Dogs and well-kept gardens don't sit easily together. Keep the dog well exercised and he's less likely to be destructive, says Michael Kelly
It's difficult to have a pristine garden when you have a dog. For a start, there's the general untidiness that dogs seem to leave behind wherever they go. A half-eaten green welly left on the deck; bits of an old toy or a long-since-eaten bone abandoned on a path; bedding taken out of the kennel and left on the lawn; a sponge stolen from its perch on the windowsill and torn into a million little yellow pieces that are then scattered to the four corners of the garden by a gentle spring breeze. A set of little holes dug in your favourite flower bed and heads bitten off your prize roses. Rocks taken from the alpine rockery and used as chewing toys.
And all this is before we even get to see what he's done to the lawn. Ah yes. Man's best friend is indeed the gardener's worst enemy.
In our case, this war between love of dogs and love of garden is a war which our two dogs (loveable-but-bold Springer Ozzie and new arrival hyper-pup Sam) won a long time ago. I've learned not to let it bother me so much by telling myself that the garden is their territory, too, and since they spend more time in it than I do (lucky them), they're entitled to leave their mark. In any case, the dogs aren't the worst offenders around our place, so we are more forgiving of their untidiness than we might otherwise be. Two Tamworth pigs, five hens and a cockerel called Roger are also not particularly conducive to an award-winning garden.
Our dogs are always keen to involve themselves in any gardening activities. Any time you get down on your knees, say for a spot of weeding, Ozzie sees it as an opportunity for some quality belly-rubbing and will place himself strategically between you and the weeds. This makes weeding tougher than it would otherwise be.
Strangely, Sam thinks the red bristles on our yard-brush represent the teeth of some sort of scary animal, so if I try to sweep a path he will go into a frenzy of barking until I stop. He is also adept at pruning and has developed a particular competency at stripping trees of their branches.
Just last week I was transplanting some herbs to an old iron bath we use as a herb bed and when I went inside Ozzie climbed on top of the bed, curled up and went asleep. I was mad as hell - all the herbs were flattened - but you could sort of understand his logic: in his mind, I had spent 20 minutes lovingly preparing this bed for him. It did look like quite a snug fit, and in fairness to him, he looked fairly appreciative.
The biggest issue that most dog owners with gardens have is the damage done to lawns and the general unpleasantness involved in clearing up their mess. Pet shops sell tablets which claim to neutralise the ammonia in your dog's urine, thus protecting your lawn. My advice would be to treat such products with the contempt they deserve and leave your dog's inner workings alone. If the stains bother you and you have the time and the inclination, the best and cheapest solution is to pour some water over the spot.
Picking up after a dog is unpleasant. Every other day I walk around the garden, shovelling the stuff into a container and muttering dark words in the general direction of the dogs under my breath. Far from being trained to make their deposits in one area of the garden (see panel above), our dogs seem to enjoy the challenge of doing it somewhere obscure in the hope that I won't find it until I am cutting the grass. They sit and watch as I stop, get off the mower, go get the shovel, remove the offending item and then get back on the mower again. As I shake my fist at them they seem to be laughing - though I could well be imagining that.
There is a product called the Pet Poo Converter which is a specially designed wormery that breaks it down into a garden fertiliser. It's available from www.just-green.com and www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk for approximately £60. This seems to be a good plan - better than lobbing it over the wall in to your neighbour's garden at any rate.
Speaking of products, there is a plethora of them available to help dog-proof your garden. I can't say I've tried any of them, but they mostly seem ridiculous to me. You can get special sprays for your plants which will allegedly keep the dogs away from them - can this be good for plant or animal? Or you could try a motion-sensing water sprayer which will give your dog a spray in the face if he comes near a particular plant - that sounds like it might be fun. There are also books on canine-friendly garden design and garden-friendly canine training.
My advice would be to hold on to your hard-earned cash. Don't expect your dog to stay out of your vegetable plot out of the kindness of his heart. Fence it off instead.
Also, always remember that a bored dog is a dog that's about to get up to no good - so if you leave him in the garden from 6am to 6pm there's a fair chance he will occupy himself with some mischief. A well exercised dog, on the other hand, will mainly spend his free time asleep.
There are plenty of old wives' tales and recipes for keeping dogs away from your prize plants - everything from mothballs
to ammonia. I tried out one interesting one, which involved sprinkling some freshly ground black pepper and chilli powder around the plant. It seemed to be successful, if the bout of sneezing it produced in Ozzie and Sam is anything to go by, and it gave me the best laugh I've had in a long, long time.
Love your dog - and your garden
Lisa Whelan, a trainer with Dog Training Ireland, says it can be difficult to combine a love of gardening with a love of dogs. "The two key concerns that people come to us with are digging and toileting, and there are a number of practical steps that dog-owners can take to reduce the impact of these activities. It's almost impossible to stop a dog digging if it is in their nature to do so. Instead of trying to stop the dog digging, we would encourage people to designate an area for digging. A digging pit can be made in a corner of your garden using sand and topsoil and you encourage your dog to use it by burying some treats deep in the sand. You should praise the dog when he digs in the pit.
"Just as with house-training, training a dog to toilet in a particular area of your garden requires effort from the owner. It's important to have a different type of surface in that area so he will start to understand that he shouldn't go on grass or on paths. Woodchip is really good for this. Lead the dog to the area and give him lots of praise when he toilets there. If you catch him in the act of toileting on your lawn, say 'NO!' and lead him quickly to the designated area. Don't ever punish a dog if he has an accident.
"In general terms a dog that gets lots of exercise is less likely to misbehave. When dogs are bored and have lots of excess energy they will usually turn to mischief. If you have to leave a dog on its own, make sure it has lots of things to distract it. You could, for example, try hanging some toys from the branches of trees."
Dog Training Ireland is at www.dogtrainingireland.ie