monique.c Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hey Everyone, I have a 6 month old Golden Retriever, he has a lovely habit of ripping up pot plants. This isn't an issue normally as we don't have a very nice garden (mainly just lawn and trees) and don't have pot plants but when we stay at mum's place it is a problem. I understand that he is just a puppy and just playing and I tried searching for posts that would help address this issue but mainly all I could find was advice to fence off the area, with pot plants this isn't really suitable. It would also be hard to move all the pot plants to a safer area when we come visit because there are heaps of them and some are quite heavy. Has anyone had success with the products that claim to get puppies and dogs to stay off gardens? If we catch him in the act we can say 'NO' but if we don't see him there is no point doing that as he won't understand why we are mad or disciplining him right? He has heaps of stuff to play with in the yard as I bring his toys up and there are always heaps of palm fronds that he can play with and drag around the place (these seem to be his favourite toy) and we take him to the beach every day and stuff. Maybe I will have to not bring him up to Visit mum till he is a little bit older but I don't really want to have to do that as he loves it up here and mum loves seeing him... Would really appreciate any help and advice you guys would have for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 The only thing I know that keeps dogs off gardens besides training - is a fence. My mum recently put blood and bone on her pot plants - I couldn't let my dog wander out there unsupervised. I think it's a matter of supervising the dog, keeping it on lead and preventing it from getting into the pots. I have heard of people pretending to beat up the pot plants with newspaper and enthusiastically cursing and scolding the pot plants in front of the dog... so the dog knows that's a bad plant and a bad place to be. However - has not worked for me, my dog has NFI what the fuss is and sometimes tries to join in telling the plant off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Can't remember what it's called because I used it many years ago with April & she hated it. It came in a plastic jar & was one of those keep off the garden products. It was like green jellied granules with a very unusual, unpleasant smell. I either got it at Woolies garden isle or KMart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Fence the area off. Sprinkle chilli powder around the base of the plants. You can yell and scream all you like at the puppy until you are blue in the face but he'll just do it when you aren't there. If the plants "bite" back he may take notice. Pele liked to dig the pop-up sprinklers. We bought bags of chilli powder in bulk (500g) and sprinkled it around the sprinklers. She got the message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.c Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Thanks for the tips everyone, I will see if I can get some of the stay off garden stuff from the supermarket or a pet store tomorrow, we are heading home then so it won't be an issue for a little while. Yeah he never does it when we are out there with him, just sneakily when we are inside... still love him to pieces though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 There is a very easy to grow herb you can get called Dogsbane & that is supposed to repel dogs off gardens etc. But you would have to have it positioned near the pot plants for it to be efffective, or break pieces off & scatter them around the pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonJosie Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I have heard of people pretending to beat up the pot plants with newspaper and enthusiastically cursing and scolding the pot plants in front of the dog... so the dog knows that's a bad plant and a bad place to be. Bahahahahaha! That would be so funny to watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I've got dog's bane. It's more like owner repellant. Stinky stuff. Dog doesn't mind it at all. I tried using it at our local oval to stop dogs from peeing on my "training track" (brickies line and reel), and they'd come up and sniff the dog's bane and pee on that. And one of the guys thought the dog's bane was lavendar (has a purple flower the same shape but not the same smell or leaf shape). It is easy to grow from cuttings. I think wormwort might do better, has a much stronger menthol smell, and the menthol in vicks vapour rub tends to repel dogs. Frosty likes chilli. Will even pick them off the bush. I tried using it on my counters to stop her from surfing but she just aquired the taste for it. Fail. I would not let him out there without you. No sneaking. The screaming thing trick - you don't do it at the puppy, you do it at the plant. Like I said - didn't work on my dog but does work on some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzy4 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Can't remember what it's called because I used it many years ago with April & she hated it. It came in a plastic jar & was one of those keep off the garden products. It was like green jellied granules with a very unusual, unpleasant smell. I either got it at Woolies garden isle or KMart. it uses citronella to keep the dogs away, they hate the smell of it, i saw on bondi vet the other week a show Dr Chris did for "New puppies in your house" he showed what to do when a cavoodle was digging up this chics garden - get a water balloon and blow it up, place it in the hole the dog has dug in the garden and cover lightly with dirt, when the dog digs here they will pop the balloon and get a fright - don't put water in the balloon, also he put vicks along the edge of the pot plant holder and said this should also keep the puppy off hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzledx2 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 (edited) The wire compost (leaf litter) cages at Bunnings are only $25 and come in separate panels. Get a couple and join them together to make a temporary fence. I have put them around small shrubs and pot plants to keep puppy away. They have these not so easy spring thingies to attach the panels together but you can use cable ties...much easier Edited February 5, 2011 by bedazzledx2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.c Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 Thanks everyone for the tips, I will try the vicks thing next time I think because I'm sure mum already has that in the cupboard, if that doesn't work I will see if mum would mind having most of the pot plants in an area together so we can barricade it off, if not I will try some of the other tips, the water balloon idea sounds good too, I will just have to pay attention and make sure I get the popped balloon as soon as he pops it or he will eat it This forum is great for tip and handy stuff to know, even if you don't make your own post, I have been just looking at all the posts to get ideas on stuff, recommended it to the other people at my puppy class in case they have problems or want to learn stuff too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmatailor Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) Sorry for reviving this old thread, i had the same problem with my dog and found this community on google. Thanks everyone for the feedback and recommendations! __________________________________ plant pots online Edited March 16, 2017 by emmatailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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