I don't worry about my dog eating poisonous plants in my garden, although he's a digger and a chewer. He samples an occasional viburnum, and digs up anything in the cabbage family, including, most recently, several young transplants of crambe cordifolia, and he certainly likes grass. The list of poisonous plants is very long, and it would be difficult to make a garden that was really non-toxic that was anything but a veggie garden.

{{gwi:1071496}}
Would I take chances with this guy?

I think dogs have built-in sense that kids (and other humans) may lack; he's never gotten ill from anything in the garden, except a fuzzy-bear caterpillar he sampled at a young age - which DID almost kill him. I grow datura and castor bean plant (ricinus), two highly poisonous plants, and he just doesn't touch them.

If I plant anything near the fence, the dog would stand on it trying to see out the fence. I hope your fence isn't a picket like mine. :)

My dog doesn't eat plants, thank goodness. But she does plenty of damage by running things over or jumping off the patio onto things. The dog friendly garden is a complicated project!

Thanks for your posts!
The front of my fence is cedar...the rest is the best-looking black chain-link I could find, which isn't saying much, but doing cedar all around would have been way out of budget and after polling the neighbors, they preferred the chain-link so their view of the pond wouldn't be blocked. So....you can all see why am so focused on planting something nice-looking to hide it - chain link - ugh.

Yes, the dog-friendly garden does appear to be a challenge. I am hopeful that my new guy will be smart enough to know not to chew - so far he has not touched my clemetis (on the toxic list) which has taken me 2 years to find the right spot for and this year has finally taken off - and I just discoved that creeping charlie is also on the toxic list and yard is full of that (not saying much for my gardneing skills, but we have only been here 2 years and I was doing a lot on the inside :) - but I am going to attempt to plant the rest with "safe" plants and leave the un-fenced ares to the fragile, unique and toxic specimans.
Speaking of which - "digging the dirt" mentioned that he/she has planted datura - my mother just sent me seeds for something she called "moon flowers" - which my research has told me is in the nightshade/morning glory family and the top of the toxic list. Is this what you have? and the dog really leaves it alone? I would like some advice in starting this plant (but outside the fence area - my nerves just couldn't take it if I thougth the dogs might eat it :). My mom - in Ohio - says to just soak the seeds and plant it and it can't fail, but I have read that it's kind of tricky in the New England area. Does it get full sun, partial? My mom did have a lot of info - she says it does great in her yard for both. Everyone in the neighborhood I grew up in has this flower - it started with an older woman who shared seeds - and it's tradition to pass it around. I love the idea of passing it around, but it's interesting to me that none of them know that they are passing around something super toxic. But I guess I survived the neighborhood as a kid and it didn't do me in :)
Thanks for all your help! I'm a new gardener who definitetly needs advice :)
Kathy
P.S. I would include a pic of my dogs, but I don't know how - yours is beautiful!

I have grown moonflower, and never knew it was toxic. I think some people go overboard in worrying about what plants are toxic to people or dogs. In most cases, the dog would have to eat an extraordinary amount of the plant before getting sick.

The best thing to do is to train your dog to stay out of your plants. It's hard to have a garden with a dog digging, trampling, and pulling out plants. I trained my lab with a leash and treats, walking the perimeter of the garden. She got rewards when she didn't cross certain lines. Now, she stays completely out of the garden, and will come to a skidding halt even when chasing her frisbee that has landed in the garden. She has never eaten any plants (except grass) because she hasn't had the opportunity. Even shrubs and flowers around the yard that aren't technically part of the garden are never touched because she knows they're important to me and are taboo for her. It may sound silly to some, but teaching your dog to respect you and imposing limits goes a long way toward their behavior and habits.

I agree that training is the key. Of course, it's easy for me to say, since my dog only weighs 18 pounds and the worst thing she does is take shelter under the hostas. :-) My nieghbors, on the other hand, have a dog who loves to systematically destroy gardens and will purposefully dig out specific plants and tear them to shreds. Their new solution seems to be to let the dog roam the neighborhood rather than confining it to their own yard. So now I have to police someone else's untrained dog in my front garden, where my own dog isn't even allowed to go.

But I digress. Weeds, in the long run it will be cheaper and easier to train the bad behavior out of your dog than to try to garden around it.

Hi, I have added a link that I consult regularly for toxic plants, but training and supervision of the dogs in the yard are key. I inherited some toxic plants in the doggy play area and am in the process of moving them to other places, but the dogs have not munched on them at all. I just err on the side of caution.

I have greyhounds and the worst plant related injury we have had so far has been a ten inch rip from a very thorny inherited rose bush. Ouch!

That rose has been moved (hope it survives)and the staples are out.

Gillian, and the greyhound Therapy Dogs (we love our volunteer work!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Toxic plants

Since I have 2 Newfies I can relate to this question. Everyone above has made some good suggestions. For me there are 3 things I do. First and foremost, I make cages out of that inexpensive green wire fencing that HD sells. The shrubs and flowers that I most prize, or that are in a major display area, are caged. Why make myself crazy or annoyed? Secondly I use lots of lower to the ground perennials as fillers. In general they can be stepped on and will bounce back. Thirdly, I do train. Every person is different, but I like the command "Places". Each of my Newfs have a Place where they are encouraged to sit or lay down-both inside the house and outside. I use it daily when I just want theses big 100lb+ dogs out of my way. "Go to your Places" is what I tell them...and they will go to their spots. Inside the house they go to their places when I want them out from under my feet when I am cooking etc. The trick is keeping them there-but they are generally good for at least 15-20 minutes. A dog trainer would tell you that they should not move until you give them a release command like OK etc, but, well, my dogs eventually get up and by then I have usually accomplised what I needed to do. Having a serious garden with a dog is a bit of a challenge-but for me the rewards are priceless.
Carole

Wow, 2 newfies! Now I get your moniker, newfiewoofie. I like the idea of the "places" command - it would be useful when we sit down to dinner; if there are guests, Oliver likes to try to entertain them by curling up at their feet and stealing the napkins off their laps.

I use the wire cages trick, too. I buy the little fence panels that are quite inexpensive (under $5 at the hardware store) that are sort of hinged sections of green wire, and set them up as triangles around newly planted things.

On an older thread here there was a good discussion on this topic. Someone mentioned that it was a good idea to acknowledge dogs' paths through the yard. They DO need to be able to get around on their turf, and letting them pick the paths themselves seems to make life much easier.

After 2 years with this particular dog, his paths are evident and I don't bother planting in them - the paths cut across gardens and lead into to the shrubs behind most of my plantings, and I tolerate them rather than trying to keep my dog from getting to those shrubs. He likes to lay in the shade, and needs to be able to patrol the perimeter - no sense fighting it when he's otherwise cooperative. I use his paths for my own access to the backs of the beds, so they serve a double purpose, and they're all but invisible when things have grown in in spring.