We have a dog yard. It is fenced and runs 15 feet wide by 50 feet long. It turned into a mud hole with 4 dogs using it. I gave up on grass long ago because the yard is very shaded for their comfort. My solution, which has worked great for the last 3 years, is pine chips from Tractor Supply. 2 bales will do their entire yard for less than 10.00. When the chips get funky looking we rake them up and put them in the burn pile ( I can't compost them because of the dog doo) in the summer months I mix in 1 bale of cedar chips to 1 bale of pine to keep the fleas away. We change the chips on average 3 times a year.