Puppies are like children. They need to play and run about and have fun and they do often, do some damage to a carefully tended garden. Personally, I believe that keeping them in a sort of straightjacket or confined to the house except for a few moments of supervised exercise is unkind and damaging. They grow up very quickly, can be trained to behave in a civilised way and could give you twelve to fifteen years of loyal friendship. If you do not feel able to tolerate a little disruption, you would be better not to get one at all, or choose an elderly rescue dog which will be grateful for a quiet life.
@Posy Quite right! Throughout our life we have had German Shorthaired Pointers, a rescue dog and 2 Borders. They were all trained NOT to go near the gardens, veggie and flower. Only with the last pup, we had to put a small wire fence around the flower gardens near the house. They get it - normally with a severe NO! or an Oi!! And as @Dovefromabove says, don't leave them unsupervised in the garden at an early age. Expect holes and treasure stashes, poos and wees on your plants (it's a bit like Facebook - like or leave a comment!). They need walks for exercise and their neurons. If you can handle the hairs (fibres of joy and love), getting up in the night and waiting for it to come back after a desperate poo, you will enjoy your companion who will give you unconditional love.
A lot depends on the breed of dog, assuming that it has an identifiable breed.
Retrievers were bred to swim and retrieve shot game birds. They still have the instinct to find water, jump into it and being back sticks and things.
Border collies can’t resist trying to round you up, even when you are trying to go for a walk in a straight line.
We had dachshunds for many years. Bred to hunt badgers, they dug holes all over the garden. (Never caught a badger or showed any interest in doing so.)
Here’s a funny little story. Our local rescue centre ran a competition to raise money. Guess the breed. They ran a DNA test on Freckles here.
It turned out that she is 38% rottweiler, 25% border collie, 12% smooth terrier and the rest is ????? 😁
We have a 16 yr old Staff/Boxer cross. He was diagnosed as having autistic canine behaviour when he was 2. He will eat plants to the ground- the lot, everything. He ate a small Miscanthus one year. Last year he liked chewing my Marsh Marigolds. He'll eat grass of any kind till he pukes and drink pond water till his stomach is bloated and then throw the lot back up. Well, he does if we let him. When he poos he has to walk around in circles as he does it. Lovely.
This is what's left of my turnip bed. No good shouting at him - he's as deaf as a post.
My mum was the gardener and trainer of dog garden-etiquette in our house growing up. There was only ever one season of garden destruction with a puppy when they were really young (all springer spaniels). They spent loads of time in the garden together and learning not go on the flower or vegetables beds actually happened really quickly. Her command was repeated endlessly "not on the garden" said fast, with emphasis depending on whether dog was thinking of it or already on.
Dogs can be trained to 'go' on command too, guide dogs do. I had a rejected guide dog lab ages ago, it is a damned fine trick, saves so much hanging about and when you know there will be no access for them for a while.
Our five month old Whippet will chase the Pigeons (a blessing!), but isn't quick enough to catch them. Despite being a sighthound, she's not much bothered about the smaller birds, so they still come to the feeders. If you strategically place your bird feeders, I'm pretty sure you will still get birds, even with the most boisterous dog (although ground feeders might be more scared off).
As a lot of the others above have indicated, it's your garden itself which is more likely to be at the mercy of a puppy. Ours has ruined quite a lot of our garden. It's not much use trying to train a very young puppy that one plant is OK for them to mess around with, but not another (because it's one of your favourites). We fenced off one small section, and physically removed her from it when she entered that bit, so she now avoids that. The rest of the garden is fair game for her hole digging, and very efficient plant removal and destruction techniques. We've learned to just ignore it.
If you are not prepared for some destruction of your garden (and house for that matter), then I'd suggest getting an older dog, although that's not to say that they won't ruin your garden too. Sorry if this sounds very negative. Watching our puppy digging, at the same time as we try to fill a hole, is one of the funniest and most joyous things. Ditto, the fun she can have with the flower-head of an Echinacea, hours of fun!
Oh, lucky you, thinking about getting a puppy. My parents have a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who is adorable, and she's superb with children. But she absolutely will not tolerate any bird coming into, or flying over, "her" garden. Result? No birds. There was one brave family of blue tits who used the next box to raise their young, but all birds left as soon as they could fly over the wall.
We have a cat and a kitten at our house - I seem to have fewer problems with them. But I do agree with previous guests who say it's the way you train your puppy, and care for it.
One friend (a vet) says: "The animals are fine - it's the owners who need training" (!!)
I have a 16 month old doberman and he is always in the garden with me and he always gets upto mischief, like mentioned you have to be with them, if I tell RIO off he runs around taking the heads of my flowers he must think in for a penny in for a pound, but I wouldn't be without him.
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If you can handle the hairs (fibres of joy and love), getting up in the night and waiting for it to come back after a desperate poo, you will enjoy your companion who will give you unconditional love.
This is what's left of my turnip bed. No good shouting at him - he's as deaf as a post.
Oh, well.
As a lot of the others above have indicated, it's your garden itself which is more likely to be at the mercy of a puppy. Ours has ruined quite a lot of our garden. It's not much use trying to train a very young puppy that one plant is OK for them to mess around with, but not another (because it's one of your favourites). We fenced off one small section, and physically removed her from it when she entered that bit, so she now avoids that. The rest of the garden is fair game for her hole digging, and very efficient plant removal and destruction techniques. We've learned to just ignore it.
If you are not prepared for some destruction of your garden (and house for that matter), then I'd suggest getting an older dog, although that's not to say that they won't ruin your garden too. Sorry if this sounds very negative. Watching our puppy digging, at the same time as we try to fill a hole, is one of the funniest and most joyous things. Ditto, the fun she can have with the flower-head of an Echinacea, hours of fun!