Outdoor Run Surfaces - Suggestions Please - Page 1

I have a grass (read churned up mud at the moment) paddock that I am planning to make into 3 runs and am looking for ideas for surfacing them.  I don't want to make the place a concrete jungle, but I need an easily cleanable, non flooding and reasonably priced surface.

I was put off bark chips after a client lost a dog from inhaling fungal spores from his.  I'm considering gravel, but what about sand?  Some years ago, I knew of a quarantine kennel that had sand runs, but no idea how well they worked out in practise.

Any experience or suggestions please?

Margaret N-J

I use rubber horse stall matts for my kennels.  Only problem is they are black and can get hot in summer, but I have a shade topper over my kennel so it keeps them cool enough for the dogs. They clean easily enough with cleanser and a stiff bristle scrub broom.  I am lucky though my dogs don't relieve themselves in their kennels, they hold it until I get home from work to let them out, so I have minimal cleaning.

Lyn

Have you thought about using astro-turf?
Depending on the size of the runs as it can be expensive.
The nice thing about astro turf its always green and you can hose it down.

I'd love to use astoturf, but it would cost around £15k to do an area this size!   I'm having some laid at the moment in an area that is only a fraction of the size and the cost is making me faint.  Their kennel runs are not a problem, they have Bromets with decking floors, the area I want to surface is a paddock at the end of my property and has been in use as a grass paddock, but it gets very wet in bad weather and as this is a clay area and the water table is quite high here, it doesn't drain very well and soon gets like a sea of mud.  It's ok in the summer, but mowing it is a pain with all the dog toys and stones lying about and grows really fast so a lot of time is taken up mowing it, plus finding all the waste when it gets to that stage where it is too long for good visibility, but not long enough to cut properly.

Margaret N-J

 astroturf gets moist stays moist and than midlews and only lasts you three years
i know someone who has horsemats in her  500 crates to reduce elbow patches with expensive showdogs

Kaffirdog, I have a friend that has a low lying area where he wanted to build his outdoor kennels.He built them and ran a band of treated 2x12's around the bottom and back filled with chert about 10 inches deep, he then topped it off with an inche of sand. He has a roof over it and it has worked out very well the dogs stay dry and it is easy to clean up with a shovel or pooper scooper.This kennel is built like a pole barn with no sides other then the band to contain the filler and was a relatively cheap project. Four 12x12's I believe the total cost was around 3000.00 and that includes chainlink, gates and an insulated tin roof.                                 Michael

I did sand once.... it was great. Easy to clean and rake out, cheap.

But imaging going to the beach every day of your like. Sand EVERYWHERE!! in their ears, coat, in my house, the bed (and the dogs don't even sleep on the bed).
Never again:)

Nice flat surface (paving stones, pea gravel, etc) with stall mats and shavings on top is the best option.

---Mary

Find a well drained location unused by other animals and stick with the natural soil no preparations.
Use straw when its wet and never use sand.

I also have the same problem during the raining season. Which is most of the year in the deep South 55"-62" annually, most of which is in the winter and spring. So bark and shavings are out, the can cause mold as you mentioned, shavings float away, OR WORSE yet young dogs will eat them causing impactions.  Horse mats get way to hot, etc, etc. 

I personally use concrete but you may try this as I was strongly considering it:

I think pea gravel can well.  But I think the follow plan would be good:
1. Spread the Washed Pea-sized gravel 3-4" thick
2. Then rent a power compactor an level and compact the rocks and level the tops as to not hurt the dogs feet.
3. Get dry Portland Concrete (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) and spread a layer about 1" deep  (w/ or w/o sand, I found on other projects w/o sand to to be better) over the top.
4. Rinse the concrete into the cracks of the rocks. This will stabilize the rocks so your "diggers" won't be so tempted.( Keep in mind this is not concrete and a determined dog can dig into it, so you may have to patch with quickete).
5.You can rinse to expose as much of the aggregate as you like - avoiding the "concrete Jungle look"
6. Let this dry - drying will depend on your climate
7. Seal and it should last quite sometime.

PS: Downside- you cannot pressure wash this mixture - remember its not concrete, but gravel with a stabilizer.

Maybe this will help.
Tuff