Can my dog and my garden coexist??

[Yay2001]

First of all -- let my state unequivocally that I loooove my dog. He'a a golden retriever -- 70 pounds of slobbering unconditional love.

He is mostly an indoor dog -- but he can wreak havoc in a very short period of time. Tonight I left him out longer than usual (there are a lot of rabbits this year!). When I let him back in, I saw he had dug up half of my lobelia and impatiens under the elm tree! :mad:

I kept thinking he would outgrow this behavior -- but we're going on 6 years and he's still at it. I've basically been waiting that long to landscape the backyard! We've tried sprays (the kind that smells like animal urine, and the pepper-cedar sprays) which kept him away exactly 24 hours.

I'm out of ideas -- and patience! Are there any plants out there that dogs don't like? Some creative solution that I haven't thought of?

thanks --

[Tulirose]

Nope, you thought of them all. Only thing you didn't mention is perhaps using those wire hoop-like little fences to keep him away from the areas where he is not suppose to be. I think they are cheap and it may help but I wouldn't hold my breath.

My dog will walk through and lie down on my plants. She does what my hubby calls a "dirt dance". She gets all excited, runs around the yard and then goes to this one area that is for her and digs in the dirt like crazy, stops, looks at us and then digs again!! That was always sort of harmless because that was her area for her "dirt dance".

Well, I recently transplanted some sort of green and white ground cover I have (don't know name) to another area of the yard and three days later I go out and it is gone! Completely and totally gone! Just a hole left where it was. I bet she did her little "dirt dance" over in the new area of the yard because she sensed the new dug up ground and felt she could.

*BIG SIGH* But you are right, Yay2001, we love them anyway...

[Yay2001]

Thanks for the sympathy, Tulirose! I needed it!

We've tried putting chicken wire around everything, but that was child's play for our golden boy. Plus, our b'yard was beginning to look like Stalag 17!

DH just laughs -- "If you want a garden, get rid of the dog!" :eek: No can do!

Thought of another question, though: are there any shrubs or plants that are a little more dog proof than others? He generally leaves the holly alone -- still digs around it, but at least he doesn't chew it -- pretty amazing for a canine who's undaunted by the thorns on my only rosebush!

[sillyminny]

An idea that may work for you: my sil soaked some rags in ammonia and put them around her beds. It kept the dog at bay until a downpour 3 weeks later caused her to resoak them.

It didn't hurt the dog and it doesn't hurt the environment.

[marlasmom]

I yell "get out of the flowers" at full bore at my dog. Not only does she step out of the garden immediately, the dog next door (their garden adjoins mine with a fence down the dividing line) also jumps back. Try it = at the same time physically moving the dog. I bet he'll catch on.