Question
I live in Kentucky, have 3 medium sized dogs who are mainly inside dogs, and a sloped fenced in back yard.  The back yard currently is just dirt and mud (we had been covering it in mulch the past years).  I want to sod and seed it allowing for pathways for the dogs where they are inclined to run.  I want to have use and enjoyment of my back yard again.  There is a small brick patio and flat area closest to the house which now gets covered in mud from the slope of the back yard when it rains!  The back yard gets morning light.  There is one medium to large tree in the back yard.  However, there are a lot of large trees in the vicinity that do offer shade.  Help - I need ideas/suggestions.  Thanks!

Answer
In my experience, dogs, especially 3, will always destroy a yard. I have responded to many similar questions. No grass I have ever worked with will hold up to that much, trampling, urine and feces even if the dogs only come out a little each day. The best bet for you is to walk the dogs elsewhere if you want a real lawn. Or you can subdivide your yard with a fence of some type and create a dog run. Lots of people do this down one property line creating a fenced in area 6 to 10 feet wide and running for a hundred feet or so. Occasionally you may let the dogs loose in the main yard but for day to day use you put them in the 'run'. This way you can have a nice lawn and mulch only the 'run'area.

Otherwise your stuck with mud and or mulch everywhere.

As for mud on your patio, grass or sod will probably solve that, if not consider a small knee high wall up hill of the patio and a french drain or swale behind it to divert the water around the patio area.

As for shade, only solution is to limb up the trees or to cut them down, very few varieties of grass will do well under stress of dogs an deep shade. Most grasses that can take dogs like bermuda need 6 hours of sun. Fescue will tolerate more shade but doesn't tolerate dogs well.

Good Luck.

Sean J Murphy, LA,ISA, LEED AP
Please check out my blogs and articles on landscape topics like this on my websites.
http://www.seanjmurphy.com
http://amenityarchitects.com