Sunning himself

How about garden cats? Mine follow me around the garden all the time!

debra

Jingle

Cats are definitely welcome in the garden and in this thread! Thanks for the lovely photos, Debra. Those are beautiful, happy cats in a garden paradise.

notice that cat people always have to change the subject ... rotflmbo ... meow ...

ken

Meow... I also have a garden cat. He follows me around the garden too.

Beth, great picture! That is a cute, sassy cat! And, eh-hem, what are those lovely variegated hostas behind him?

pic just above... presuming its not beth who runs the weedwhip ... i would cut off that damaged leaf [just so i didnt have to look at it] ..and cook it in butter and garlic and make the weedeater driver eat it ... dude ,. focus... you hit my hosta ...

in the alternative.. tell said person .. if you arent a little more careful ... you will be digging out those bricks.. and extending the bed another 2 more feet .. lol ...

im in a weird mood this morning ... weirder than usual ...

ken

ps: and if beth is the weedwhip maniac ... brilliant job .. couldnt have done better if it did it myself.. lol.. same damage .. lol

I want to get a Golden Retriever. Real bad. I've wanted one of these dogs for a long time. But I've heard they dig in gardens. Anybody here have a Golden? Can a hosta garden be kept safe from this breed when the dog is allowed out without a leash?

Dogs usually dig because they are bored, although I understand dachshunds, Doxen and other short legged dogs that were bred to hunt underground vermin and prey are bad to dig. I wouldn't think a Goldie would be bad to dig. Of course, they are working dogs, so have high energy and may be bored more easily than some other breeds.

Actually, I've never had a dog that was bad to dig. I've grew up with a Collie, I've had German Shepherds and a myriad of rescue dogs and none have been bad to dig. However, Jackson ate the young pips in his first year, Cleo attacked a possum that was hiding in the potted hosta, leaving pots and damaged hosta strewn about. She also liked the "Babka sticks" under the pots, so she would turn the pots over to get the sticks to chew on. She's now around 8 years old and doesn't mess with much. Dan would "anoint" all the pots on the corners, leaving yellow leaves. Fuzzy, the Chihuahua mix doesn't mess with the plants. She, however, leaves me dead rats and snakes occasionally. The problem with that is she rolls in them, so she has to be bathed fairly often.

No dog is trouble free, at least I've never had one that didn't do something aggravating.

bkay

there are 2 goldens ... the uncontrollable idiot puppy ... which lasts until they are about 8 .. lol ...

and the mature old dog .. that just lolls about just happy at life ...

i trained him to stay out of the garden ... but i couldnt train him.. at any age.. to stop jumping on my 70 to 80 year old mother ... which basically boils down to.. i couldnt train mom to stop encouraging him ... even after she was using a cane ... mom.. not the dog ...

very smart.. very happy .. and extremely trainable .. so it would be all on you.. if you dont take the time to train hm.her properly ...

btw ... very hairy.. and twice a year i had him sheared.. so he looked like a lab .. lol .. but boy was he happy .. body temp wise ... i did it as soon as temps warmed enough.. and in mid fall ... so he would have a decent coat by the real cold weather ... if you dont.. it will be a big brushing battle against mats ..

ken

Thanks, Ken, that gives me hope.

Goldies are great dogs and, as ken said, very trainable. You don't mention whether you have had a big dog before, or if you've ever trained a dog. If you've never trained a dog, I would suggest dog training classes. They teach you how to train your dog. They teach the basics - come, sit, stay, heel, halt and maybe some more stuff. It's well worth the small fee most charge.

bkay

I've lived with dogs most of my life. I house-trained them. Beyond that, not. So yes, this time I'll do dog training classes for sure.

these dogs are VERY smart ... failure is usually the owner ... so train yourself... and the dog will follow ...

thinking back ... basically they are very social .. and if you just talk to them ... they will train themselves ... e.g.... dude.. get out of the garden.. dude.. walk on the path .. dude ... quit eating rabbit poop ... dude ... whats that smell ... dude ... dude.. dude.. lol ...

