That's a tough call, Lindsay. First of all, no lawn does well as an activity area for dogs. The best-looking grass can be torn up quickly by active dogs, not to mention the toll of their bodily functions. Normally, I would say Zoysia would be a good bet for you, but if you have no intentions of watering regularly and we have more of the kind of dry spells we have had this year, neither you nor the lawn will be happy. Bahia has very good drought-tolerance, but less good traffic tolerance, ...»

Bahia seems to be your only choice, I think Douglas has you on the correct path

I'd certainly try bahia, but I can definately say do NOT try zoysia. I recently installed zoysia after hearing it was 'drought and disease tolerant'. I've now learned it is called drought tolerant because after a drought, it bounces back like bahia when it does get water, but it requires a lot of water to stay green. It is slow growing and doesn't spread or cover empty spots, leaving lots of spots for weeds to settle in. Not a good choice unless you've got unlimited water and lots of time to pamper it.

Centipede is a lower maintenance turf. Requires 2 feedings per year, use a low nitrogen fert and no phosphate. Requires weed control formulated for centipede and does not handle traffic well. It can handle moderate drought, but does best with 1" - 2" of watering per week. It can be grown from seed, so bare areas can be re-seeded. Female urine is most damaging due to the higher concentration from squating vs adult males who lift their leg to urinate.

Lindsay, here is the University of Florida Extension Service's report on centipede. I'm surprised it doesn't turn brown without irrigation where you work, but maybe you get much more rain than we do here at the beach. Its color is generally not great, so if you go with centipede you might want to seek out the cultivar "Covington," which has better color that also holds longer into the fall.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/lh009

I have found when a customer is having problems with Zoysia; the problem is the installer's lack of knowledge on the turf. All of the benefits of Zoysia comes once the grass has rooted down and filled in, this is a slow growing turf and will need 3-5 months before all of the benefits kick in. Most installers in Florida are familiar to St Augustine which will root down in a couple of weeks in the growing season, this does not happen with Zoysia. Because of the slow growth rate of Empire, ...»

Just to add my two cents...unless you have an HOA situation, you are allowed to have a weedy lawn. I have a large German Shepherd and decided years ago to let mine go. I have a mix of native (and not-so-native) grasses and weeds that I mow like a lawn. It's green most of the time, even in winter, when most of my neighbors lawns are brown. It does go a bit reddish at times, but it holds up to the dog! It's bio-diverse, easy maintenance, environmentally friendly, and, best of all, CHEAP! And driving by at 30 mph. it looks just fine!

I have Zoysia as well and the only problems I have had were when there were issues with my irrigation system and some of it was not getting enough water. When that got fixed, the problem cleared up quickly.

Linday, my response for the centipede is one of what this turf requires to look it's best. It is a low maintenance turf, but not a no maintenance turf. Bahia is the lowest maintenance turfs that grows in Florida...this is why the DOT uses it in the medians of the highways, it is for that reason.

Lindsay, Zoysia will give you the kind of lawn you want to sit and look at, or walk through barefoot, but I would not recommend it if you do not intend to water it. Neither it nor you will be happy.

Zoysia is lovely, but Douglas is right-it needs water regularly. Centipede will probably not fill in as nicely-tends to have bare patches naturally.

Post a photo for us when that happens!