My backyard is really not mine, it belongs to my 2 dogs. They are both lab mixes under 2 yrs old, and have a doggie door so they are out playing in the yard a good part of every day. Ok, so some flowers get trampled, and there are toys strewn everywhere, but that's how I like it.
They love to run through, splash, and drink from the kiddie pool I got them this year. It sure is ugly and out of place though. I have always thought I wanted a water feature for the backyard, but I hadn't imagined it being made of blue plastic. Now I am thinking to ditch the kiddie pool, and build a pond with a waterfall big enough so they can run through that instead. I only wish I could build one big enough for them to swim in, but alas, my yard isn't that big. I think I will go prefab, because their nails are sharp. I can maybe do about 6 ft diameter, haven't picked out the shape yet.
Seems most advice about dogs and ponds is "how to keep them out of it". I am wondering, of people who have small ponds with active dogs running though it a lot, what can you put in it that can handle such abuse? I really don't know if I should plan on it being just a pool that looks pondlike, or if I can actually grow plants or even fish in it. Also, if no fish, plants, etc, I would imagine I would have to treat the water for algae, skeeters, etc, in a way that dogs could still drink from it. I have no idea what to use.
Any advice helpful!
Teresa
Dogs
With those size and active dogs...and your space restraints...I would advise just keeping a "pool" for the dogs and maybe putting rock or something around it to make it more pond like. I feel that you will have a really difficult time trying to maintain a balance water garden environment with those guys splashing around.
Actually, thinking about it, more like 8 ft diameter... would depend on the size of the prefabs, I guess. In case that makes any difference..
As long as you do a pond with a pump so the water is continuosly running you won't have skeeters. You could put some plants around it but I wouldn't put them in it. Most of the pond treatments that are sold today are safe for fish and pond plants. Check any labels to insure that they won't harm pets. I think you have a great idea, go for it. Go to Lowes or Home Depot to get one of the preformed hard plastic ponds that you sink in the ground. I've had mine for 6 years and nothing has scathed it, including my sisters golden retriever who decided to take a dip in it, in Feb. no less. After his dip he rolled around in the snow. He totally enjoyed himself. It was so funny to watch!
Good luck,
Anne
My dogs like to wade into my creek and pond, and since it is cement with rocks, they can't hurt it. I think you have a great idea. I wouldn't go with the fish, but a plant or two would still be OK, such as tall reeds or something that wouldn't spread across the surface and get trampled. I have a couple of plants near the shallow end where the dogs come in, but I have them surrounded with larger rocks to protect them. Good luck and please post pictures of your finished pond and swimming dogs!
Have you ever considered just a kiddy pool that you blow up? That way there is no digging, pump, filter, chemicals, etc. One filling of water should last a couple of days. With the dogs in it, the water will be active and I wouldn't worry about the skeeters.
Hap
I' ve always had at least one lab and m experience that any lab under 3 tears old is they
cannot be trusted around anything that they can tear up. Jake, my 10 year lab does not dig, lay in the flower beds, or swim in the pond. In fact he just mainly eats these days....oh and sleeps.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2005 11:16 PM
I designed my pond with the dogs in mind. Knowing full well that our older Australian Shepherd, Fran, would get in to the pond, I made our with a rock beach so she has easy access. It has a heavy layer of rock and gravel to protect the liner, but if I could do it over I'd do as Galega has done and cement the whole thing over the liner. (Maybe the next pond...) After the beach slopes down into the water a few feet, it drops off sharply. So far Fran hasn't gone further than that dropoff, since she can get fully wet in the shallow part. I keep that area free of plants and so far she hasn't felt the need to jump in from another side. She's not a youngster, though. And she's not a lab! LOL
Thanks everyone for all the advice. I like what Pixydish said about having a sloping beach, with rock and gravel over it. Just wondering, when you say "a heavy layer", how much is that?
I may give this some more thought, not start for a while, think about how big I want to make it. The beach thing seems like a better idea than the preforms I've seen, and I could probably make it bigger if I could customize the shape. The comments on older dogs was good too--makes me think... even if they are crazy now... maybe if I have a good size pond in a couple years when they are calmer I can start adding plants. I will just have to get it in, and see how it goes.
Here's a photo of the pond with the beach. The beach rock is just drain rock, mostly about 1-2 inches around, then pea gravel as well. If you make it slope down into the deep water, you'll have to somehow place large rocks to keep the smaller rocks and gravel from sliding down. I used mortar, but it didn't really work well at all. Now I'm wishing I had made more of a ledge and used really heavy rocks on the edge of it to keep the smaller ones from falling down into the deep water.
The 'heavy layer' I referred to is probably a double layer of drain rock. But I'm thinking more about using some larger rocks further down to keep the drain rock in place. The ones I have mortared onto the liner are not stable at all. Franny has taken to plunging into the pond a couple of times a day. I simply have to make it where she can do that without my getting anxious about it. Doggy toenails and my expensive liner do not mix!
Also, regarding how big: the bigger the better! I've never known anyone who wanted a 'smaller' pond than they had. My pond ended up being about 5 times bigger than I originally planned, but I love it and am glad it's so large. I had no idea of all the cool plants I could grow in a pond!
You might consider having a pondless waterfall with a small stream. That way you have the sound of waterfall for yourself and a splashing place for the dogs. you can always put in a bog area for plants along one side. The liner should be at least a 45 mill and then topped with rocks so it appears like a natural stream bed. The water would eventually disappear into the rocks at the end and pump back to the waterfall.
I have a pond with fish and plants, three dogs and two cats, but then mine aren't Labs! LOL!
Sheila