How To Stop Dog Getting Into Garden Beds?

[Snowball]

Hi

My goldie puppy loves doing zommies in the garden and will rip through our garden beds, destroying plants left right and center as she races around. She will also go for a lie on top of the plants if she likes the spot . or dig up ones that look interesting , so anything I can do, expect keep on telling her 'off' when I catch her in the beds.

Is there anything dogs dont like I can put in my garden beds to make them less attractive to her, temporary screening them off? anything would be appreciated, we have just planted heaps of new plants over winter and she is slowly squashing /digging her way through them, if I dont put a stop to it soon.

ah, the joys of a cute puppy

[kiesha09]

Hi

My goldie puppy loves doing zommies in the garden and will rip through our garden beds, destroying plants left right and center as she races around. She will also go for a lie on top of the plants if she likes the spot . or dig up ones that look interesting , so anything I can do, expect keep on telling her 'off' when I catch her in the beds.

Is there anything dogs dont like I can put in my garden beds to make them less attractive to her, temporary screening them off? anything would be appreciated, we have just planted heaps of new plants over winter and she is slowly squashing /digging her way through them, if I dont put a stop to it soon.

ah, the joys of a cute puppy

Fence them off quickly!!! Yes your garden might look unattractive for a while but at least it won't be completely destroyed

I moved into a new house a while back with my 2YO and 3YO dogs and I had a LOVELY landscaped garden. I didn't fence of the garden beds and now all thats left is two lonely bushes and a whole lot of dirt At least fence it off until the plants are established.

[persephone]

A good strong fence! NOT something 30 cm high and made of chicken wire :p

[Aziah]

Fence them off...

[Aidan]

8' high weld-mesh fencing with a 3' deep concrete trench and barbed-wire overhangs. That way you get to keep your beautiful garden beds looking beautiful.

For a novel, training-based approach have a look at this:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2409

...personally I rely on fences! If you really enjoy training it could be an interesting project to take on though.

I made up some steel "domes" out of weld-mesh to protect young plants outside the fenced areas until they are established (2'x4' piece of mesh, bent into a half-round). I only plant hardy species, once they are established they are on their own. The flowers are in the front garden, or in pots.

[luvsdogs]

I agree the only way is to fence it off. We didn't when Sooty started destroying the garden not that it was much to start with.

The only garden in my yard is a big tree & a couple of large pots. All the flowers are in the front garden.

[Miss B]

I've used a product called "Get Off My Garden" which, so far, has worked well.

[Red Fox]

Kei eventually got bored of chewing up my plants and now pees on them instead (MUCH more effective )

[charli73]

I tried fencing them off but my GSD just jumped over them as she got bigger... puppies and gardens dont really go, until they turn about 2 ;)

[sandgrubber]

Healthy puppy behaviour, I'd say. If you can't build an adequate fence, don't expect to have a pup and save your garden. You should be able to train 'out of the garden' or 'leave it' or some such when the pup is older, but pups are much harder to train, and harsh training methods tend to leave mental scars when applied to pups. [You could probably find a trainer who can teach your pup without damage, but expect many hours training, spread out over a few months . . . can be done, but requires skill and patience]. Appreciate the crazy puppy stage when you've got it. Mature dogs are both less trouble and less fun/crazy/cute.

Edited December 8, 2009 by sandgrubber

[BellaDawg]

I find that our little 8 month old Goldie, steers clear of the herbs we've planted. ie. oragano, time, mint...etc so we've just spread the herbs around the garden plus they grow pretty quick to cover any bare garden space, just be careful of the mint as it grows like a weed and spreads quickly. We also use the "Get off my Garden" gel repellant, which is ok until it dries up as it's like water crystals and needs water to swell up again.

[Tilly]

I use chain link wire and star picketts around the garden.

I used "Get Off My Garden" out the front to stop the the neighbourhood cats from digging up my garden and using it as a toilet ... but I found the ice cubes and sling shot more effective!!!

[Cosmolo]

Chicken wire laid flat, pegged firmly to the ground, covered with mulch with holes cut into it for the plants. Worked really well for us and i only wish we could have done it with our lawn.

[Dogsfevr]

Chicken wire laid flat, pegged firmly to the ground, covered with mulch with holes cut into it for the plants. Worked really well for us and i only wish we could have done it with our lawn.

Our kennel run lawns have been done this way & its a godsend

[Georgieboy]

We had that problem with George at about 5 months old, however his joy was digging in our 1/2 wine barrels (all 3 of them) which had an Olive tree, a Lime tree and a Grape vine all being trained on lattace screening. You can imagine my joy when I came home to find we were minus a grape vine, its screen pulled out into the middle of the pergola and the olive and lime trees on an interesting lean... , especially after nearly 12 months of trying to get them to grow!

We tried the sprays from bunnings, pepper, white vinegar and all the other home remedies recommended to us by friends and family, all to no avail...

Then we got garden stakes and staked plastic lattace around the pots which proved effective, but only for a month or so before that too was dragged out into the yard...

After speaking to numerous people I went to the local stockfeed place, brought an electric fence controller (battery operated so it didn't have the 240 volt kick), electric fence tape and plastic step in's to hold the fence in. A short star picket from bunnings worked as the earth. (the stockfeed place said they sell quite a number of these units for exactly this use)

Needless to say, it has only had to be turned on twice (and yes, I zapped myself to make sure it wasn't going to hurt our boy). Now I can move the tape around the back yard, without even having the controller attached and fence off the washing line etc and know that it will all remain safe.

(I'm sure people will probably think I'm cruel, but I do love my boy, he sleeps on our bed and is a right mummy's boy!)

if this is a path anyone wishes to go down, just be sure to check local laws around electric fencing as I was told there can be fines if people touch the fence while its on, even if its in your own back yard.