Plan all of the spring gardening with your dog in mind
If you're like me, you can feel your garden and yard drawing you to spend time outside.
Trees and lilac bushes are budding and the daffodils and crocuses are blooming. I'm looking at gardening magazines and dreaming of the perfect yardscape. Neighbors are painting their decks and putting out patio furniture. Garden centers and nurseries are showing off their inventory. Here comes the gardening season.
Gardening experts say lay down a garden hose to map out the shape of a flower bed. They never tried to do that with my dog in the yard. As I was laying down my end of the hose, he was dragging his end all over - just another dog toy.
As dog lovers, we garden with our dogs in mind. There are a lot of suggestions for how to share your yard with your dog. The first step is being aware of what to plant to keep your dog safe.
Dr. Steven Hansen, senior vice president of the ASPCA's Animal Health Services, said, "Our animal companions depend on us to be informed and protect them from danger."
The ASPCA lists toxic and nontoxic plants with accompanying colored pictures on their website. Varieties that can be harmful to pets include: lilies, marijuana, tulip/narcissus bulbs, azalea/rhododendron, oleander, castor bean cyclamen, kalanchoe, yew, amaryllis, autumn crocus, chrysanthemum, English ivy, peace lily, pothos, schefflera and sago palm.
"Just one or two sago palm nuts can cause vomiting, diarrhea, depression, seizures and even liver failure," Dr. Hansen said.
The ASPCA list is a good source for planning a safe garden.
In addition to keeping our yards safe, gardening authorities offer suggestions for sharing our gardens with our dogs. Zoe Conrad, www.thebark.com, suggests ideas from Maureen Gilmer, landscape designer, horticulturalist and dog lover. One of Gilmer's suggestions addresses the "problem digger."
"Many dogs labeled problem diggers are really just trying to keep cool. They instinctively dig nests in shady places to access cooler soil and sprawl out in them during the heat of the day," Gilmer said.
Her solution is to give them a shallow "pit" of their own that is more cool and damp than the flower beds. Gilmer provides instructions on how to create a cool spot, which includes digging out a shallow indentation to comfortably fit your dog. Line the indentation with a thin layer of concrete and poke holes in the bottom for drainage. Then line the depression with play sand, which doesn't make mud and easily falls away from his fur.
The last step is to sprinkle it with water to make it damp. If kept slightly moist, this will be your dog's spot of preference in the garden.
Dr. Jack Aldridge, DVM, also of thebark.com, suggests raising your flower beds as another way to alleviate the problem. He suggests using architectural railroad ties and stacking them two or three deep. The railroad ties are available from landscape supply companies and lumber yards and don't contain the toxic compounds contained in recycled real railroad ties.
Enjoying your yard and garden may also include water activities for you and your dog. To keep your dog cool in the summer months, Gilmer suggests disguising a seasonal dog dipping pool by setting a plastic molded kiddie pool into the ground. The downside of setting the pool in the ground is draining it.
I've used a child's pool for my dog, although I haven't set it in the ground. It's a lot of fun. My dog seems to enjoy digging at the alligators printed on the bottom of the pool, splashing water in every direction.
When the digging is done, he lays in the water to cool off. At the end of playtime, the water is emptied and the pool is put away until the next time.
With spring weather coming, we'll be out there buying our garden plants pretty soon. It's fun to start planning now. It won't be too long before we're all out there digging, with our dogs right beside us.
• The Buddy Foundation, 65 W. Seegers Road, Arlington Heights, is a nonprofit 501(c) 3 shelter. Call (847) 290-5806 or visit www.thebuddyfoundation.org.