My yard sucks!

[Leslie and Halas]

I live in a condo, but I do have my own backyard space.  It's a decent size area that sits between the back of my townhouse and the back of my 2-car garage.  About 1/2 of the space is taken up by a deck, so that doesn't leave much room for an actual yard.  What would be yard space is split into 2 sections by a walkway made of decking material that goes from the deck to the garage.  One section is covered with river rock.  My air conditioner unit sits in the corner of this section, and there's also a tall bush-thing that I can't seem to kill.  Halas sometimes goes to the bathroom on this side of the yard.  (Most of the time, we're going on walks for him to do his business, but first thing in the morning and after dark, I just let him out into our crappy little yard.)  The other section has a tree in the corner, with a small number of pavers surrounding the trunk.  The rest of that section is grass, if you can call it that.  That's where I would like Halas to be able to go to the bathroom, or maybe even lay in the grass if he wanted.  But he absolutely hates that part of the yard.  I can hardly get the grass to grow, possibly because there is very little direct sunlight in that small (probably 9 ft x 9 ft) area.  It sits between the garage and the house, with a 6 ft privacy fence on the other 2 sides, and the giant tree.  So it is pretty shady most of the time.  When it does grow, I have a hard time keeping it a decent length.  I have one of those little manual push wheel mowers, but even that is almost too big for the space.  And then the cut grass just lays on top of the other grass and kills it.  I can really cut the whole area with lawn clippers, but then it's really uneven.  And no matter what the length of the grass, Halas just doesn't like to go to the bathroom there.  So we both think our yard sucks.  Anyway, I've been thinking about giving up on the grass and putting something else there.  It would be nice if it were green, because I think Halas might like that if I can keep it up, but I'm not sure if anything will grow well there, considering the lack of sun.  I've thought about replacing it with pea gravel or something like that, but I was curious if anyone else has used that in a large section of their yard, and whether or not their doodle liked to go to the bathroom or just play around in it. 

So to summarize, my yard sucks, and I just don't know what to do.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions considering my lack of ability regarding keeping grass alive?  Something easy to maintain that a doodle might enjoy?  Oh, it might help to know that I live in central Illinois.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Boy, that is a tough one. Since I live in So. California I doubt I will be much of a help and we have grass for Gracie Doodle which she loves. Especially the shady part under the Ornamental Pear Tree. I think I will just have to observe the replies and see if I can join in on anything. Can hardly wait for F. Parker's take on your situation!!!! All I know is that Gracie is all about shade and cool!!

[Leslie and Halas]

I agree about the shade. I think Halas would enjoy hanging out there in the shade, so it would be nice to get something in that area that he would find comfy. He avoids it like crazy now. You should see him when he has to go to the bathroom there. He acts like it's just the worst thing that's happened to him. I'm not sure if he'd ever be interested in laying around in the same general area where he has to go to the bathroom, but I'd at least like him to do one or the other.

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Hi Leslie - We cannot grow grass at our weekend place because it's so close to the water (which makes up for the lack of grass). We have raised flower beds and a terraced slope to prevent erosion. Between those areas, we place natural bark mulch. Maple and Lucky have no problem eliminating on the mulch and it's easily replaced when it starts to thin out. Also, I saw on a pet supply website last week that someone makes a disk that you place where you want your dog to eliminate. They are attracted to the scent and soon make that area their potty space. If I see it again, I'll post the link.

[Leslie and Halas]

Do you scoop the poop from that area? Or do you notice that the odor from them eliminating there is any worse than it would be in grass or dirt? I have to scoop the poop. But I guess if I scooped up bark mulch with the poop, I could just add mulch when it gets thin in certain areas. I'll definitely look into that as an option. Thanks.

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Yes, we scoop the poop in the mulch. More times than not, a little mulch gets bagged or scooped with the do-do. I actually prefer it when bagging - it's like picking up sticks in a bag and takes away some of icky sensation of do-do in a plastic bag.
Make sure you use natural untreated mulch.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I wonder if this works any better than the stinky, literally and figuratively, yellow stake Petco sold?

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

probably still stinky as it "smells attractive to dogs and makes them WANT to do their business", but maybe the disk on the ground would keep the odor lower at least.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

You might try artificial turf that is made specifically for pets. A 9x9 area shouldn't be cost prohibitive. My SIL put in artificial turf in her small back yard and loves it for her 5 dogs.

[Leslie and Halas]

Oooh, that looks cool, too. That's the good thing about a tiny space - it won't cost that much to do something with it. Plus, since it's a condo, it would be nice to have something low maintenance when I eventually want to sell it. Most people probably don't want to buy and condo and still have to maintain a yard.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I was going to mention artificial turf but didn't. Don't know why?? I have seen it advertised quite a bit. I think you want to make sure you get the kind specifically for dogs. It has something to do with the drainage!! You certainly want it to drain well!!!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

The artificial turf can get hot, too.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

I use to agree that artificial turf can get hot. This was based on the soccer pitch my daughter played on in high school. But the heat seems to come from the little black chopped up tires. For pet yards and playgrounds they now use sand. SIL & BIL says it stays cool, it is easy to scoop poop and hose down. They have a very large old oak in their backyard and they use a leaf blower to remove the fallen leaves.