
Artificial lawns are chemical-free and healthy for pets and kids.
You may not even know it but many of the plants that your dog loves to dig up and even eat are poisonous and harmful to your four-legged friend. These innocuous-looking yet poisonous plants can cause your dog to vomit, get nauseous or even worse.
Artificial lawns keep getting better and better as the technology advances and they are made now completely chemical-free meaning that even if your dog does scratch, bite and even swallow some of the artificial grass it won’t do them any harm at all.
Turns and uninhabitable garden into a perfect play area all year round.
If you have a nice large garden where you can play with your dogs, would you prefer to do so on a surface that looks perfect and performs just like the real thing or even better.
If you’re sick of bare mud and rock hard ground that is uninhabitable then artificial grass may be the perfect answer, allowing you to play with your pets and even your kids all year round with no mess and no fuss.
Turn concrete yards into cushioned play areas
If you have an active dog, running around on a concrete surface can be very damaging to their paws and as they get older all the impact on the concrete can cause joint problems to flare up and ultimately lead to bigger problems.
Artificial grass provides a lovely cushioned surface to play on that is both beneficial for their paws and their joints as they get older. Artificial grass looks better, performs better and it helps your pet’s paws and joints to remain healthy.
Get rid of bugs and other harmful insects
Pests can be a real problem in any garden, there are plenty of biting insects that live in the grass and mud and these will inevitably find her way onto your dog and your dog in turn will bring them into the house where it will be a problem that you have to deal with.
Getting rid of bugs and insects off of your pet can be a challenge in itself and you may resort to pest control products for your garden which can also be harmful to your pet.
Insects and Bugs will not manifest on an artificial surface and this is another key benefit of having an artificial lawn.
Get rid of all the chemicals
Keeping a garden in good condition is gonna require a library of chemical products that can be toxic to you and your dog as well as your family.
From pest control products to Weed Control, to fertilizers to make the grass grow during the cold months, your garden can turn into a pretty toxic place very quickly and the thing is that most of these products aren’t even that effective anyway.
You don’t have to worry about this for artificial grass, it looks perfect all the time, requires next to no maintenance and what’s better still it contains no chemicals.
Forget about cleaning up the mess
Dogs playing on mud and grass will usually come in covered head to toe in the stuff and kids can be even worse. Any area that gets a lot of traffic in your garden is quickly going to be devoid of grass and when it rains the mud and wet grass will end up everywhere.
Artificial grass does not lead to these problems so you get a clean dog and kids every time no matter how rough the play.
Maintenance-free
This is probably the number one benefit, you don’t have to put all those hours into keeping the garden looking clean or even worse if you don’t put in the hours looking run down and even taking value away from your home.
Artificial grass takes no time to maintain and it looks great all the time meaning that it’s a more viable solution than many people will overlook even though the benefits are glaringly obvious.
Deals better with urine and excrement
When your dog urinates on a real grass garden it can kill the grass in that area and leave a nasty odor behind, the same is true with excrement.
Any dog pee on an artificial surface won’t cause any damage and it will wash away the next time it rains or you can just attack it with a hose and just wipe it down.
You can deal with excrement in the exact same way you would on a real lawn just scoop it up and hose down the area where it was.
If there’s any odor left behind, you can mix some vinegar into the water and some soda bicarbonate to eliminate any odors safely and effectively without the use of chemicals.
Saves Water
If you live in an area where water restrictions are coming into place, you will have to use a lot less water to keep a healthy lawn if you use artificial grass for obvious reasons and if you have to pay for water this can lead the eve better savings over time.
It’s a solid investment
Artificial grass will actually pay for itself over a number of years because you don’t have to spend any money maintaining it. Any money that you you would have put into repairing your lawn, buying toxic chemicals to deal with pests and other problems will now be saved meaning you will recoup the cost of the artificial grass quite quickly.
Say goodbye to allergies
If your dog is prone to allergies like many breeds are such as the American bulldog, you will know how expensive all your pet supplements can get especially when you go adding allergy immune supplements into the mix, the costs can add up quite quickly.
Artificial grass can significantly reduce how prone your pets are to developing nasty allergies.
The downside
There isn’t really much downside to owning an artificial surface, these have been used on playing fields for a lot of time now and the technology keeps getting better so that a lot of the initial downsides have now been eliminated.
The initial cost
If you got a large surface area to cover, the initial cost can put some people off and it can add up to a lot if you are trying to cover a very large area.
One thing to keep in mind as we’ve already mentioned, for every area you turn to an artificial substitute, there is an initial cost but also a significant reduction in maintenance for that area as well so you can recoup the cost over time.
Possible problems with toxicity.
A lot of the initial artificial surfaces had rubber inline and when it rained this could lead to a toxic substance forming on the surface that is harmful for dogs.
As time has passed these filling surfaces have been replaced by non-toxic ones and now you would have to say, that this isn’t really a big problem anymore.
Always be sure to check that you’re not buying a turf that does contain a toxic substance because there is plenty that don’t on the market today.
They hold more heat
One of the big ones that we find is that when the weather gets really really hot, the artificial surface can heat up more than its natural counterpart.
If you live in an area with a hotter climate this can give more of a problem but it should only get really hot for a couple of hours during the day and you can always cool it down with the hose if it does get too hot for your Dog’s Paws.
They Can Melt
If you drop extremely hot objects on artificial turf, like burning coal from a BBQ, it won’t catch fire but it can melt under the pressure of the high temperature.
Frequently asked questions
How much does artificial grass cost
The cost will vary greatly depending on the quality and brand that you go with but generally speaking it can cost anywhere from $5 to $20 per square foot but then it is free for the next 15 to 20 years.
How long will artificial turf last
Artificial turf will last anywhere from 15 to 20 years making a great investment for your home that will stand the test of time no matter how roughly it is used.
Can weeds grow through artificial turf
It is possible for weeds to grow through artificial turf but 99% of the time it will be around the edges and easy to deal with. It can be caused by seeds that are airborne landing on your turf and growing over time but again these should be easy to deal with.
Can fleas live in artificial grass
The number of fleas and pests, in general, is greatly reduced when you switch to artificial grass as there is no soil for them to Nest on and they can’t live in the blades of the synthetic grass. While it is still possible it is very unlikely.
How can I prepare the ground lay artificial turf
If you want to lay artificial turf you should probably contact an expert although it is entirely possible to do it by yourself. You need to remove the grass and topsoil from the existing area and lay a sharp sand base to roll out the artificial turf.
Check out this video for more information.
Best artificial turf for pets
1. Pet Pad artificial grass turf
This is probably the most realistic turf that you can get and it is specially formulated for pets. It looks and performs the part, does not contain any toxins, it’s highly dense and it has a 4 tone color structure for an ultimate realistic substitute.
This is environmentally friendly, has perfect drainage, you get a ten-year warranty and it has a 30 days return policy even if you want to try out a square of this before you commit to a larger purchase.
It comes in all different shapes and sizes and offers amazing value.
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