I have this problem with my dogs. One loves to lay in my elephant ear bed and I have come up with the idea of using wooden skewers to see how they work. Now if I can only fine a way to stop him from watering my plants :o

I will have to keep an eye on this post as well. My new Jack Russell puppy thinks my raised bed is his toybox and all my plants his chewtoys. Especially if it is windy and sees something move, it gets bitten off. I love my puppy but she is killing my plants.

Well........

My neighbor took a picture of the dog doing a doodie on his front lawn and then sent an email to all the neighbors in our HOA! Talk about embarrasing! Now everyone knows who's dog is pooping on THEIR lawn too! LOL... can't blame the dog... I bet your flower beds/lawn look and smell great to him! Blame the owner!

On a more serious note, there have been similar post here before that might help:

Problem with dogs and trying to garden

Gardening and Dogs

I've read about using pecan shell mulch for keeping cats out of your beds. I don't know why it wouldn't work for dogs as well...who likes to step on things that would hurt your feet!?
And...if anyone can come up with a solution to keep puppies out of the beds and chewing on leaves, let me know!! We have a new 4mo old chihuahua that hides quite well and you don't know she's been there until you see the damage. And when you do see her, she thinks it is a game while you are running and trying to reach her! Cute and frustrating...

They say it's just a wives' tale, but we have a neighbor who puts plastic bottles filled halfway with water around in his flower beds. He swears something about it keeps the dogs away. They have lids on them, so no problem with mosquitos. He says they've stopping pooping on his lawn since he took his aunt's advice and tried this. A gestapo HOA is not going to like plastic bottles any more than they will dog poop, though.

I'm not sure what will keep dogs out of the flower beds, however, I have noticed what attracts them to our lovely flowers...my dogs like the pine bark mulching and the fertilizers I have in the bed.
So...I'v decided in my backyard, I would create a 'mini' dog park for them. If they like the flowers, fine...I'll place the overage of the main bed in front to the back...making pine bark mulch walkways...the doggie doo is easier to see and clean up. I have old iron ore rocks that outline the flowers...my Yorkie loves to teter on the rocks and feels like he has climbed that forbidden mountain. My little cocker spaniel (blind) likes the rocks because it leads her to the back of the yard for her favorite place to sniff. Still more work to do...and I want to place little statuary around for more doggie fun. Sorry for rambling...

Dogs generally don't like to be near fresh poops so put them where you want to keep dogs out. At least that's what I did with mine to keep my dog from digging up the young tree. I just put dog doo doo on the mulches and he just stays away.

Ooh we actually tried that when we began putting 1-gallon plants in the backyard years ago, and it worked. They didn't get near them.

My husband and I have tried lots of different ideas, trying to keep up with our digging, chewing 15-month-old Golden Retriever. I do have to admit that since our dog is outside-only, and in a fenced back yard, we have given up on the flowerbeds for now. However, these ideas will probably work better on visitor dogs. ;-)

Ground pepper, sprinkled on and around plants, works pretty well. You do have to re-apply it every few days and after it rains or you water. If you don't have pepper on hand, try chili powder or cayenne pepper or garlic powder. They all irritate the dog's nose and he/she will keep some distance.

Tabasco sauce and Lysol both work on things that are being chewed. Again, don't make the mistake of thinking one application is going to work forever. ;-)

The only thing I ever did that worked was to put up wire fencing. You can do it fairly quickly and easily with small metal posts and wire fencing.

Not great looking. Although once they get used to the idea, you can go with some of that white or green colored stuff that is basically decorative and they will probably stay out of it.

Not a great solution, just depends on how much you want to keep them out of the beds.

I agree with patriotizm! I always had a problem with our puppy laying in the cool fertilized soil using my flowers as his pillow! :(
Then I tried some chili powder and never had the problem again!

All the neighborhood cats were using my beds as a litter box. I read that ORANGE PEELS would keep dogs and cats out. I tried it and it absolutly worked. Can't promise it will work as well for dogs - but you might give it a try. It sure smells better than poop and one always needs an excuse for a fresh drink of orange juice eh?

Yes, orange peels do work. We used to have a Siberian Husky who loved laying in a particular flower bed. I couldn't keep anything growing in there because she would flatten it. Then, everytime I ate an orange or other citrus, I would sprinkle the peels in that garden. She stayed out of it and things began to grow again. My bassett hound used to lay in the sun on my patch of oregano. So, it isn't necessarily a cool spot in the shade where the dog is attracted. I think she liked the smell. ;-) It made a real soft spot for her. She didn't hurt the oregano too bad, but again, orange peels kept her off of it.

