Artificial grass with dog

[WorthyOtter]

Were in the process of laying artificial grass. Our dog destroyed the grass we had so we've resorted to this. We've removed all the grass, dug down 10cm, and laid the weed membrane stuff. We're seeing conflicting things online about the next steps. Can anyone who's laid grass with a dog let us know what you steps you took next? Thanks

I had a dog stay with us for a bit. We had to hose the grass down every time he did a wee/poo. Drove me mad!!

Also heard it gets extremely hot in summer so you may not be able to let your dog out daytime during the summer

its roasting in summer and they cannot go on it!

its also bad for the environment, and the constant hosing down is madness

just fence off part of the garden and keep the real grass?

It smells after a while.

Plastic grass is always a bad choice but even more so with a dog in the house.

My mums neighbour has it, they have to wash it everyday otherwise the smell of dog wee is so strong the neighbours each side can smell it. The exception is in the summer as its too hot so they dog can’t go on it to wee on it.

My SIL had fake grass, paid a fortune and the upkeep was far more than she was expecting. Her Ddogs used it ok but it was a lot more work than she was expecting and it is telling that she has since moved and not had it laid at her new house (and is apparently not intending to).
I agree about the smell, especially when it is dry and/or hot.

We have two Ddogs (plus visiting ones) and nothing would ever convince me to get rid of our real grass (apart from the environmental issues, we love nature and the birds & wildlife that real grass supports).
My OH likes to maintain a nice lawn and keeping it in good condition means that it is less likely to be damaged by the Ddogs.

Artificial grass is an environmental nightmare.

I had it with a dog and could never get on top of the smell no matter what I tried. My neighbours still hate me years after I had it ripped out.

I've also heard it gets too hot for dogs in the summer which is a shame because our dog loves to roll around and lounge on the grass so she'd miss out on that. Someone I know also gets their grass professionally disinfected quite regularly to keep it clean. They inherited the grass when they moved in and said given the choice, they'd never have it as long as they have their dog.

Apologies, sounds like your works are already underway and posts so far have been filled with bad news. Perhaps the company that provided the grass could give you a few pointers and maybe some ideas about how best to manage it with a dog?

Maybe I’ve got magic fake grass then…

Bought our house with it already down. I’d say it’s 16sqm albeit we have a similarly small dog.

It doesn’t smell at all! I anticipated having to clean it so bought the Bugalugs artificial grass cleaner but have never used it. He does the majority of his pees out there and about two poos a day. I’m a gross cow and I don’t instantly pick up every poop (he’s still young so I want him to remember that that’s his potty!) and I can’t smell a thing.

Could you go for a really robust turf instead? The plastic stuff isn't suitable for pets for hygiene reasons and the heat - it can really burn their paws.

I would opt for a really hard wearing turf. Just an example: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/01/rhs-develops-robust-lawn-that-works-for-people-pollinators-and-pets

You could also choose something without flowers in it if you prefer.

Well we've took all the grass up because it's completely ruined, we've been in the house a year and tried all sorts. The plan is to only do half the grass, put a small fence up and put bark down for the dog. but wed still like the grass prepared in a way for the dog

Not ideal but I can't think of anything else to do with the garden!

Dog pee will kill any real grass anyhow. My dog’s wee hasn’t negatively affected the fake stuff at all.

id be wary of the bark - mine would be grabbing bits for extra runtime chewing. How porous is the bark too? Slug habitat when wet?

Love ours, no smells

Mine would definitely eat the bark and get splinters in their gums 🙈

Thanks we haven't fully thought the dogs part through yet, just know we want to keep something for her

Green plastic in gardens is dirty stuff.

Really grass is cool and the wildlife constantly keeps it ticking over. At least the slugs and bugs will eat any leftover specs of dog poop.

Get ready for the smell. My partners previous had it in the garden when he bought the place. We got a dog two years later. No amount of hosing down got rid of the smell of piss. On a hot day not only was it like lava to walk on but it fucking stank. Sold the house shortly after.

Terrible for the environment. Terrible for pee and poo. Terrible in the summer.
A quick Google:
Yes, artificial grass can get very hot, potentially hot enough to burn a dog's paws, especially on hot days. The temperature of artificial grass can reach 40-50 degrees Celsius or even higher in direct sunlight, which is significantly hotter than natural grass. This is because artificial grass is made of plastic and doesn't have the natural cooling mechanisms of real grass.

It’s a silly idea if you have dogs (and children).

If you are fencing off part of the garden for the dog anyway just put real grass that it can ruin).

We had it in our last house - it was top of the range and looked great (friends laid cheaper stuff and after a while it looked awful). Ours never smelled - I don't know why, maybe our dog never peed on it (we had beds). It wasn't that hot, but then it didn't really catch the sun.

We don't have it in our current house largely because the garden is so much bigger.

I would just say, get the best quality you can and clean it regularly.

Why, in 2025 are you laying plastic grass?? It's an environmental disaster.
Tacky too.

We have a small dog with a catflap out onto a small (1×5m) patch of (completely in the shade) artificial grass loose laid on concrete. It doesn't smell, and never has. We poo pick at least daily, but rarely hose down. Female dog, if it makes any difference.

In our case, we had to put the plastic grass down as the damn dog refused to wee or poo on the concrete. The rest of the garden (not suitable for the dog to have completely unsupervised catflap access to day and night) is living grass.

my dogs trained not to pee and poo on my artificial grass. My brothers sof wasn’t and the smell in his garden especially in the hot weather was absolutely disgusting. I have a side bit with real grass where my bins are, my dog does her business there.