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Garden Gate:  Dogs and gardens  |
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homebody
Farmgirl at Heart
1 Posts
Leslie
Eatonville
WA
USA
1 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 18 2004 : 1:59:42 PM
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Does anyone have any good ideas for dog-proofing gardens/yards? We have four farm dogs that we love, but they have taken their toll on our yard. I have fenced around the vegetable garden and one flower garden. I would like to add more plants to the yard, rather than just grass, like Mary Jane does.
The dogs are very protective of our fenceline along the street; they race along and leap at the fence when loose dogs go by. My idea is to plant things in a row a few feet in front of the fence to allow the dogs to run along the fence while hiding the mud they create by wearing away the grass. I don't know if that is realistic, though. Will they just trash the plants by running through them to get to their "track"?
Has anyone tried making paths (stone, gravel?) where the dog tracks develop? Would the dogs run on them or make new paths in the grass?
I realize that training the dogs would help a lot!  Suggestions for that would be appreciated, too!
Homebody |
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taylor
honeybee
40 Posts
40 Posts |
Posted - Mar 18 2004 : 3:57:59 PM
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My advice to you is, if you have enough space, fence off an area just for the dogs, reserving the back yard for the dogs and the front for your lavish gardens. This would also keep them from creating a mud path in the front and potentially scaring pedestrians. I love dogs but I must admit I have had the daylights scared out of me by well-meaning dogs while just walking down the sidewalk (I tend to daydream while I walk and they were probably just saying hi.)
If you don't have that kind of space, there are ways to keep dogs off certain plants. A friend of mine had 2 little dogs that would constantly eat and dig up her garden plants, she tried dusting them with Cayenne pepper and it seemed to work. After a while the dogs associate the plants with the burning of the Cayenne and you won't have to dust them anymore.
As for the gravel, I don't know much about dogs but my hunch is that it might bother the pads of their feet and would walk around it.
Taylor |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2004 : 11:04:15 PM
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I tried the gravel path thing..it looked nice, but they did make new paths and avoided the gravel...bummer. I did just as Taylor said a year ago and fenced off a nice sized area for the dogs only. It has made things alot nicer. My dogs (bassett hounds) are for sure part of the family, but a little hard on plants and they have big old feet. They are only running loose now if they are with one of us. Of course they come int the house and get lots of attention too..but I love that they have their area! Good luck.
Jenny in Utah
Bloom where you are planted! |
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ElizArtist
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Elizabeth
Newbury Park
California
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2004 : 4:53:30 PM
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My dogs run amock all over the backyard. They stay out of the roses for obvious reasons and like to wrestle in the grass, which only bothers my husband since he loves grass, I'd rather grow plants and the dogs don't bother those. Our dogs don't go in front, or in the vegetable garden which is fenced off. I have to admit there are definite paths running through the yard that seem like they were dog (or tricycle, when the kids were little) created. I don't think I've helped you at all. I do love dogs though they are great friends, training them is probably a good idea. Mine actually stay in the house quite a lot (very spoiled).
Elizabeth |
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JO AND AL
True Blue Farmgirl
235 Posts
Jocelyn
parrsboro
nova scotia
Canada
235 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 1:26:26 PM
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 here's a funny one girls. my sister's dog cockerspanial~ sammy! he stays in the middle of the row, and when my sister is raking the row, to get it ready to plant, he watches her. when she stops the rake, he woofs at the rake wanting her to keep busy, lol!! it is too funny. but he is well trained to stay in the middle of the rows. cool eh? i wonder how she got him to do that? i'll have to ask her, and see if i can share it with you all. jo~
i thought love was all you needed? courage is needed too! |
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MariaAZ
True Blue Farmgirl
203 Posts
Phoenix
AZ
203 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 2:13:06 PM
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Like others, I finally decided in order to have a yard AND my beloved dogs that the pets needed their own area. They now have a paved kennel area and are only allowed in the yard when someone is around to supervise.
Visit my blog at www.craftyfool.net |
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Vintage Redhead
True Blue Farmgirl
233 Posts
Kaylyn
Saint Charles
IL
USA
233 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2007 : 3:04:01 PM
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Wow...I wish I had a solution to offer. The one that DH tried is rather...hmmmmm...odd.
Our dog -- Spot -- is 9 now. For the first six months that we had her both she, and most of our neighbors as well I think, thought her name was "Get-Out-Of-My-Garden-Dumba##" because that was all that my DH would yell out the back door at her.
I don't recommend it as a long-term solution. ~ K
~ Kaylyn ~ (Living in Suburbia with a FARMGIRL Heart!)
My Cause: http://nickspavilion.blogspot.com/
My Life: http://vintageredhead.blogspot.com |
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Garden Gate: Dogs and gardens |
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Dogs and gardens