Great suggestions. I'll have to share them with friends of ours. HE has two young bird dogs; SHE, a nicely prepared flower bed with roses - with electric wire around it. Both gone and a 10 day trip, returned to find two of the favorite rose bushes dug up--and they had been there a while!! One morning HE took the dogs to the backyard to excise and do their daily. HE turned and looked and behold! young dog was down on BELLY and all-fours, marine style, going under the electric fence like a true soldier. HE could only laugh as he watched how the dog meticulously worked his way under the fence. Fence now has two wires. They need to know these solutions--BADLY!
Weldon
p.s. They want to buy new roses from me. Should dog and I go in cahoots????

We use mouse traps to train the dogs to stay off the sofa, the beds, the flowerbeds.

Buy a bunch of little mouse traps. NOT RAT TRAPS! Then set them ALL with no bait, and put them in the space you want to train the dogs to not get into/on. When the dogs go into this area, the nouse traps will spring and scare the poor pooches, but won't hurt them. The dogs move faster than the mouse traps, and the traps are not that strong.

You may have to re-set them a couple of times, and leave some of them once you have accomplished what you set out to do.

Dobermans are probably the most hard headed dogs in the world, and I have used this method to train many dobermans to stay out of my gardens.

Good luck!

Janie

I have had to give up on my gardens also (inside the fence). Something I want to try since our dog loves to dig and bury things is to buy one of those sand boxes and mix with dirt and sand to give him his own special dig place. Now if I could figure out how to get him not to tinkle on the wall in our breezeway I would be so excited!

Please let me know if you get your dog trained to not tinkle on your wall because we have one dog who prefers to poo and pee on our patio. Thank goodness for plastic bags for pick up and the hose to wash away the pee!

Hope I haven't gone too far off topic, but I was reading about how to kill ants and someone said they perk a full coffee pot of coffee with the old morning grounds and pours this over ants. Thought I might try this on the brick wall our dog tinkles on to see if the smell will discourage. I'll let you know.....

I live next door to Miss Austin. Unfortunately she had the impression that she didn't have to pick up behind her dogs or keep them on a leash.

I put down a cayenne pepper based powder to keep her dogs out of my garden and yard because I was sick to death of her dogs ruining my plants and killing my grass.

They seem to have lived through it.

We don't have dogs of our own only cats and fish. We live in the city and the "parkway strip" although it belongs to the city because of access to water and gas stuff most gardeners plant it up with something if only grass. We are trying to have grass. Two people down the street insist on walking with their two dogs on our strip of grass. We have asked them nicely to please keep their dogs off the grass. their response - "It's not your property it belongs to the city you don't pay taxes on it" Who do they think plants the grass and mows it and waters it? I'm all for planting cactus. My husband is determined to have grass. These two jerks have trained their dogs to use our grass and trees as fire hydrants and they get a big kick out of it when their dogs kick all the mulch onto the sidewalk for us to clean up. I'm afraid that my husband is going to have a stroke literally. He now has to take valium to get to sleep because they have him so worked up.

Any suggestions short of shoting these two jerks?

Thanks,
Rosalie

I have a firepit area that is covered with pea gravel. My dogs love to use that area to leave their poop bombs. Any suggestions of how I can stop them from doing this???

I cleaned up a favorite dog spot by just scooping and tossing it where the

Dog owners walk. It worked or they moved away.

My dogs are my secret ingredient in fertilizing my back yard. Their poops are small, get buried in the leaf litter, and decompose quickly with the help of all the bugs, worms, and microorganisms. Things grow like crazy in my back yard. I swear it's the pet wastes in the mix.

I am trying to save a gardenia in my yard that may have a pest issue (using horticultural oil) but husband mentioned that our dog always sniffs the bush when she goes out...as if she is smelling what another dog has left behind? so I am now concerned that someone may be peeing on this bush and causing the yellowing leaves. I thought about making a chicken wire cage to go around it but worry that the dog will just pee on the cage. Obviously our yard is not fenced in. Will pee cause yellowing leaves on a gardenia and if so any ideas on how to stop the roaming dog from peeing on my gardenia?