We had a totally gravelled garden with a mini schnauzer. Made no difference to her. We used a bigger stone than pea gravel tho, the theory being that cats won't use it as a litter tray!

 

If I use bigger stones he will keep putting them in his mouth! He doesn't do it with the tiny pea gravel stones by side of house. Will he be able to run on it ok?

 

When I take Molly to the inside dog park they have gravel in the pee,poo area and she is fine with it. She doesn't eat it either which is weird cause she has to put everything in her mouth.

 

The only thing you may find is he may bring a lot of it inside when he has mucky paws after muddy walks, you may have to clean if off his paws, other than that I'm sure it would be ok.

 

Ooooh I've just found grass protection mesh. You lay it over grass and it grows through. That would stop him digging!!! Looks cheaper optio n too!

 

I have a small back yard with a courtyard layout that sounds a lot like what you are thinking of doing. My walkways have spaced out flagstone steps and the rest is light colored pea gravel. My 7 mo old poo doesn't seem to mind the gravel since they are rounded stones. She, like me, will step from flagstone to flagstone but she runs through the gravel stones with no hesitation. She loves to lie on the gravel. It is quicker to dry than the grass and mulch areas, cooler, and she squiggles down on it and lies there a lot. Note: be sure to lay 'crush' before putting in the pathway stones.

 

I have just recently put an artificial lawn down, and actually looks very realistic and needs hardly any maintenance. So far Harley hasn't tied digging and best of all no muddy paws !!