Chantell -- I can't visualize the fencing you are describing. Does it come in free-standing units????
What's a Cottage Garden Without a Dog?
Yes, it is...you can attach as many as needed...not saying mine couldn't jump it if they "NEEDED" to...but they will avoid it
What you describe sounds like the dark green ones that John bought last week at Lowe's. I am not sure of the maker's name, but these look pretty good too. We are doing what a lot of you are doing - protecting our hard work from awgie dawgies. Knock on wood, we haven't had too much of a problem while having dawgs and plants trying to co-exist.
John tells me that the cost of these run about $10.00 per ten foot width. They are also 32 inches high. Some of you might want to check this out also.
If it doesn't rain today and is fairly warm, I might attack our greenhouse and clean it out and organize. We are also expecting a rather large order of four plant collections that we bought last week. That will certainly find at least one of us, if not both of us busy planting, planting, planting. These will go in a space where the dogs cannot get to.
Sounds like everyone is busy, busy, busy. Have fun.
Ruby
Hmm if anyone finds a link to these fence panels or can post a photo, I'd be grateful!
wrightie - I'll take a pic tonight...but just check out your Walmart's lawn and garden dept - they have them their of varying sizes etc.
Ok Wrightie...pics as promised - shot #1
Shot #2 - please excuse yard...work in progress...LOL
Tag - just in case it's any help
Oh, Yeah, those will stop a Great Dane puppy! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!
(Sorry Chantell, I couldn't resist. :)) The fences are darling, though. I wouldn't mind having some sections myself.)
Of course it will...for the next week and a half...LOL. My big bad Rottie would be scared to death to try and jump it...even though she'd be able to. God forbid it fell on her or around her and made a loud noise...LOL. She discovered bird seed around ground beneath feeder over the winter...thought it was her personal snack station...grrrr!! Thus the fence in the back yard. The pics are of the 3 I put in the front yard for MG's
Now, whaaaaaaat? Those short fence sections will grow Morning Glories? I thought they got like 10 feet tall....I need to hear about this, seriously!!
How can I do it here? Wow,that would be fantastic!
Suzy
This message was edited Apr 2, 2008 4:37 PM
Chantell - where did you get those? I'm with Illoquin, I like 'em!! There's no way they'd work for our dogs (chihuahuas would go right through them) but they would be great for my front yard.
I'm no expert on MG...but they'll grow on what you give them...I may have a huge mess by July...who knows...but I thought I'd guide them at an angle horizontally and then back again...it's a science project...LOL
They have copper colored ones in smaller sizes...matter a fact - they have both colors in 3-4 diff. designs and sizes...at Walmart.
Oh, that's not what I had envisioned at all, Chantell. Thanks for the pic's!!! I tried googling them and didn't get any hits like your fence. Actually, I think that it would be a fine barrier for training the puppy to respect the garden and it sure looks better than the carpy stuff that I have in rolls. All I need is enough of a de-markation line to communicate to him what is on/off limits. (okay, I say that now, but I may eat those words! lol) I'm afraid to check the prices. I would probably need at least 150 ft of fencing.
BTW, I've had MG's growing horizontally along a low picket fence and it was a gorgeous look. I'm liking that idea a lot with this fence as it would create a better visual for naughty puppies and allow them to put the brakes on before crashing through it. Of course, I bet that those MG's would make wonderful TUG TOYS, TOO! =p
Tug toys too...ROTFLOL - price per section was $3.97 - width 25.5"
Yikes...I won't complain about the 8 or 9 I had to pick up...
I've had MG grow all over one section of my garden and try to take over.........the thugs..:( however, a little buckwheat, a little tilling, a very close encounter with some very unhappy bees and no more MGs........life was good!!! LOL
buckwheat?? tilling?? do tell!! (sorry for the hijack!)
So now that it's all sunny and warmer the dogs are barking like they "must" go out - and we know darn good and well it's because it's lovely outside and they're hoping to catch a squirrel (riiiiight...) Then I look out the back and lo and behold, there's the smallest terror (see the pic of her near the top of this thread, dressed as a cow for Halloween...) IN BETWEEN the privacy fence and the little green thingies I had out to keep her OUT of those perrenials and mud (haven't mulched there yet....). Standing and looking at me like "what??" So I drug out a couple more sections of the green pretend-fencing that I had sitting in the garage and put those out - she was walking right in between the wire pickets - little stinker. I'm almost tempted to overfeed her so that she's too pudgy to get through :) I have no idea what she was doing back there - she's usually running the north fence trying to get to the golden retriever on the other side.
