# Puppy proofing the garden



## Pip (Jul 22, 2011)

I'm in the process of making our place as puppy friendly as possible at the moment and I was hoping for some advice.

We're going to put up a temporary fence around the border of the garden until Milly is too big to fit through the gaps in the hedge. But I have 3 veg beds that I would much rather she couldn't get at! The barrier just needs to hold her until I can distract her with a toy since they need to be removable so I can weed and water. 

Also do you think I need to lift all the garlic plants?


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## dogtastic (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi Pip

I will look forward to others advice as we are having problems with Biscuit in the garden. We have high fences so she can't get out but she is eating plants, pulling up turf and trying to eat the gravel which we have at the edge of the patio. If we say no she thinks it's a game and it escalates into worse behaviour 

Sometimes distracting her with a toy works and we are now using chicken to 'trade' whatever she has got that we don't want her to have, but obviously not every time otherwise she will simply rip out a plant to get a reward  It's a battle that I feel we're not winning at the moment. It would be so nice to chill out in the sunshine but the furry beast has other ideas  

If we had a veg patch she would definately have scoffed the lot by now! Hope you get some answers. Best wishes, Karen x


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Dexter used to be terrible at eating everything in the garden- I'm glad to say he is now completely out of that stage and is now very fussy about what he puts in his mouth.


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## Pip (Jul 22, 2011)

Karen - I'm thinking that the sweetcorn plants are going to be too much of a temptation! Big leaves and tasseled heads blowing around in the wind... What self-respecting puppy could resist? And I hadn't even considered the gravel with the alpines, meep. I think we're going to have a steep learning curve!

Tessybear - at what age did Dexter become more discerning?


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

I fenced off part of the garden to protect my flower beds etc ( nothing fancy
just some bamboo poles and chicken wire ). it worked fine but in the end I just felt too mean not letting Betty have free run of the garden - needless to say the flower beds are destroyed. I also have numerous holes in the lawn as Betty just LOVES to dig ( she is very light coloured but often appears with a BLACK face and paws!!!) She has a very funnyhabit of paddling in her water bowl - strange dog
I have resigned myself to a not so perfect garden this year - it will all grow again next year by which time she may have grown out of it ( well, one can hope!!)
Colinx


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## Pip (Jul 22, 2011)

colpa110 said:


> I fenced off part of the garden to protect my flower beds etc ( nothing fancy
> just some bamboo poles and chicken wire ). it worked fine but in the end I just felt too mean not letting Betty have free run of the garden - needless to say the flower beds are destroyed. I also have numerous holes in the lawn as Betty just LOVES to dig ( she is very light coloured but often appears with a BLACK face and paws!!!) She has a very funnyhabit of paddling in her water bowl - strange dog
> I have resigned myself to a not so perfect garden this year - it will all grow again next year by which time she may have grown out of it ( well, one can hope!!)
> Colinx


LOL at the black face and paws. Mud pies anyone? The chicken wire and bamboo canes would work well as I could roll back sections for access.


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## caradunne (Nov 29, 2010)

Through necessity we became garden protection experts! Izzy had a serious gut problem for a couple of months and we had to be very careful about what she was eating. Gravel is dangerous and can cause serious health problems, so make sure the puppy can't eat it - Izzy ate lots of small stones, she just hoovered them up every where we went, in the end the vet said she must wear a muzzle to stop her. We put chicken wire fence around the pond and flower beds with wooden 1 inch by 1 inch poles (home made) for support - we stapled the fence to the wood. When she was about 5/6 months old she jumped over the chicken wire, so we had to buy more expensive fencing. Everything was removed when she was about 10 months old. She could then get to the flower beds and ate the bark chippings, but they didn't seem to do her any harm! Vet wasn't bothered about that. It was a real pain and I just gave up with the garden last year. She is now 14 months old and really doesn't bother with anything now.


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## dogtastic (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi Cara

There is some hope then that Biscuit might grow out of this then ... even if it takes a long time. It was such gorgeous weather today but attempting to sit in the garden is stress inducing to say the least! 

Can't wait to be able to get out on walks as I'm sure she's bored daft with the garden - at least then we can actually enjoy the sunshine for brief periods of time  Best wishes, Karen x


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## mrsmac (May 10, 2011)

we now have no plants left in the garden and several large holes!!! Maisie loves to dig too, today she decided to dig up a whole ants nest they were crawling all over her it took me ages to get them all out of her fur  Maisie is now four months, hope she will grow out of gardening soon although it saves me having to cut the grass as often


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