We've never had a problem with alfalfa, or alfalfa tea -- but when we use horse manure, or fish emulsion, the roses in the main yard don't get any.

We once bought a bunch of Mills Magic Rose Mix. What a DISASTER.
The Dalmatians ate every scrap of the stuff.
The only GOOD thing I can say about that adventure is that it sure firmed up the solid waste output.

Jeri

That is what i am thinking today as i am fertilizing the yard and roses today. I am using milorganite,bone meal, and sulpomag. I am really curious as to what critters may come calling with all that bonemeal!

My roses are new this year, and I put some bone meal around them. The dogs went digging happy. They would even roll in the soil under the roses, so after replanting some of my roses I just used compost. Next year I will either have to put up some sort of fence or use regular fert..

Years ago I tried blood meal and bone meal. The neighbors black labrador dug up my plants out front and skunks,bears or raccoons dug up bulbs out back!!! :0) Horse manure smells a lot when first put down, but I get no reaction from the wildlife. It can also be made into a tea. Fish emulsion is sprayed onto foliage to keep the deer from eating it and it works as a fertilizer the wildlife leave alone. It must vary, reading prior posts....

I use Rosetone. I have to water it in well right after I put it down, and even then I have to watch my dogs and stop them from eating it. What I did last time was have my husband walk around behind me with the hose while I spread the fertilizer. If I can keep them away from it for a day then they'll lose interest. I tried blood meal once to keep the rabbits away from my raspberries and my dog was so excited that she dug up my raspberry plant and ate it. I found out what she had done when she threw it up inside the house (it was also covered in hot pepper spray).

Use a spading fork or dibble to make deep holes around the drip line of the bush. Carefully pour the dog treat fertilizer in the holes then cover the holes with soil. Besides getting it down to the root area, the covering soil may cover the smell of the products enough so the critters don't bother them. A light sprinkle of household ammonia or some moth balls or crystals over the area will also mask the smell.

Hoover once ate several pounds of Milorganite. His breath was--memorable--and he was very unhappy for a couple of days.

He and The Princess will both unscrew the cap off of the fish emulsion bottle by licking it, and then carefully lick down inside the bottle until it is sparkling clean.

It never occurs to them to knock the bottle over and really have some fun. You have not smelled dog breath until you've smelled dog breath mixed with fish emulsion. Whew!

Now I stick with alfalfa meal and am very careful to put the fish emulsion bottle out of reach.

I use Rosetone too...I follow the package and scratch it into the soil around the roses. I then re-cover the area with mulch. I have not had a problem withmy 3 dogs getting into it (they sniff, that's all...) or with my cats either (a couple like to come outside visit the rose garden as there are some catnip plants around the edges)...

This thread is a hoot! I thought it was just my dogs - Roscoe, Daisy, Rufus and Raleigh that went crazy for fish emulsion. I would have guessed it was a "cat thing" but they chewed the top off the jug of FE and licked as far down into the jug as they could get their tongues too. I've started putting the FE out just before it rains and yes, sometimes while it's raining. It doesn't rain often enough these days but it seems to help the problems with the dogs by diluting the smell, I guess.

I only put out the alfalfa, blood meal, & bone meal in the form of the alfalfa brew that stews in a garbage can for a couple of weeks in the hot sun. The dogs will smell around it but they don't try to eat it like they do when I put it out straight from the bag.

Yesterday I found my mini Schnauzer Raleigh eating a honeydew melon rind (covered in coffee grounds too) that he stole from the compost bin. I think he's part goat.

Our dog loves to get into my bag of bonemeal. I only use Bonemeal at planting time (in the hole) and to be safe put a wire cage around it until established. She doesn't seem to be attracted to rosetone (or tree tone, it's cheaper). Those are the only 2 fertilizers I generally use for roses. More than that is more work than I need (but when I spread it I really use a lot (50lbs of treetone all in May).

Thanks for all the advice. Obviously, I'm not the only one with perpetually hungry dogs. It always amazes me what they'll consider food. I won't even try fish emulsion. I laughed myself silly with Hoovb's story about his dogs licking open the bottle. It's a good thing our dogs can't see this post--they'd get ideas from each other!

Using the fork to dig holes is a good idea. I'll have to try that this winter.

Debbie

After reading all this, I am very happy to be a cat person!

I've had the same problem. My yellow lab eats Rose Tone, Mills Magic, you name it. Mixing fish emulsion is a drag--and expensive. The one thing she won't go near in the house is citrus. She hates the smell of a lemon or an orange peel. Maybe I should just pour diluted orange juice on top of the Rosetone. Do you think that would make the soil around a rose too acid? I may still experiment next spring.

Cats have far more discerning taste.

Like Karl I put the organics "underground"; if soil is damp a broom handle makes a nice deep hole. Rather than moth balls/crystals which might be toxic to some lifeforms, I scatter chopped orange rind and coffee on the surface of the soil and THEN I put the mulch back. Now I'm up to 40 roses I've divided the garden in three sections, as thw whole operation is mighty time-consuming!

Barbara -- Underground is vulnerable, here.
If a Dalmatian wants something, and the something is located below ground,
the Dalmatian takes direct action:

{{gwi:317648}}

Jeri