Gardening with a dog.

A friend has asked me to help her revamp her garden (she's the only person in the world who actually knows less about gardening than I do ). The first thing I'm a bit stuck on is she has a male lab that wees on all the plants and has killed/damaged many of the existing ones. How do people manage this problem? I've only ever had bitches!

 

A good while ago now I found a website selling grass seed mixes for different situations. One of the mixes was for grass varieties that can tolerate dog wee. Unfortunately I can't remember which one it was and can't find it again now, but I'll have another look.

 

I thought it was female urine that damaged plants? My dogs wee all over my lawn but it seems fine.
However when my sisters bitch comes over, the slightest bit of her wee turns grass and greenery yellow! I think there's dog repelling gels and things you can buy. Even plants that repel dogs with their smell.

 

The grass is fine because he doesn't wee on it! It's all the plants around the edge that are dead and dying. That would be very useful though Clueless for my own garden, this time of year I do get the occasional dead patch from where my girl goes.
I'd be a bit worried about using repellents in case it put him off going in the garden. May be useful for protecting a special plant though?

 

I have three dogs. A dog and two bitches. I just train them to use a certain area of the grounds and make "my area" a " no pee or poop" area. By cleaning (as far as possible) behind them in their part it makes it a better area for them to use and they don't mind returning there. It works for my beasts anyway.

 

I thought it was only girl wee that kills plants too?? But my boy only wees on a patch of grass I have kept at the back of garden, I haven't trained him but he naturally goes there and crouches too! He did cock his leg once up my delphiniums and after all my screaming and dragging he hasn't done it again!

 

I love the bowed head and tail between legs after I tell my dogs off! They soon learn.
They love to please lol

 

I have 3 male dogs, we used to have just grass & rose bushes which they never went near (do they know they are thorny?) anything really special went in tubs!! My garden now is mostly paved over and again I am a 'container' gardener!!

Val

 

I must admit I haven't noticed too much new scorching since we took in our first male (previously had two bitches). However, we do refer to Harley's "low-pressure hose", so maybe that is why there has been relatively little damage?
I know that we do get some scorch marks on the grass, but after a few months, they are replaced by lush patches as the "fertiliser" is diluted to a level that feeds, rather than damages, the grass. I guess I have quite a strong live-and-let-live mentality when it comes to gardening!

 

I have 2 male dogs that insist on when one has 'been to the gents' the other has to go in the same place...so you can imagine my once lush lawn looks similar to an atlas.....and i'm not even going start on about my chooks

 

our are exactly the same Loli, say Snoop is the first to pee, Fred will come galloping over to leave his mark on top...then of course because Snoop's scent is now covered he'll have to pee on top again, then it'll be Fred's turn again, then Snoop again & so on & so forth...it can go on like this for quite some time

 

i hate that, hate it! cant help but feel like an absolute criminal! reprimands are nearly always followed by something positive

 

Thank you all for your replies, this must be the only male dog in the world that doesn't wee on the grass, only on plants! He's managed to kill almost entire borders with his wee! Don't suppose anyone knows of any wee-resistant plants we could plant near the front to try and protect all the others?

 

oh our boys don't only pee on the grass Linsay, they'll pee up against everything/anything but we have edging around the borders so when they cock their legs against it the pee hits that & lands on the grass not the plants (we've only small dogs so the edging it just high enough), this year i have (kinda stupidly) put violas & sweetpea's around the birdtable which is in the middle of the lawn so no edging to protect it & the violas are struggling a bit now but they did put on a really good show up until now so i cant really complain

i'd be very interested to know this too

 

We have a problem with our male dog and his peeing. As mentioned above it isn't the damage to grass that is a problem but the insistence and perseverance to pee 'up' everything in sight. This ranges from pots to taller plants. The damage in our garden occurs when our dog crushes smaller plants under paws to get closer into a larger plant or pot to have a pee. So small plants in borders are a no no. Basically small plants anywhere are in danger of being trampled.
Buying established plants that are already at a good growth height would be a good idea. Forget about small young plants or seedlings unless you can protect them. Plenty of pots, which the dog will pee all over anyway. Can the garden area be fenced off? Or can the dog have his own little fenced off area?
Gazania