I have had to do a lot of research on dog food related illnesses lately because of problems my 3 year old lab had with gas and an upset stomach. From what I learned it sounds like your puppy could have developed a food intolerance to one of the ingredients in the food; probably a preservative or the meat type. If its having problems still, I would feed it boiled chicken and plain white rice for a couple of days in several small portions to give its tummy a rest and then switch its food to something that may be more gentle and offer a change of ingredients. I have always fed our girl high quality, grain free and locally sourced foods but she still ended up having some severe tummy problems. The vet put her on Royal Canine Gastritus along with medication which didn't fix the problem and caused her to start having problems with incontinence. It was because of her spay they said but after 3 vets and 1,000s in bills we still had a dog who was so miserable and getting sicker, not better. Knowing something wasn't right I spent countless hours researching her condition(s) and finally discovered the root of the problem was that the companies making the no grain foods often use beans in the ingredients as a protein source and the beans were causing severe gas. Additionally, she was eating too fast, needed smaller portions AND as hard as it is to believe, it was actually the ROYAL CANINE for Gastritus (that the vet put her on) that caused her to become incontinent. Yep, I read lots of complaints about lots of dogs who experienced the same problem! I immediately took her off that food and all the medications the vets had erroneously put her on. It took some more research but eventually I found a grain free food without beans called Holistic Select and literally within a week of starting her on the new food, ALL of her health issues diminished. I buy it from Chewy.com for a decent price and shipping included, it's grain free, locally sourced and made in the US. There are two or three grain free recipes, Imget her the Anchovy. Salmon, Sardine Adult/puppy kibble and she loves it. I just feel terrible because after months and months of misery all she needed was a change in food along with smaller portions fed in a bowl designed to make her eat slower, (a flower bowl, also bought on Chewy.com). If I only new then what I know now! It's been 2.5 months without one problem and is healthier and happier than she has ever been. Please, before jumping to the conclusion the your dog had some serious condition, check the label of the food you feed her to see what is actually in it and do some research to learn about food intolerance in dogs, its much more common than allergies, and vomiting is the first clue. dogfoodadvisor.com is a great place to start. Hey bestsyhac! long time no see, hope all is well!

Yep, no way on earth turf grasses will grow in that much shade!! There's a couple of ways you could approach this. First, get rid of the path - not attractive and awkwardly laid out at best and plot out a better pathway that actually leads somewhere. Paths need to have a destination! Not sure what the concrete pad is to the right, but if used for a dining area or similar, that makes a reasonable destination. You could also take it all the way down to the end of the garden and create a small seating area. Make the path generously wide, fill it with wood chips and plant any variety of low growing shade plants as you like on either side. Dogs and wood chips get along well together - they are the go-to surfacing material for all the dog parks around here - and the dogs will tend to stay on the obstacle-free pathway rather than rampage through the plantings.....after you show them the ropes. If you have no need of a path through the whole garden (no destination), you could also try some hardy, woody stemmed groundcover, something that will thrive in shade, like wintercreeper, vinca or in my area, salal. Possibly even English ivy if an appropriately non-invasive species in your area. But you would need to plant in blocks protected from the dogs until the plants get established - several months at least. Very few groundcovers starts have any ability to stand up to dogs or other foot traffic immediately after planting. And if the dogs have a preferred traffic pattern already established, you may never get any groundcover successfully established in those areas - it will always show wear or usage so expect that or just make these the primary pathway.

Mexican Feather grass (also called Mexican Needle and Thread grass) is terrible for dogs. My neighbors have it, and my little dog inhaled the seeds from it while sniffing around. It nearly killed him. The seeds are barbed, and attached to threads that look like fuzz at the top of the plant. The seeds are so tiny you can barely see them, hence the name Needle and Thread Grass. About $10,000 in vet bills later my doggy is doing okay, but it was a terrible ordeal. It required anesthesia, a magnifying scope, and irrigation of his nasal canals to remove those tiny seeds. This happened about six years ago, and it turns out the grass is invasive, and growing in all my neighbors yards now. Do not let your dogs near it.

It does depend on the number and size of dogs, how often and long they're out there, and so on... We have two, small, put out to go to the bathroom, and no problems with lawn quality and no burn or wear issues anywhere. Dogs that spend more time outside, are larger, and run will cause far more issues and may even make a good lawn completely impossible. In that case, another ground cover might be a better idea, but choose something that won't attract bees--so clover is definitely out (as well as not being particularly tolerant of heavy wear itself). If you want to try, block off the area and seed and bring in the lawn until it's fully mature, at least until the fourth or fifth mow. Now's not really the season to do that, so I'd say wait until late summer (mid-August) to start. By full freeze, you might be able to open it up to the dogs, although I might wait until spring and give the grass the whole winter stress-free to sleep without damage (young grass doesn't winter as easily as established grass does). At that point, it's definitely established.