Specialty Gardening: What's a Cottage Garden Without a Dog?, 1 by dryad57

dryad57 wrote:
Thanks for starting this Wrightie! We have three small dogs, two of whom are convinced squirrels were invented simply to torment dogs. All our dogs are from rescue, the third one was in a puppy mill for 5 years so she pretty much wanders around just smelling things. I tried the little tacky green wire thingies to keep the smallest one (5 pound holy terror Chihuahua) from running up and down the fence - busting all my dwarf evergreens and tromping the perennials and annuals. All that did was slow her down - sort of like installing a little race-course chicane... Next I started putting 12" bamboo stakes in strategic places to interrupt her chicane - so that the running just wasn't fun any longer. She's now stopped running the fence and has chosen a few specific places to either stand or shove her nose underneath - all in an attempt to get to our neighbor's happy, bouncy Golden Retriever. The other dog doesn't really pay any attention at all to whatever she's tromping on as she's always looking up for squirrels - LOL!

That's the back yard. The front yard this year is being turned into a cottage garden, so we'll see how the neighborhood cats, dogs, squirrels and bunnies react - and how I react to them! I am a lot like drivenbonkers - standing and yelling at the dogs to "GET OUT OF MY PLANTS!!!" as if they understand.....but it sure makes me feel better!

Here's a pic of the 5 pound terror wondering why I can't get work done while she's in my lap.....odd how she doesn't come running when I'm yelling at her to get out of my plants.....she's also the one who will actually start suffering from constipation if the grass is too long and tickles her butt....not only do I have to keep my plants the way I like them, we have to keep the grass in the back "just so" or it's not the right length!