Big Dog Gardening/Landscaping challenge?

[Jen]

Anyone out there have help for my landscaping challenge??  My Male Great Pyr is a tall leg lifting pee-er, we built a new house last Feb and last spring we formally landscaped the front yard with expensive hedges and perinnal garden.......t his spring everything is DEAD!   Before I reinvest all that money does anyone know what well survive in my Pyrs unrinal??  I put lattes around my back yard gardens but it doesn't look right in the front yard so I am hoping to plant things that will survive.  I don't want to seperate the yard resricting him only to the back because his favorite place is keeping gaurd in the front yard, he would be devastated if I took it away. He never poops in the front it's only a urine issue.  Please help,  it looks like my green thumb fell off!

Jen

[newflvr]

Two ideas that I used with my female Newf that were pretty successful.  There's a product that you give the dog orally that neutralizes the urine so it won't burn the plants.  I can't remember the name of it....but all the major pet stores carry it.  The downside is that it's pretty expensive for dogs the size of a New or a Pyr.  The easiest tihing is to put about a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce in with his food.  That seemed to work just as well!  With my present male I take him to the "pee" spot for his first morning pee that I think is the most concentrated and then try to hose it off the plants later in the day (IF I remember, IF I seem him do it!)

[mastiffmommy]

  hehe, sounds like you will be doing some planting again. But it is depressing, when you spent both money and time to make your yard look good. I am using something called Green-Um tablets for all my dogs, it works pretty well, there are other things on the market I am sure they work just as well, but have not tried any other than this one. I also know that there is a product called Dog-Away, that you can use indoor and outdoor to make them stay away from shrubs, flower beds etc. I think it is made by Farnam, not sure though.

To the previous poster, you use tomatoe sauce, does it make a big red mess, or can you use it without having to hose your kitchen down after each mean lol....
It definately sounds like a cheaper way, especially with large dogs.

Marit

[newflvr]

Just mix the tomato sauce in the food and it's no more of a mess than any other mess a Newfie makes while eating!!   I heard of this through a real estate agent that has dogs and she didn't want them messing up her landscaping.   

[mastiffmommy]

Thanks, and even though I dont have a NF, I have the same slobber, drooling problem with mastiff and bullmastiff. But the biggest droolers of them all, were my danes. I even mopped slobbers from the ceiling lol.....

I will absolutely try the tomatoe sauce, since that will save me a smaller fortune.

Marit

[Jen]

You all are great! Thanks for the ideas!  What is in the tomato sauce that makes it work?

Jen

[mamadog]

That's really interesting about the totato juice. The grass in my yard has to be re seeded every year just from the gods running around on it. It gets bare spots and just looks aweful. But I don't have the urine problem with my plants and shrubs. I trained my first two dogs and am now working on the new guy. When I first got them I would bring them out in the yard on a leash. They usually have to go first thing when they get outside. So on the leash I would walk them to the area I wanted them to use and we would stay in that area untill they went. When they went they got tons of praise AND they got let off the leash! So now when I let them out they know where to go, and where not to. I did this because my yard isn't huge and I have children playing in it most days. I didn't want the kids to have to worry about avoiding doggie bombs.
My Finn is still working on it. He won't go if he's on a leash. Just won't. So I have to heard him to the right place. He's figuring it out! So that was my solution...tho ugh if your dog is older than a year or two he may not take to it well.

[Newf Lover]

Jen, I don't know the setup of your garden but the best thing to do is limit your dogs access to it, if you can.  We walk Drake every morning and evening and try to get him to do all of his "business" then.  We discourage him from relieving himself in the garden.  He still leaves the the occasional pile here and there, but that's how it goes.  The most damage he does is when he is playing with another dog or chasing raccoons and he flies through the bushes.  He can get really destructive.  If you go to: 

http://bigpawsonly.com/index.php/topic,359.0.html

You will see that we can have a beautiful garden and a Newfoundland at the same time.  You just need to be vigilant, that's all I can say.  Work with your dog, they will eventually learn.

