What's a Cottage Garden Without a Dog?

... or perhaps the better question is Can you have a Cottage Garden *if* you have a dog?

Will the little terror terrier accidentally destroy all those lovely plants when he gets a case of The Zoomies, or will they keel over and die when he decides to empty his bladder on your prized hosta collection? As many of you already know, this little man will soon become my next "roommate." I hope that we will lead a happy life together ... without turning my young garden into a Mosh Pit.

Lots of us here have dogs & other household pets, so I thought that we could pool our resources and describe how we balance life in the garden with our dogs, and any other species, for that matter.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 6:42 PM

Since Puppy will be coming home next weekend, I have been busy with Spring cleaning activities in the garden. In an attempt to try to spare my plants and turf in the future, I also created a doggie potty area. Here are photos of the project.

First, I picked a spot that would be convenient for carrying a young puppy to in a hurry. It's located just off our back deck and patio, but is away from the rest of the garden. I cleared the area, grabbed as many leftover paving bricks from past projects as I could find, then lined an area conducive to the size of the mature dog.

To try to cut down on muddy paw prints throughout the house, I then added a layer of wood chips.

Once the little Terror gets here, I am going to add a layer of pine shavings over the mulch. I'm going to do that because I would really like for the shavings to blow all across my newly-cleaned garden and into all of my neighbors yards.

Actually, the puppy was raised indoors with a "litter box" filled with pine shavings, so he is already accustomed to relieving himself on them. I'm hoping that this will help him to make a quick transition to going Outdoors instead of inside his current rommate's home.

That's it for now. Now, all I need is the dog!

I'm looking forward to hearing how others have trained their pets *not* to terrorize their gardens ... as well as some stories, pictures, lessons learned, off-topic conversations -- whatever you got! Oh, you might be wondering why I started this thread *here* and not on the Pets Forum ... but, I really don't have an answer for that one.

Here, Piggie, Piggie, Piggie!
;)

Can't wait to see Zeb runnin' round that Cottage Garden!!!

Mine makes places to plant trees now....gives me motivation to move iris beds....and it's cold so I know it's not that he needs a cool place to lay... Think I can move a septic tank? He can hear the "water" moving and wants it... ;P

LOL, photos, Jenks, photos! How old is he now, about 10 months?

Can't wait to see more pics!!

LOL Jenks!! Definitely need to see pics of that!!

I've just come to the conclusion that I didn't do well in picking my passions - plants and pets don't mix well. Period.

But that face - how could you be mad at that face???

I'll have to let you know the answer to that question down the road a piece, PC. I might just find a way ...

Why don't Ps & Ps mix? Dontcha think that there are ways to keep them from eating, trampling and, er, poisoning the plants? (Please, I'm begging you to say yes, it's possible ... Z's going to top out around 150lbs - Tell me that there's hope for my garden!)

LOL. Plants and pets do ok as long as you don't have chickens running loose. Lesson learned the hard way. I never have a problem with my neighbors dogs or cats tearing up my garden. My cats don't either unless there is lots of fresh dirt.

Yes there is hope for your garden! It's called T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G. LOL

Which, of course, my mutts have little of... but Riley is absolutely famous for digging in anything that I've recently dug. Drives me nuts - so it's usually new plants that she destroys.

Grrrr.

Riley sounds like any one of the members of the giant flock of squirrels that shares this piece of real estate with us. Seems like I'm always re-planting new plantZ around here.

Very little experience here- but a thought- We have installed a radio fence for Addy. Don't know if you know the system. You use white flags to help the dog learn the boundary. Well, after one zap. she sure knows she doesn't like white flags. Amazing how she would notice them. Maybe they would be helpful in teaching dog to stay out of garden, even without the radio fence.

I figure that I'll attempt to train him to stay out of the beds using lure/reward methods. I'm really looking forward to trying to improve my skillZ as a trainer, so this should be a good challenge for me. My long term goal will be obedience/rally/agility competitions -- heh heh ... we'll see!

Has Addy done any undesirable digging, Sally?

Ya know, I went to Crunchies yesterday and I caught myself scanning the clientele for you. lol

The only thing that saves my gardens is that my dog is too little to do any real damage (only 6 pounds lol)

Actually, thats not true. I've got two dogs... we have an invisible fence. We got it so they can run around without worrying that they'll chase a mailman or be hit by a car. The collars can either be turned up or down, so the little one gets the equivalent of a static electricity shock and the big one gets something a bit stronger. I was worried about the electric fence at first, but then I shocked myself on the highest level and really all it did was scare me to pieces. My dogs only got shocked in the beginning - now they just know that its there and don't try to chase squirrels, UPS guys, rabbits, etc.

