Why not border your area with a raised box to keep fido off your plants? With your cold winters they might even be hardier

You could use a beautiful border of knock out roses. They are easy to grow and return yearly. You can prune them to your liking

Knock out roses.

I'd take the photo to a few good plant nurseries/garden centers and talk to professionals there. Get several opinions and pick the one that works best for you. Measure the area too so they know how much room you have to work with and provide info about how much sun or shade is in that spot, how often you want to water the plants once they're established, etc. Best of luck to you-

Thank you for the suggestions. There is a nursery two towns down. I'll check there and also ask about knock-out roses.

I have pets and they are safe.

roses have thorns, I wouldn't want my pets possibly romping near them. What about flowering ground cover?