[Jen]

Our female Newf is not a problem in the garden;  it's our MALE leg lifter Great Pyr.  He does a whole buch of things that kill the garden.

*he is tall so he can really kill a nice sized shrub or hedge when he lifts, aims and shoots.

*he is a major digger but the water gun I spritz him with usualy can stop that if I am right there.

*He loves to take a nap in freshly watered mulch, right over newly blooming flowers

because he is guardian of the castle(true to his breed) he feels it is his born duty to maintain his lookout post!  Unfortunately it's my front garden.  We built this house last year.  When we picked out the property to put the house on we made our choice with him in mind.  Pyrs get very sad when they are cut off from having full access to their flock, knowing this, I fenced the intire perimeter not just the back yard so I am against keeping him out of the front garden.  What I really am after is finding out how to have them (dogs and lanscaping) cohabitate, by buying the "right" lanscaping that has a chance at survival.  It would break his spirit to kick him out of his favorite place and being that we bought the property with him in mind would defete the whole house building thing.  We had a nice house before but the property was small and had cliffs with big old trees, we were told fencing would be nightmare so....we moved! It was give-up my dog or give-up my house....I gave up the house And built a new one!

Jen

Jen, I don't know the setup of your garden but the best thing to do is limit your dogs access to it, if you can.  We walk Drake every morning and evening and try to get him to do all of his "business" then.  We discourage him from relieving himself in the garden.  He still leaves the the occasional pile here and there, but that's how it goes.  The most damage he does is when he is playing with another dog or chasing raccoons and he flies through the bushes.  He can get really destructive.  If you go to:  

http://bigpawsonly.com/index.php/topic,359.0.html

You will see that we can have a beautiful garden and a Newfoundland at the same time.  You just need to be vigilant, that's all I can say.  Work with your dog, they will eventually learn.

[jenncotton]

I've given up. . .  I have a back yard with no grass and holes the size of, well, a Saint Bernard. About All I can do now is pave over most of it. We are currently in the process of putting in a VERY large flagstone patio.

Good luck with your lanscaping  =)

[Jen]

Yeah thanks, you too!  I met with a landscape Designer this afternoon at her office, she is coming over our house on Thursday to begin a new dog friendly design for our home!  I explained our situation and she immediatly said "water features!"  Hum?? Yeah sounds right a fountain would be beautiful in the front, she also liked the idea of a tiered garden. building the garden up and away then having a cascading effect around the edges away from the digging and pee shooter!  So far I like the ideas.. actually I think I love it! Until I get the bill!

Jen

[mastiffmommy]

It sounds like a real nice garden you are planning, and hehe I am sure it wont be as pleasant when the bill comes. I have to tell you a little story about planting that did not work out as well as we expected. Many years ago, we bought a house and did major landscaping changes there, my cousin who is a landscaping designer, helpt us and did a wonderful job. Only one slight problem, as a border of a very long curved bed alongside the driveway, he planted catnip!!!!!!!! I was not very familiar with plants back then (not a great gardener now either lol..) so I had no idea it was catnip, until a fewweeks later when it got warm and nice and they really started to grow, then we had the entire cities cats laying on, in and around our flowerbed, not only did they sit and lay on it, they ate it, rubbed themselves on it and were about to give our dogs a heart attack, they liked our cats, but this was little too many of the feline kind for their taste lol....

Now, we have dogs that, knock on wood, are pretty good with our gardens. But we have concentrated our plantings to the frontyard, we really dont spend much time there, it is mostly a "look good spot". We and the dogs spend most time in the backyard, have about an acre fenced in with privacy fence, so they can run around and have a good time, and the kids can be there with them and play. The only place they are not allowed is the area around the pool. Mainly because it is fenced in and since they are outside on their own too , I would be worried they'd fall in and drown.

Good Luck to you and hopefully you wont faint when the bill hits you.

Marit