dogs and gardening

Sarah262 · February 2022

Hi
As a keen gardener and puppy owner, I have been despairing of all the potentially toxic plants I have in my garden. My garden doesn't lend itself to fencing things off so I have been using training but also just removed some plants and shrubs entirely, that he will not leave alone.
My 8 month lively chewing monster has lately been pruning the hydrangea and stripping the bark off my hibiscus. The hibiscus is I think , the toxic hardy variety. What I am asking is, should I remove it or am I being too cautious?
Any advice from those in similar situations is appreciated.

Busy-Lizzie · February 2022

I gave my past puppies chews and toys to chew. They were easy to train, being Border Collies, very intelligent. The first word they learnt was "no" and the next words were "good boy, or girl".

Sarah262 · February 2022

Thanks. Been there already..but avoided the stomach operation !

Chris-P-Bacon · February 2022

You're being too cautious. Understandably, but the likelihood of your dog becoming seriously ill eating vegetation is quite low.
My dog ate some Bergenia this morning.. and promptly puked it back up..but he is 17 and, well, he's made it this far.

Sarah262 · February 2022

Thanks Busy Lizzie. My pup is a spaniel and also very smart and trainable...however, also persistent.
Yes Chris I probably am too cautious but the hibiscus flowers will be dropping and research says dogs find them attractive to eat. He certainly likes the stems. I want to be able to leave him safely in the garden.

Obelixx · February 2022

Our two dogs love to "help" in the garden. We have plenty of plants which are bad for them and plenty more which are good but they have toys, chews, wild birds, cats and hens to "herd" plus passersby and visitors to survey and warn that they have never chewed the usual suspects in the doggy toxic plant list.

They also understand "No!". Mostly.

Jenny_Aster · February 2022

Take a couple of tennis balls out with you, your pup will see them as higher value than any plant, as soon as he looks interested in a plant distract him by teasing him with a ball.

Enjoy your best friend!

Loxley · February 2022

The articles about plant toxicity tend to be written by animal specialists who don't give a toss about gardening, so they tend to have a pretty unbalanced view of things. Most of the plants they will list as toxic will be pretty unappealing, and would need to be eaten in huge quantities to be dangerous (unlikely if they taste unappealing, which most plants do let alone toxic ones).

Loxley · February 2022

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/sw/2ikf9f6cbpwx.jpg

From this article here.

Although it says there's a "high probability your dog will be completely fine" and "severe toxicity from eating hibiscus is very rare", the article errs heavily on the side of removing hibiscus from the garden completely, which seems a bit drastic to me.

robairdmacraignil · February 2022

I have had Hibiscus flower as an additive/decoration to a mixed drink and suffered no ill effects. It was there to add some flavour to the drink I think but not so much that I have bought any (which were in a jar sold for food use in my aunts fridge)to repeat the experience. This information page claims this particular type of Hibiscus is edible but also has links to other species of Hibiscus if you know the name of the one you have in the garden. We have a couple of youngish dogs here with lots of plants in the garden that I know are toxic but I don't think they are likely to eat any of them. I read somewhere that a lot of poisonous plants also taste bad and this discourages them being eaten in most circumstances. If you removed every plant from your garden that was potentially toxic if eaten there might not be much left growing.

Happy gardening!

Dovefromabove · February 2022

Speaking as someone who’s raised dogs for most of my life, in addition to the sage advice above, I would add that until your dog matures, it’s really not a good idea to leave him or her alone in the garden to amuse himself … that’s when they get into mischief and develop bad habits like chewing plants and digging, just from boredom. Keep your dog quietly with you in the house, and make regular times to go out there to play ball games or do a bit of ‘training’ with them … sit and stay with a reward is enjoyable to them and good training for the future. It encourages them to listen for your voice at all times. Good walks (with some ball games off lead once they’re really reliable at recall) are when they should use up all that energy … not in your garden which will lead to damage.

I hope you have many years of great companionship together 🐕

dogs and gardening

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