We love ‘em—but they can be a detriment to a landscape, can’t they? As they race through the yard creating strips of dead grass, eat our plants, urinating on our bushes, dig holes under fences, etc. Here are some tips that Elizabeth Bublitz of Paw-Friendly Landscapes taught me.

Perhaps the best solution for “the dog’s” paths, is to make them into actual paths. The dogs establish patterns, so if you have dog paths, make it a mulched path, put some shrubbery at some of it’s curved edges, and allow both the dog and you to enjoy it. Remember the human mind is always intrigued by what it cannot see around a curve.

Don’t you just hate it when the puppy—or older—dog eats your prize flowers? Actually, you could lose both dog and flower, because many common plants are poisonous. Check with your nurseryman before buying a plant if you have a plant-eating pet. Garden edging is a deterrent to this. Dogs dislike running over large river rock, sharp granite (driveway stone), and prickly bushes (juniper, barberry, cotoneaster, etc.) With a couple feet depth of such edging, most dogs avoid the entire garden bed. 

Dogs love to dig. But a dog often digs under the fence because they want to see what’s on the other side, especially with the all-prevalent privacy fencing. So give them a window!  Cut a small holes in the privacy fencing in a couple locations at the dog’s eye-level (or level’s if you have different size dogs).  Help your doggie to be aware they are there.

Give Fido a place where he can lay in the shade, and he may also stop digging to get down into the cooler soil.

Remember if we have pets, they live on our property also—but do not think like humans (even if it seems so).  We can lessen our stress and their corrections, by thinking a little like them!