I read somewhere that dogs don't really understand size, so tiny dogs really don't know that they aren't the size of that dobie that they really want to take down. Thank heavens the neighbors are as wonderful as their dog - they get the biggest kick out of Roxie trying to "get" to Boston (their dog, not the city). We're going to arrange a meeting of the dogs this summer and then take them on walks together - hoping that the yodeling between the two of them quiets down a bit if they know each other better...
Wrightie, I think you're right... anything that's a visible barrier will work for training. An effective physical barrier would look like the fence around a prison yard... but that's not what you need (with any luck at all, LOL). We trained our golden retriever to stay out of the garden with 2 foot wooden stakes strung between with string. Not rope, string. Butcher's twine, actually. Granted, she was smaller than your pooch will be... but she was also not the brightest crayon in the box, by a long shot (very sweet, very friendly, lovely dog -- but dim). If she could be trained, so can Zeb!
Well, it would certainly be less expensive to go with wooden stakes and string, now that you mention it. And MG's would grow along string, too.
So far, the Z-Cat has been a total dream with regard to training. At barely 12 wks of age, we have been going for daily walks on a loose lead and flat collar, and he is very responsive to Leave It, Sit, Stand, Come and walking on his 'boardwalk' ... I'm delighted with him!
Loose lead?? Whats that? Addy is pulling the dogsled for crying out loud. Well, a little better, on the neighborhood street, but forget a park.
Visual, agree. One buzz from the elec fence and Addy thinks little white flags are the devil's doing.
Tell you what else they cant tell- time. I was out in the yard this AM, had to get something from the van so in she goes, so I left the sliding door wide open, and.....puttering awayfor ??? long, there she still sitrs in the driver seat- "dog park?"
so wirghtie- try some stakes and string / flags first !! he sounds so amenable, maybe that'll do.
About "electricity":
I finally had to resort to a shock mat on my countertops in the kitchen to keep the cats off. Evven after 6 months, they are smart enough that they will get back on when I remove the mat. So I guess it will stay there permanently. Every now and then I forget it's there and lean on it and shock myself. Uncomfortable, but not so uncomfortable that I don't do it again every couple of weeks or so. LOL
The good thing is that I feel much less sympathy for the cats. It's irritating, but not intolerable.
Here's a lame question -- anyone know where I can find a whole bunch of Wooden stakes in, say, 3 - 4ft sections? I know, I know, I could cut my own, but ...
Sally, I suspect that you are exaggerating on Addy's pulling, but if it really is a problem then I would suggest carrying a bunch of teenieweenieweenie treats in your left hand, leash in right hand and with Addy on your left side, hold a treat an inch or two away from her nose (but keep a bunch more treats in your closed fist of the left hand) and let her follow it ... give it to her after a few steps when she obliges by following close and then ... rinse, lather, repeat every few steps, gradually extending the length of time that she has to wait for the treat. Take treats with you on all walks so that you can reel her back in with this method if she starts pulling. Also, when pulling, change your direction and call her at the same time to come back to you (tons of happy praise &/or treats when she complies) ... She'll get the hang of it in no time!
LOL - our little mutt (13# cross of spaniel and we don't know what else) is a definite sled dog! She would LOVE to pull us everywhere but I cured her of that with one short lesson on a choke chain. We went out for a walk, I let her pull for a while, then gave her one of those real quick "choke-release" things and told her very sternly to HEAL. To this day, whenever she sees the leash and choke chain she sits at my feet, drops her nose so I can slide the chain over her head, and sits right next to me, wagging her tail furiously, knowing we're going out. And she stays right by my side! She is far too food-driven for treats to work, she gets all focused on the food and completely forgets what else is going on. Thank heavens she likes to obey and is happy with us loving all over her - I don't know how we'd control her if that didn't work.
This is her at a Small Dog Party, trying to be cool....(her name is Choo Choo)
wrightie, you could probably find wooden stakes at a building centre or lumberyard. Stakes are commonly used to lay/mark out building foundations or surveying.......
they are just plain wood, but servicible......
good luck
the visual clue works.....