So... if you have an electric fence put in, you can also ahve it go around your various flower beds. You can get a fence around just an island in your yard, because when you bury the cable you can either twist it or keep it straight... twisting cancels the signal, then when you want it to work again you leave it straight. All the dogs have access to are things that I have a hard time killing... tiger lillies, irises, hostas, and other things like that.

Here is a picture of the little one, Bentley. He gets the zoomies but always avoids the flowers.

Good luck with the new one!

Andrea

p.s. Good luck getting him to potty on woodchips. Our dogs hate the woodchips, even as puppies.

I'm thinking a tacky white little wire fence would help him see the boundary.

Addy isn't a big digger, I guess. She tends to just randomly attack a patch of grass or mud, loves mud! Did make one at the edge of the septic cleanout lid. Another 2 going under boards in the veg garden. One trying to get in compost. So flower beds have just been walked on, boards seem to attract her digging a little.

LOL sorry- I haven't been shopping at Crunchies But thanks for thinking of me! Weren't you the one with the overflowing cart? a lady I met at the dog park said she took herdog in there and got to chatting with the owner and next thing you know, the dog started helping herself out of a display bin!! ha ha "what's that crunching ? oh crap!"

heh - my cart overfloweth at the cheapo stores, but not at Crunchies. I just picked up a few treats for training.

As for the potty area - I'm going to put an x pen around it, then teach him to go in there starting next week, as I'm taking the whole week off to take care of him (9wks old).

I'm not likely to get an invisible fence, but you know what they say ... "never say never" heh

Lobsterandi, I love the thought of Bentley getting the zoomies! Amazing that he avoids the flowers - Good Boy!

Didn't think I would ever be an invisible fencer, either. Especially because we moved into a house with a huge fenced in yard. But... the fence was ugly chain link and in a momentary lapse of judgement it "accidentally" was ripped out by a bobcat one weekend.

Then after watching my bigger dog wander out of my yard and take a nap on the nice warm pavement in the middle of the road... I decided some sort of fence was in order. :) We don't get much traffic, but I still don't want to chance it...

Those dogs break my bank account.

Wow! Zeb's one lucky pup :)) I sure wish we had done similar for Phoebe - although she has her "spot", it's right in the middle of the gardens!! I'm guilty and can only blame myself...on those cold, cold mornings this winter it was the fastest and easiest place to encourage her to do her duty so the two of us could quickly get back inside. I guess I should feel fortunate that at least it's only one "spot" but as soon as the warm weather arrives we're hoping to lead her away from this area and train her to find a new "spot"!

I'm thinking we're going to have a battle on our hands this spring however, she loves to dig :( We've found her pouncing on anything that moves and although we'd love for her to kill every vole/mole she finds, unfortunately it's IN the gardens! Our other dogs were very well trained - a quick "out of the gardens" and they were out of there. We'll have plenty of time to work with this command this spring and hopefully train her to "hunt" in the fields and not in the gardens.

Last statement regarding bank account is oh so true. I wrote a $530.00 check to Vet's office on Monday to get a 6 month supply of heartworm medicine for my three boys. Aren't you glad their companionship and entertainment factor are worth every penny we spend?

Thanks for starting this thread Wrightie. I am sure that there will be a lot of folks who have the concerns of gardening with pets. Most of our more expensive plants are planted in our front yard and the dogs don't go there as a rule. I sometimes take the two who listen to me out while I garden. They are happy just to watch me do whatever it is that I am doing.

I have been pleasantly surprised, knock on wood that they haven't done more damage to plants in the backyard. I do often cringe a bit when I am watching them and they cock a leg and do their thing on a bush or plant that we have spent time planting. Thankfully we haven't had too much of a problem with them bothhering the compost bins or a large mound of mulch that is in one of the corners of the yard.

I find the times that they are the most interested in any thing in particular is while I am actively working with something, or directly there after. If at all possible, maybe leaving the big guy inside when you are first putting something new in, might work. Of course this might mean that you will have a howling, bawling sad eyed pup inside wanting outside with his momma. Mine act as if I had beat them if I dare go outdoors without them.

We have gardened successfully for three years together. I hope that by writing this, I haven't jinxed things and they decide to become terrors this season. Again, thank you for starting a thread to talk about one of my very favorite subjects.

Ruby

Yikes, that's a big check for heartworm med's, Ruby. That's a good reminder of what to expect with *multiple* dogs, when I'm ready for that day to come, that is.

