We are just about to start doing our garden, I have 3 dogs, Staffy, Greyhound and Lurcher (who digs )

I am thinking about using shail for most of the garden except for flower beds, which are going to have meash underneath and bark chipping (so Bob cant dig) Just wondering what you have in you gardens, and what would you recomend?

Also, I know there are some toxic plants to dogs, can anyone twll me what to avoid, thank you.

All garden bulbs can make dogs very ill, especially in puppies can be fatal; I.e Lilly of the Valley, Daffodil, Hycinth, Amaryllis and Caldium.  Other common plants which can be harmfull or Lethal;
Belladonna, Caster Bean Plant, Christmas Rose, Delphinium, Deadly Nightshade, Henbane, Foxglove, Jimsonweed, Oleander, Rhododendron/ Azalea, Monkshood, Poison Hemlock, Poinsettia, Yew, Wild Black Cherry.

Didnt bother with Latin Names:rolleyes:

Didnt realise Azaleas were harmful, my puppy ate my prize one last year...Thankfully with no harmful side affects.

Theres a few more plants that havent been listed above.
have a look here :)
http://www.thepoop.com/poisonous.asp

Thanks for replying.

I want shale insted of a lawn, but I am afraid in case it hurts the dogs paws, as it is quite chunky,  but what attracted me to this is that if Bob starts to dig and if it does hurt his paws it will put him of digging??? will the weed depressant stand a dog digging or will it rip, just its pretty expensive just to go buy and find out he can rip it and carry on digging, thanks again

I have weed suppressant down underneath my gravel, and unfortunately it does rip if my jcb (kai) decides to dig there. which thankfully now is not very often.

make sure the gravel is big enough too because cats can think it is a massive litter tray!

because cats can think it is a massive litter tray!
Oh yes!!!!!!!! 14mm is a good size, flat if you can get it, round is harder to walk on. 20mm looks like you should park your car on it!!!!. 10mm is the litter tray :D
Lea :)

The semi permiable membrane you get thats thin and like fleecy is no good for dogs.(I dont rate it full stop as it only lasts a few years and dont use it.)
You can get the semi permiable membrane that is plasticy. Like The Stuff they put on the bottom of sofas. (It is the same stuff)
Very durable and the dog wouldn't be able to get through it very easily at all. It needs to be over lapped and if it is a large garden you are better off getting 2m wide rolls than 1/2m wide rolls. The wider it is the less joins needed the harder it is to dig up ;)
Oh and dont be fooled into uysing just black polythene, or any old plastic you can find. You will have to redo it in a year as the plastic rots and the weeds still come through.
HTH
Lea :)

Hi

Remember shale/gravel is a bugger to clean poo off. Had it were I use to work and you would have to take a load of stones with every pickup.

Unless you train your lot not to go on it of course

I have gone for washable paving with lots of pots. Occasionally the JRT will have a dig in a pot but not that often

Wendy

The only safe recourse for me was concrete and window boxes/pots on top of the shed well out of the dog's reach. The shar-pei were no problem, but my TM was only here 3 hours and he dug an impressively large hole for a 12 week old pup, uprooted the conifers and dragged them into the house. The window boxes on the windowsills only lasted as long as he couldn't reach them (about a month). :D

I would think shale would be rough on the paws as some pieces can be sharp. And pebbles can be a bit of a nightmare for several reasons (picking up poop out of it, you need about 5 times as much as you think you're going to in order not to see the lining underneath and some dogs are stone eaters). I should imagine shale has the same problems. Don't forget, never use cocoa shell as a mulch as it's toxic to dogs.

Years ago we had a lovely chow, but we nicknamed him 'agent orange' as he totally flattened every bit of vegetation in the back garden within a month. I found the best solution is to confine your nice plants to the front garden and just concrete or flag the back for the dogs.

>Agent orange<

:D :D :D :D

An idea I really like the sound of that I read about recently was having a dog sandpit in the garden where the dog can dig for it's life with no detremental effects on your lawn... does anyone have any experience or advice on this?

i wonder if they will build sand castles?

roflmao :D :D :D

Thankyou everyone, you have given me a lot to go on, this is my 1st house, as I lived in a flat before.  I want a low maintanace garden which is also dog friendly, I think I will just pave it insted as like many of you have said ther are a few problems with shail or pebbles, i.e poo picking etc.  I have a yard too but only one dog will do his business the other too look at like I am crazy, as I have tried to make them go in their insted of letting them in the garden when it is wet, as they trail mud through  the house. 

I think I will stick to potted plants and a few raised flowerbeds,

Thanks again.
Sheli