Posted by Lucy, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 2, 2008 at 11:38 am

What a hard decision. I can see both points to a story, but we're in a recession. That money used to keep up the grass is a lot; yet the dogs/owners won't be happy.

As a dog owner, I much prefer grass dog parks because they don't get as dirty as if it's some other type of substance (sand/gravel) or the decomposed granite they are talking about.

But having astroturf might be a horrible decision-- who would clean up the urine???

What do football fields use on their fields besides astroturf? Has that option been explored?

Posted by Amber, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 2, 2008 at 3:04 pm

I like the grass in the dog park. My dog loves it.

Posted by Danville Dogger, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 6, 2008 at 5:19 am

Dear dog owners,

I think you're being a little short-sighted. How dirty will your dog get in the middle of summer after restricted irrigation when the area turns from green grass to brown dirt?

With astroturf, as I understand it, the urine would drain down through the astroturf and be absorbed into the ground the way it does on natural grass. You don't clean up your dog's urine now, do you?

Posted by Lucretia Marcus, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jun 6, 2008 at 12:18 pm

I have THE solution. It's an artificial grass made specifically for dogs called "K9 Grass" (www.K9Grass.com). It is dense and well designed to withstand the rigors of dog traffic and only needs water to hose it off occasionally. It is used by many kennels/vet clinics and several dog parks in the South Bay.

We have installed K9 grass in half of our dog run and our dogs love it. They use it just as they would real grass but with no wear and tear and it looks great! I kept half the run in pea gravel and this area seems to satisfy my "diggers."

While K9 grass was not cheap to install, it solved the watering issue, the mud in the winter issue and the maintenance issue. It's a dream to keep clean and looks great.

Perhaps a combination of the two different surfaces - K9 grass and pea gravel - would delight the pickiest dog.