I had a female dog last time, so she would leave "Crop Circles" in the lawn where she peed as the lawn would turn yellow or die off there -- she was a big Dane with a big bladder. Male Danes are known for not learning to lift their legs until they're as old as two or later, and many don't learn to do it at all. :) I bet that I would hate to see a leg lifted on one of my Plants Du Jour ... Hopefully, the separate potty area will be a success. &&

F.Lucky is a real gentleman, and usually will go and relieve himself in the tall grass away from the 'lawn'..... however, this deep snow this year had all three dogs going only as far as they have to to clear the deck to do the deed....... I'm gonna have several pails of treasure to collect come spring thaw.....


I've got my garden set up 'square foot' with beds and pathways marked out. The dogs have learned that they have free roam on the paths, but I turn into a screaming meeme until they get to where they can be.....

GET OFF THE BED< NOW< GET OFF< GET OFF..... good dog, there you can stand there...kiss, kiss...... They also know the command 'move'....... as in move out of the way.......

Then there's Chuck...... 'oh, look, Mom's made me 29 outdoor litter boxes'........ I'll holler at him, pick him up and toss him out of the garden..... ignoring the dirty looks of distain that only a cat can do....


And for the digging in the garden, just make sure you have extra plants, to replace the ones 'helped' out.....

Love the potty area, brilliant idea!

I thought that looked like a Dane pup!!! AWWW!
We have two terrors, erm, dogs, and I am focusing most of my plantings outside of the fence.
We have one bed in back, and one one the side we are just going to put rabbit-fence around.
It has kept them out of the mud so far, so hopefully it will work just as well for the plants.

ruby- I think you need to -shop around- for that heartworm med. I got Iverheart aat my vet's office and I really think it was much cheaper.

If I start to weed, Addy walks right up in front of me to see whats up, which usually means she is standing right where I don't want her to stand....
drivenbonkers- I can see you now.......

Thanks for starting this Wrightie! We have three small dogs, two of whom are convinced squirrels were invented simply to torment dogs. All our dogs are from rescue, the third one was in a puppy mill for 5 years so she pretty much wanders around just smelling things. I tried the little tacky green wire thingies to keep the smallest one (5 pound holy terror Chihuahua) from running up and down the fence - busting all my dwarf evergreens and tromping the perennials and annuals. All that did was slow her down - sort of like installing a little race-course chicane... Next I started putting 12" bamboo stakes in strategic places to interrupt her chicane - so that the running just wasn't fun any longer. She's now stopped running the fence and has chosen a few specific places to either stand or shove her nose underneath - all in an attempt to get to our neighbor's happy, bouncy Golden Retriever. The other dog doesn't really pay any attention at all to whatever she's tromping on as she's always looking up for squirrels - LOL!

That's the back yard. The front yard this year is being turned into a cottage garden, so we'll see how the neighborhood cats, dogs, squirrels and bunnies react - and how I react to them! I am a lot like drivenbonkers - standing and yelling at the dogs to "GET OUT OF MY PLANTS!!!" as if they understand.....but it sure makes me feel better!

Here's a pic of the 5 pound terror wondering why I can't get work done while she's in my lap.....odd how she doesn't come running when I'm yelling at her to get out of my plants.....she's also the one who will actually start suffering from constipation if the grass is too long and tickles her butt....not only do I have to keep my plants the way I like them, we have to keep the grass in the back "just so" or it's not the right length!

LOLOL!!! Dryad, that is one Fierce looking Five Pound Terror. Love those markings btw ... they look a little familiar. ;p

We put up stakes and string around the perimeter of our veggie bed when training our family dog to stay out of it years ago -- a visible boundary that she can see and had to step over to get into the garden helped her realize the distinction between yard and garden. She hated to be scolded, so she learned to stay out of the garden pretty quickly... she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, though, so the stakes and string usually had to be put up again for a couple of weeks every spring. She also had a designated "area" to use at the back of the yard ("Ginger, go to your weeds!") plus a little gravel area at the rear of a fenced-in run that she used when we weren't right there to keep an eye on her.

the markings *are* similar, but I think yours has mine on the feet size!! I did end up putting down wood mulch along the fence to keep her from coming in as 5 pounds of dog and 6 pounds of mud - with her long hair though the wood sticks to her coat and picking it out can be a hassle at times. But it's still much less hassle than cleaning mud off her each time she comes in. We also have some yews right by the back door - she'll tuck herself underneath those to get to the fence if it's raining - she doesn't want to get wet GETTING to the fence, but doesn't mind getting soaked running over all my plants yelling at Boston (the golden retriever) to Get Over Here And Run With Me.... then when she's all done she tucks herself back underneath those yews and sneaks back to the back door.

