Designing Your Landscape to be Dog Friendly

Your dog is a part of your family and probably spends a great deal of time in the backyard. For this reason, it is important to consider dog friendly landscaping to protect your yard as well as allow your dog to have the fun and comfort he or she deserves. There are methods for implementing dog friendly landscaping, and they are not at all as complicated, or as expensive, as you may think. Not only will your dog be happier, but you will not have to constantly deal with a torn up yard.

Your dog is going to dig. It’s their nature. Rather than trying to prevent it, take it as a forgone conclusion and landscape your yard with this in mind. You have to realize, you will not attain perfection, as even with the best dog friendly landscaping, dogs rough house. What you can do is limit the damage, give your pet space to be a dog, have fun and be comfortable.

Create an area for your dog to dig. It should be softer than the surrounding area, so a sand pit with soft soil and a little mulch works well. You can disguise it from view with a few shrubs or flowers. Adding a dog house to the back yard may help prevent your pet from digging around fences and gates. The most common reason for this type of digging is separation anxiety. If your dog has a home in the back yard, he will feel more comfortable and is more likely to stop this type of digging.

Dogs also dig holes in the ground in order to have a cool place to lie down. If you create a small pond in the back yard, this will give your pet a cool place to wade into, even lie down in on those hot days. You can also help your pet cool down by providing shaded areas with strategically planted trees.

If your pet is digging up your plants and flowers, a good trick is to use rocks. Dogs do not like digging around rocks. Using them as ground cover around your younger plants and flowers will add an ornamental look as well as keep Fido away. Creating a winding path throughout the back yard is a great way to allow your dog to get the exercise he needs, as well as give him a somewhere to romp that is not in your flower beds. You can add shrubs and sturdy plants to line the path, hiding it from view as well as adding to the beauty of your backyard.

Raised beds for your flowers and plants can also help. This creates an uncomfortable digging position for dogs. You want solid edging around those planting beds that are on ground level, but nothing that is metal with the potential to cut your dog’s paws.

As you can see, there are a few simple measures you can take to avoid the most common landscaping issues that face dog owners. Implement these dog friendly landscaping tips, and you can have the beautiful backyard that you, your family and your dog deserve.