Dogs and gardens – how to make it work

Dogs and gardens: can they co-exist? Many dogs - especially young ones - have a reputation for being hard on gardens.

They crash through planting beds chasing squirrels, dig holes in flower beds and pee on shrubs and perennials.

However, if you make your garden pet-friendly and put some effort into training, your dog can become a great garden companion.

Sharing the garden with dogs

For as long as I've gardened, I've had a one-of-a-kind dog(Heinz 57 to most people).

My first dog, Teddy, was a small blonde cutie, who never lifted his leg on a plant in our city garden. For him, the lawn was the rightplace to go. He must have picked up the idea from watching me fuss over plants.

He also was a fantastic squirrel cop: no tulip bulb was everstolen by a squirrel while he was around.

Now that I garden in the country, I have Toby, a handsome white part-husky, part-collie and part-who-knows-what, who has the discreethabit doing his toilet stuff in tall-grass areas where people don'twalk. This saves me the chore of poop scooping in the garden. Like hispredecessor, he keeps squirrels away, as well as rabbits, muskrats anddeer.

My dogs have been so rewarding that I can't imagine gardeningwithout a dog keeping me company, so here are tips to help you makethis work for you too.

First and most important: choose your dog carefully and spendreal time training him or her! This is guaranteed to pay off in ahappierrelationship.

Dogs and gardens - safety first

When you have dogs or other pets spending time in the garden,choose alternatives to chemical lawn and garden care.

• Pest control products: Even ifyou useorganic products, keep pets out of the garden when you're applyingthem, and then keep them away from treated areas for as long asrecommended, usually until the treated area is dry or 24 hours. Here'sa safe, organic way to controlfleas in your backyard.
• Slug baits: The older typescontained metaldehyde, which is harmful to pets if ingested. A saferalternative is slugbaits made with iron phosphate as the active ingredient.
• Fertilizers: Many organicfertilizersare made out of bone meal, blood meal or fish emulsion, which can smelllike dinner to a curious dog or cat. Store these products, as well asconventional fertilizers in plastic containers with secure lids whereyour pets won't be able to get at them.
• Cocoa bean mulch:Compared to other species, dogs are unusually sensitive to a substancecalled theobromine found in cocoa beans, cocoa bean hulls andchocolate. If you have a dog, avoid cocoa bean mulch in the garden orkeep your dog in areas of the yard where you don't use this mulch. Hereare other mulchingalternatives, click here.
• Sharp edged gardentools:Your dog (and people too, especially children) can get injured if youleave a rake tines up or a hoe blade up, or open pruners on the ground.

Dogs and gardens - training tips

Dogs like to be with us in the garden

Dogs like to be where people are, so when you're in the garden, takeyour dog with you for at least part of the time.

Whenit comes to dogs and gardens, set ground rules from the start.

As with people, pet habits, once established, can be achallenge tochange. Be clear about how you want your dog to behave in the garden.

Bored dogs are most likely to get into trouble,so use walks and games to use up excess energy that might otherwise gointo destructive garden behavior.

Decide where your dog is allowed to goand whereyou don't want him to go and be consistent. It doesn't help if you letthe dog do what he wants when the flowerbed is weedy, but then expecthim to respect the garden when it's all tidied up.

Encourage behavior you like anddiscourageactivities that are destructive to the garden. To keep dogs out offlowerbeds, use a verbal cue such as "out of the garden." This worksbest if you're actually in the garden with your dog enough that theidea becomes ingrained.

A fenced yard is a godsend fordogs and gardens.Some people use invisible fencing – a system that delivers anelectronic shock via a receiver in a special dog collar. Actual fencesare more effective because they both keep your dog in the yard andother animals out. As well, your dog can't escape, ignoring theelectrical shock when chasing a squirrel, for example, and then gettingshocked when trying to get back into the yard.

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