I caught a show last night on National Geographic about how smart dogs are, and that they're actually smarter than chimps. They are aware of your eyes, and know that if your eyes are closed that you're not looking!

My last dog was generally pretty good about staying out of my plants ... well, sort of. She would sun herself in the turf, but would inevitably end up positioning herself right on the edge of my flowerbeds with her Big Caboose on my plants, and the rest of her giant self on the grass.

Pots! Plants in pots and on stands. Boy dogs will help water if they haven't been neutered! Ralph is my waterer. Pod is neutered and is always willing to point out where I should plant another shrub or tree or.... right there in that large hole he just dug.

Excercise! Plenty of it. It will wear them down and they won't be as destructive. Do allow for walking paths and stepping stones thru the plants too. They sometimes get the picture. Specially when you learn to scream! LOL

Good luck!

Re. pots, I came across a tip in a Reader's Digest garden book that I thought was genius... Run a stake down the middle of the pot and through the drainage hole into the ground (obviously, don't block the hole completely) so that pots don't tip over. The stake can just go partway up the height of the pot, so it won't show when it's filled. I thought that was a great idea for those bigger planters with shapes that are a little too "tippy" to be practical in high-wind or high-traffic areas

When I got Bailey ( sheltie) at age 18 months it was fall and I let him run the yard and the fences which included an area that was my ground level veggie garden and the perennial beds all around the yard. Next spring I had the veggie garden fenced with chain link. I also fenced all around the perennial beds with inexpensive 12 and 18 inch plastic fencing (seems like I had amd still have miles of it) I left it up until the following spring and he never went in the beds again.
Then Fancy arrived and I put it up again and although she did not learn as well as Bailey still it was not too bad. She occasionally chases or hunts around in the beds but not usually in the summer when plant material is high so very little if any damage done. I put the fence up again along part of the area the past couple of winters because once the ground is covered with snow they cannot distinguish betwen the grass area where they pee/poop and the perennial beds. I dont care about the poop but I dont want them peeing on the plants.
Also now I have raised beds in the veggie area so the chain link is mostly gone and posts and lattice put up but I have to gate the area in the summer otherwise Fancy goes in and helps herself to the veggies. When the beds are not planted I dont bother and she does run around and jump up in the beds.

all the pathways in the garden are mulched with shavings.... the lawn is lawn and is fair game......

if you have your feet, (or any other part of you touching the 'dirt' part of the garden you are in the wrong place, and will be moved........GIT!

In the beginning, I would 'touch' them through the garden paths. guide them along using both hands (or knees)on either side of their bodies, bending them around the corners...... dressage for dogs.....lol confused dog faces, lol

If you lift a leg somewhere you are not supposed to, you will get barked at, too.... as in 'AH, do you HAVE to P there?, Find another spot' there's no wonder the neighbours look at me funny.............................

We have another kitten to 'train' this summer, looking forward to that.

However, if she keeps on about this being in heat today, she may get tossed outside into a snowbank! (NOT!) her appt is on Wed this week, can't come soon enough to suit me..... there she goes, singing again.......... she's driving CharlesKat bonkers..................

I hear you about the female dog lawn spots.... our two males follow the female, (everybody's neutered) so we get a 3-fer.............................. the lawn takes a real pounding.....

Heh heh, DB, we have similar styles - I recognize not only the "GIT!!!," but the doggie dressage as well "Do that again and you're going to get a Half-Halt!" ...

I used to feed Sophie fresh fruit & veg, but she took a special liking to tomatoes. She never did any counter-surfing and was a very well-behaved dog .... EXCEPT, she could not restrain herself around tomato plants. I would routinely find my tomato plants Bare Naked of ripening fruit, with nothing but a few seeds on the ground as evidence that they ever existed at all. She would pick the tomatoes and gobble them up as quickly as she could. I eventually had to plant tomatoes on the other side of the fence, sharing a spot in my neighbor's veggie patch.

SNORT!

an innocent great dane face dripping tomato juice, who, me? wasn't me... must been somebody looks like me? tomatoes, gone, you say? I'll help you find them..... slurp.....

...and my lab just thought they were red tennis balls!

Oh Wrightie if it was only just the tomatoes!
Fancy helps herself to the cabbages right from the start - they have to be
fenced and the beans when they hang over the edge of the bed, , turnips and parsnips - even if she cant pull them out of the ground she just knaws at whatever shows, carrots once I start digging them and potatoes too! And even with gates up she seems to have the knack of getting in but somehow cant get herself out!

Here are the cabbages last year - I think this was the 3rd crop - whatever I fenced with the first times she got thru!

Here is a collage of what Fancy did to the first cabbage planting!