I had set out my garden in square foot method a couple years ago.. blocks of 4ft x 4ft growing bed with 2ft pathways in between.
the beds are raised/contained by wooden boards, and the paths are shavings over landscape fabric or newspaper... if the dogs walk on the 'dirt of the garden bed' they got screamed at but as soon as they walked on the paths... they were praised...
didn't take them long to figure out Mom was happy when they walked on the paths.......... or the grass. but dirt was off limits.....
Thanks, DB! That's a ... good point ... heh
wrightie........got to a big box store and ask for grading stakes. That'll get you what you want :)
I'll do it this weekend! Thanks again.
Ummm wrightie have you tried the local vampire slayer store? (couldn't resist - sorry)
dryad - what a cutie choo-choo is!!!
Chantell, you would not believe how $$$EXPENSIVE$$$ that place is!!!
wrightie- thanks for the tips She is a hog for treats. Hubby won't admit but impressed him that the first best word she learned (from me) was treat. Hey I got three easy college credits for knowing what positive reinforcement was...
Others beat me to the grading stakes--but I'll add, maybe a roll of plastic (non sticky) tape while you're there, for the string.
Youse guys are all nuts, thats why my house ain't gettin cleaned TODAY.
True dat...their sharp mark-up is a bloody killer....maybe ebay?
Wrightie -
My brother ran in a local election and ordered signs on stakes while he was campaigning. After the election, he had to clean them up and they were stuck in his garage. I took them off his hands and am using them in the garden. They're about 18? tall and are pointed at the bottom. They work perfectly once hammered into the ground - you can wrap string or twine around them and stake single plants or groups of plants (like a patch of obedient plant or Dahlias).
These sign-makers have to have a source. And after any small election, there must be more of these out there. I wonder if you could request these on the local freestyle.org list or on the free section of Craig's list.
Ooh, GREAT IDEA, Katie! I am a member of my local freecycle organization, but ... I also have a few neighbors who are local politicians and they might be able to hook me up. Failing that, I'll run out and get the wooden stakes and tape/string. It's raining here for the next few days, so that will be my perfect opportunity to hammer the stakes into my lovely Clay!
I really wonder how many of these are sitting in garages all across America.
Even if the solution isn't elegant at the beginning, I figure it's a lot easier to tell the dogs "out" when there is a clear in - and that's where the stakes come in handy.
Magic is just about over the "steal mom's plant markers and stakes" stage. Thank goodness.
I have to admit I'm not a dog owner - but have three wonderful cats that accompany me in my garden every day. They are usually all within 20 feet of me at the same time. I don't know if they think they are guarding me, or if I'm guarding them!
i find it fun to have someone to talk to, so I let the dogs come and watch me. Cats are good listeners too Sue. ha-ha
Ruby
I had a coyote come into the fenced yard and get my beautiful Willow last year. I called all the cats in at night, but Willow was Maine Coone and loved it outside, so she wouldn't come. I knew she would stay inside the fence and I mistakenly thought that the fenced yard and dog scent would keep the coyotes out. I was wrong - and I think the dastardly deed was done at dawn - only a few hours after I had gone to bed.
So now my kitties are in 24/7. And I miss so much having them out in the yard chasing butterflies while I'm working . . . I wish so much that I could get them to promise to stay in the yard and come in when I called. But no luck. So I spend my gardening time telling the dogs to get out of the beds and talking to the bees. :-)
Ha-ha, I bet you are telling the bees to scat!!! I would be anyway.
Ruby
I have attempted to 'train' our two cats, Charles and Matilda, by letting them run with the dog pack, lol. If I want them to come outside, I'll open the door wide, and step out and invite them outside.... they have learned that if I don't ask them to come outside, they have to stay inside, same as the dogs!
They go out with the dogs first thing in the morning, then come in after about 10 minutes (enough time for potty, lol) for their breakfast. The cats are inside eating, while the dogs have finished their breakfast and put back outside for a while.
All animals are in for the day when we're away at work, then let out again when we're home.
Now that the weather is nice, I spend evenings outside until dark, and I have many 'supervisors' LOL.
I use a little silly sounding sing-song voice 'where are you, name?' and they will come to me with that!
After we're done with our evening, we all go in together, and the cats get fed then..... nothing like the sound of the dry kibble being rattled in the bucket to bring them running!
I have learned with cats, that one does not really train a cat. You have to 'set things up' so that the desired behaviour is really the CAT'S idea, and not really yours. LOL Just DONT TELL the cat that!