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I think what other said about training your dogs is a good idea. My neighbor last year had a backyard dirt pile, and 3 big dogs in the household. Recently he covered it all over with pebbles. Not sure if he lets the dogs do their business there (He might). But the dogs are well trained and usually just walk around the backyard from what I've seen.
Ok, thanks for your opinion, but it has nothing to do with what I asked. I asked about dog friendly backyards, not if I should or shouldn't train my dogs. He covered his backyard with pebbles because it was a dirt pile and he has 3 large dogs, but his dogs are well trained?? So what does training have to do with it??? Even if a dog is trained it doesn't mean they will stop running and playing. All 3 of my dogs are young...less than 2 1/2 years old. I wouldn't want them to stop running and playing, that's what young dogs do. I'm just trying to find a middle ground that I can be happy with. Thank you to everyone else who gave relevant advice and suggestions, I appreciate it.
Dogs dig to stay cool and I always provide a child's small hard plastic swimming pool with fresh water for them. That way, they stay cool and don't dig up the yard. Besides, it's entertaining to watch them play in the pool like little kids.
I have read that you can 'teach' dogs to only dig in a designated part of the yard, so that might help. Just make it a substrate they love to sink their paws into. And watch them carefully in the 'good' parts of the yard so they learn that they are not allowed to dig there.
Part of my solution has been to have raised beds and to do a lot of container gardening. Depending on where you live, you could also have islands of really tough ground covers like vinca, pachysandra, ivy, etc. Since these might take a year or two to fill in, you might want to stake these islands off with chicken/turkey wire until they are established.
Gravel paths are not so great for dogs in my opinion. The dogs will want to run on something else, so they will avoid these.
I have four dogs and a fenced back yard. Three dogs don't do any damage, but the largest one has dug up the lawn along the whole perimeter, a path leading to the trees where he runs circles around the trunk chasing squirrels, and several paths leading to key vantage points where he can see who is coming and going in the neighborhood. I love him, but he's a pain. As soon as tender shoots of grass try to come back, he's digging them up with his feet as he runs. Not to mention after a rain, the huge clods of clay-dirt that gets packed between his toes and has to be washed before he comes back in.
I have come to the conclusion that nothing planted will survive as long as he has the run of the yard. I am thinking of fencing off part of the yard for his use, and letting the rest of the yard grow back.
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