What are the options available? Timing? Management of 4 large dogs; isolation period?

Someone may come with a better recommendation but mine is turf. St. Augustine is by far the best grass for shade but terrible with dog traffic even in the best of conditions and shade is not that.

We had St Augustine. Two Great Danes tore up the grass. Re sodded multiple times but ended up putting down turf. With turf and dogs, you will need to maintain and spray the turf with an enzyme cleaner for the pee (often). Other wise it will start smelling like an alley full of pee soaked bums. I probably water (with cleaner) the turf more than I did with real grass. Turf gets hot in summer like walking on hot sand at the beach.

Love the turf though. Dogs stay cleaner. House stays cleaner, no dirt and grass coming in from the dogs. But it's $$$

chickencoupe16 said:

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Someone may come with a better recommendation but mine is turf. St. Augustine is by far the best grass for shade but terrible with dog traffic even in the best of conditions and shade is not that.

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St. aug needs shade so not following your last sentence.

Zoysia and Bermuda tend to handle heavy traffic better.

I know it sounds backwards but I've found Emerald Zoysia to be the best for this scenario. I assume the area gets some but not a ton of sun?

Turf peroid as others have said. Do it once and be done with it.

rather be fishing said:

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chickencoupe16 said:

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Someone may come with a better recommendation but mine is turf. St. Augustine is by far the best grass for shade but terrible with dog traffic even in the best of conditions and shade is not that.

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St. aug needs shade so not following your last sentence.

Zoysia and Bermuda tend to handle heavy traffic better.

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St. Augustine is perfectly happy in full sun. It has no need for shade. You think they have shade on sod farms?

Could shade from the afternoon sun in August be beneficial if you're not willing to water enough? Absolutely. But the real problem is you're not watering enough.

Above is correct, all sod in Texas grows in full sun.
St. Aug needs the equivalant of 4-5 hours of direct sun to perform best. You may get by with 6-7 hours dappled shade… it's a tough call on what will actually work in those cases & the only way to find out is to throw down some $$ for sod and find out.

Post pics of your yard.

Artificial turf or mulch.

Pour a slab of concrete and paint it green. All the above will wear out with those monsters.