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If you remember my post in which I whined unashamedly because my boxer, Claude, had eaten my clematis just before it burst into bloom, you are probably wondering how I can make intelligent comments about pets and the garden. That’s O.K. I am wondering the same thing. I can only write the things I have tried in the past and comment on how well they have worked for me.

I have always had dogs (I can offer nothing for the gardening cat-lover here), and dogs love to dig in fresh dirt to find a cool spot to rest. They dig anywhere in chase of burrowing animals, snakes and rodents, and they often just like to punish their owners for leaving them home alone. Is there a balance? Can I keep my big, slobbering mongrel and grow beautiful flowers, too?

Since I love my dog and I love gardening, I can only continue to try. I have never been without a dog, but I have lost shrubs, trees, and many plants to their digging, relieving themselves, and just general pouting. I fuss, I stomp, I threaten, and I punish, but none of it ever lasts. I get the doleful look from those big, brown eyes, and I give in every time. In all honesty, I love the dogs first and the garden second.

But how can the dogs and the gardens live in harmony? It’s not easy, and I have to say that the only reason I’ve had the patience to continue trying is because I enjoy the dogs and gardening so much. With a little patience (and a little is all I have), and many replacement plans, I can enjoy both the garden and the dogs.

Attitude plays an important role in the gardening dog-lover’s life. For example, through those “replacement plans,” I have discovered some beautiful new plants. I needed a fast-growing vine to replace the clematis Claude chewed off even with the ground the summer before last, and that led me to the discovery of the beautiful mandevilla, and it has added interest to my garden since then.

The clematis thankfully did come back, so now, thanks to Claude (!?!?), I get to enjoy both plants. I’ve also learned to cover popular digging holes with big rocks and pieces of drift wood from the Ohio River, which runs through my small community.

The dogs have spurred me to discover many new things.

The first thing I try to do when I begin my spring planting is keep Claude out of the garden. He enjoys being outside with us, and he is often close-by whenever we are planting or weeding the garden. Fortunately, he’s able to find things to do outdoors besides dig in my garden. For example, he loves to fish. Sometimes he lies in the sun near the garden, but he is never freely allowed to cross the line between grass and mulch.

I know there are products on the market to repel animals from the garden, but I do not know much about them. I purchased an aerosol can one time, but I did not take time to read the label carefully. I sprayed my flowers one day, and the very next day, I noticed that everything was wilting. Upon closer inspection of the can, I discovered that I should never have sprayed the flowers, but only the ground around them. I also discovered that I would need to reapply the product about every three days, and after every rain. Therefore, the best way for me to sum up what I do know is to say that they may be expensive and, if they aren’t used correctly, they can be worse for the garden than a big dog.

I have found a few natural repellents, and I can say that they have worked for me in the past. My favorite repellent is Cayenne pepper. It is a bit expensive, but it works, and the lesson lasts for several weeks at least, even for the most stubborn dog.

I sprinkle it liberally on and around the areas where the dogs want to dig, and once they’ve gotten a bit of this “hot stuff” on their tongues or up their noses, they’ll leave that area alone. It does need to be reapplied after a rain, but once they’ve learned a lesson with Cayenne pepper, it’s not one the dogs will quickly forget.

Moth balls will also repel animals if you don’t mind the odor. However, their bright white color is difficult to hide, even beneath mulch. They are an inexpensive way to repel animals, but they can also repel humans.

Another natural repellent with a bad odor is blood meal. I am not certain why this works because it smells exactly like something any dog would just love, but it has helped me keep Claude and my previous dogs out of my flower beds. It also deters pesky rabbits, which is how I discovered it.

An inexpensive, quick fix is the aforementioned river rock, piece of drift wood, or any garden decoration. Often I just place one of these items over the area where the dog has been digging. Just be sure to choose something big enough to keep the dog from believing you’ve given him a new chew toy. Claude thought this little concrete turtle was his new friend until he snapped its head off.

Fortunately, it was a clean break, and we put it back together with a little glue.

Along the lines of “strategic positioning,” after a severe “correction” with a newspaper, a rolled paper lying in plain sight of the area can be the best deterrent out there. It’s free and it works, but only until the dog is brave enough to chew the paper and scatter bits and pieces of it all over the yard. However, while he’s busy doing that, he is not digging a hole or chewing a precious vine.

Obviously, I don’t know all the answers when it comes to pets in the garden. The things I’ve mentioned here are absolutely NOT fool-proof. They may work for a while, but every year, Claude (the other dogs did it too, when they were still with us) finds a way to break the gardening portion of my heart. I think he knows he’ll always be forgiven. The only additional advice I have is that if these ideas do not work, you might want to find a way to keep the animals out of the yard completely. For example, he cannot damage plants while he’s stranded on the roof.

A friend of mine was reading over my shoulder as I wrote this, and here’s what he had to say about pets in the garden:

“My parents have had pets in their garden for years--a poodle, a basset hound, a rabbit the basset hound killed, a beagle and three cats-- it wasn’t just a garden, it was our family pet plot. They were all planted between the zucchini and the place where the irises came up every spring."--Kevin Trobaugh

Although this is a fool-proof way to solve all of the problems pets can cause in a garden, and it may be the only way to completely solve these problems, those pets are not as fun, loveable, nor as photogenic. They are trouble with a capital “T,” but the love they can provide is worth it all.