Yardcore

I'm going to restate what Sass (and now apparently RR) suggested previously: turn the yard into a rock garden. Maybe have a few islands of local or desert plants just for a touch of color.

Its extremely low maintenance, especially compared to a grass lawn (or any lawn with green shit, esp. in a desert), and it will prevent dust and dirt from kicking up on the slightest wind. The only challenge afterwards, really, is extracting the dog shit; but that is easily handled with a square-tipped shovel (Unless Rover has diarrhea. Then you should just wash it through the rocks with a shot from the hose).

Of course, you will have to go out and get the rocks to make this happen, which can be expensive if you're getting it from a retailer, but you might luck out and find someone trying to get rid a bunch of rocks on craigslist or the local classifieds.

Jam it back in, in the dark.