Is Artificial Grass Dog Friendly?

Regular grass can often be a pain to maintain and isn’t great to play with in any weather. Grass can also lead to dirt especially when it gets wet. If you’ve got a dog, it may be wrecked from so many dog poos, dog wees and even them digging it up or eating it. This has led to many garden owners to consider artificial grass so they can have a year long bright green garden. However, many dog owners wonder if that’s a good idea. Well, here at Jug Dog we’re gonna explore this and give some advice.

What is artificial grass?

Artificial grass or turf are synthetic fibres which replicate the look and to some extent the feel of real grass. Most widely used in the world of sports for football pitches and so on. However, as the technology became cheaper and more accessible it is now very widely used in people’s home and garden.

What’s great about artificial grass?

Artificial grass’s best selling point is the fact that it looks great all year round, as it’s plastic it doesn’t need sun or water to have that great green shine. Second, artificial grass is clean as it doesn’t lay on mud – your dog and/or child can play on it non stop and won’t bring any nasty surprises to your house. Third, there is very little if any upkeep involved with artificial grass whereas real grass needs regular maintenance to look great, especially during wet weather or when it freezes over in winter. Fourth, artificial grass isn’t stained or killed by dog urine whereas real grass can developer discoloured patches and in some cases complete death.

For long periods of the year real grass may be unusable whereas artificial grass is good to go 365 day of the year come rain or shine.

What’s not so good about artificial grass?

Real grass has emotional value to many people as they like the touch and smells of real grass, perhaps from their childhood. Real grass is also relatively cheaper to lay and have if we only look at direct costs (getting the seeds vs buying plastic grass). Real grass is also a bit softer than artificial grass.

The biggest drawback of artificial grass however is the up front cost.

Is artificial grass dog friendly?

Artificial Grass

The million dollar question, however, and the whole point of this article is to explore whether or not getting artificial grass when you’re a dog owner is a good idea or not and to look at any points to consider.

In short, the answer is yes and here’s a few reasons why:

No mess. Artificial grass is a no mess solution whereas real grass can be a really messy solution.

Artificial grass is easy to maintain. This means that your dog can play out in your garden all year long and won’t have to keep them indoors during wet weather or when the soil has frozen over during very cold and wet weather. This is a real bonus for any dog owners as I’m sure you’ll agree.

Artificial grass and dog poop. Artificial grass is easy to clean if your dog poos in the garden and let’s face it – who’s dog isn’t allowed to poop in the garden? It’s easy to pick up (probably easier than real grass as it won’t stick as much) and then even easier to either be washed away by a cup of water or let it wash away by natural rain. You may even want to use artificial turf cleaner.

BioTurf BioS+ Artificial Turf Pet Odor Eliminator Concentrate Value Pack; Organic, Non-Toxic, Eco-Friendly Enzyme Cleaner; Outdoor Use; 1 gallon and 32 oz Bottle with BioSiphon Sprayer
499 Reviews
BioTurf BioS+ Artificial Turf Pet Odor Eliminator Concentrate Value Pack; Organic, Non-Toxic, Eco-Friendly Enzyme Cleaner; Outdoor Use; 1 gallon and 32 oz Bottle with BioSiphon Sprayer
  • Scientifically formulated to get rid of the toughest pet odors in artificial grass, breaking down odor-causing proteins to eliminate odors instead of covering them up

Artificial grass and urine. As mentioned previously, artificial grass isn’t wrecked by dog urine and the urine will simply soak through the grass surface. It’s totally permeable which is a huge bonus! If you’ve ever wondered what happens if a dog urinates on artificial grass well now you know – it just seeps through just like real grass leaving no discolouration or nasty smells.

They won’t want to eat it. Some dogs might eat grass but they won’t try to eat the artificial stuff. Plus, even if they did – artificial grass is non toxic.

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Author

  • Ronnie is the JugDog site editor and a dog expert who has lived and worked with dogs his entire life. Living in St. Helens, UK with his wife son and Jug Dog Jeff Ronnie spends most of time researching the answers to the burning questions of the dog community as well as reviewing the latest and greatest dog products.

Last update on 2024-01-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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