I am having the same problem this year! And never have in the past. I've been using a mixture of Dawn and tap water in a spray bottle, but I recently noticed some spider mites as well so I bought Ortho Mathalion concentrate. It's too soon to tell, but I'm not convinced it's working. I'm intrigued by the lady bug information. Is it helping?

If your dogs are anything like my male than I would say a firm No every time it happens won't be enough to get them to stop. Marking is an instinct and becomes a very strong habit. Do they mark other things when you take them on walks? You could try rabbit & dog repellant but I'm not sure it would work. I read somewhere that hosta stand up very well to waterings from dogs. Maybe you could plant a ring of large growing hosta around it as a sort of barrier. I feel your pain. I have ugly chicken wire around my gardens in the yard and I hate it but it's necessary to keep my dogs out. Even still, my male will sometimes lift his leg on the fencing as I cringe and look the other way.. And the new lilac I planted (after having been watered a few times) has picnic table benches around it as a temporary barrier until I figure out something better.

I hate it when dogs get BER. ;) Dogs love organic fertilizers for sure, but they don't even have to have bone or fish or blood in them. My dog loves to snarfle up anything poop based. Especially chicken poo, though horse is also favorite. Thus one of many reasons we have a strict "no dogs in the garden" policy. Also no dogs in the compost heap.

Morning All, Hi Anney....long time no talkee!! This is the first year I've used the clips and I really like them. Timmy1 is a commercial grower and uses them so I'm sure they work just fine. Pruning concentrates the growth in that one stem so it gives you a stronger central stem. Pruning the suckers also gives you less fruit per plant but supposedly bigger fruit. Plus, at least in my case, it makes it easier to manage your plants. I'm sure the experts...Digdirt, Carolyn137, Timmy1, and a host of others can give you other reasons for pruning. This is my third year just using the twine and have never had a problem with support, even with heavy fruit loads on the plants. I would think cantalopes would need extra support like nylon stockings...stick the melon in the stocking then tie it off to whatever is supporting the twine. I "top" my plants when they hit my support bar which is at 6 feet. Yes, Yorkies are diggers. They were originally bred to go down badger holes to root them out. Tough little critters!!!