Spring Fertilising - length of time to keep dog away

[jacksonr]

On the weekend we fertilised our hedges and plants with organic fertiliser (mix of blood and bone, phosphorus, small amount or iron)

We mulched over this, and have watered it in heavily twice since then. It's now been about 48 hours - would it be okay for us to let our dog back into the garden now?

He has been outside over last day or two but we've been with him and kept him away from the plants. He sniffs around and obviously is attracted to the smell but with it watered in now over two days I feel like it should be fine to leave him outside and just keen an eye on him?

 

 

[sandgrubber]

2 hours ago, jacksonr said:

On the weekend we fertilised our hedges and plants with organic fertiliser (mix of blood and bone, phosphorus, small amount or iron)

We mulched over this, and have watered it in heavily twice since then. It's now been about 48 hours - would it be okay for us to let our dog back into the garden now?

He has been outside over last day or two but we've been with him and kept him away from the plants. He sniffs around and obviously is attracted to the smell but with it watered in now over two days I feel like it should be fine to leave him outside and just keen an eye on him?

 

 

Watch carefully.  If you see any signs of digging and eating you're going to need to do a thorough job of digging it in.  Blood and bone can be very dangerous for dogs, at least in some formulations.  They dangerous part is how much some dogs love the stuff, and the fact that it isn't very soluble... thus it hangs around for a long while. 

 

The other problem is that dogs tend to dig up your plants when blood and bone has been dug in. 

[persephone]

  I wouldn't trust  him left alone . not yet. Blood & bone can be deadly ..plus, yes, it can lead to LOTS of digging. 

[teddybeans]

My dogs don't dig, but i never use fertiliser or any sort in my backyard - they can't be trusted.  Best case scenario is they leave alone, worst case scenario is they will roll in it.  eek.  Hence the reason nothing grows in my backyard.

[jacksonr]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, will keep him out of there for a few more days at least! We were out in the yard this morning and he was sniffing around but didn't seem as interested, the smell may be fading a little bit after heavy watering and some warmer days.

 

Am going to give our vet a call this afternoon and get his opinion as well - I'll pass his feedback along in case it's helpful for anyone else on here.

[sandgrubber]

4 hours ago, jacksonr said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone, will keep him out of there for a few more days at least! We were out in the yard this morning and he was sniffing around but didn't seem as interested, the smell may be fading a little bit after heavy watering and some warmer days.

 

Am going to give our vet a call this afternoon and get his opinion as well - I'll pass his feedback along in case it's helpful for anyone else on here.

Yup.  Lots of variables.  Could be a disaster, could be nothing much.  I have Labs.  I planted bulbs with blood and bone.  They dug all of them up.  Others alerted me to possible dangers, which seem to depend on how the B&B is made.  Not all dogs are gutsers, and there'd be difference between a sprinkle of the stuff and a 5+ mm layer.  I now stick to compost, manure, chemical fertilizer, and pee for the part of the garden the dogs use.  Less worry.