when i used to clean the beds.. i would throw sticks out in to the grass .. so basically he figured out.. that if he sat in the grass... sticks were coming his way ... and of course ... you need to train him to fetch them all.. at the end of the day .. lol ...

oh.. and the only time he dug.. was when i used pellet alfalfa .. and he dug them up.. i told that whole stinky story a week or so ago ...

ken

Our Boxer is great. She digs up voles and eats them, but not in my beds. We used the simple book, What All Good Dogs Should Know: The Sensible Way to Train, by Volhard and Bartlett.

Goldens are wonderful. Ours, her name was Goldie Fawn and we called her Fawnie, (Can you guess who was popular at the movies in the early '80's?) never dug but she had a ball fetish and always had one with her. When we wouldn't throw it for her she would take it to the top of the hill and nose it to get it started and then chase it down the hill. I wish we had recorded her entertaining herself. When the apple tree in the hedge row dropped apples they were her edible balls she would play with them until toothed to death and then eat them. She was an awesome dog and lived 14 years. She was easily trained--she knew she could not go into any other room except the kitchen if she came in the house. We taught her that when she was a puppy. She was a mostly outdoor dog after puppy hood.

The hair! We did a lot of brushing every spring. She was prone to ear infections so we had to clean out her ears with vinegar water and q-tips and keep the hair trimmed away, usually during the summer months. The vet said it was because their ears hang down and not enough air circulation. She had cancer which is common in Goldens.

Dexter has been good at keeping the rabbits and chipmunks at bay. He uses the hostas as an ambush point.

Frankie, that it is a great garden memory with the apples. Fawnie sounds like she was A+, gardenworthy.

Sherry

This is Shasta. Left in a barn with her 5 sisters and her mother (black and tan Shepard) starving. Was adopted once and returned because she was wild, which she was. Hunter, loves nothing better than trying to catch something (ran down a rabbit about 7 years ago and I think she still could. The only way to handle her was to smother her with affection. Super smart. She loves everyone. She barks at friends or people she doesn't know. If anyone comes to the door she whines to call them over. Loves kids especially, but everyone; but don't walk up with a stick or like the guys that came up the driveway with pruning poles to clear out around the electrical wires. They started backing up, scared. I came out of the house and told them to put down the poles and come up and pet her. One guy did, friends for life now. No problem after that. Bosses me around all the time. I'm hungry, I want to go for a walk, I want to play, I want to go on the deck and watch the squirrels....everything is fine as long as I do what I'm told. I love her dearly.

I love it. Shasta knows who the real boss is.

We've had corgis for years, and are down to one now. This is a 2012 picture of Maggie. She's 13 years old and we think she had a stroke when we kenneled her to go to a funeral. Poor baby is super clingy and we'd never left her before. She's lost partial use of a rear leg and can't seem to figure out where we are, even when we're 6 feet away and calling her. She still likes to supervise the gardening, but now she does it snoozing in the shade.

Maggie looks so sweet. The garden is so well kept.

I love Corgis!! They are one of my favorite breeds if not the favorite!

debra

Almosthooked, your garden is officially paradise. It is cat, dog, horse and human-certified.

undertheoaks, even the grandchildren are allowed from time to time lol Most of the time they are little humans but the odd time animals too

I once had two Goldens. They never bothered anything in the yard, BUT, by the time I got them, they were older dogs so pretty mellow by then. Their main focus was always ....throw the tennis ball....throw the tennis ball....throw the tennis ball.... feed me.... throw the tennis ball.... throw the tennis ball.... throw the tennis ball...... really that's all they wanted in life is to chase and bring back that darn tennis ball, lol.

I prefer my cats to be indoors, but this one still wants to go outside so he's my garden buddy. He was a stray I called Black Cat, but now he's Max. A very good kitty.

Such a wonderful array of pets! I can relate to the play with me obsessed. The ball, the tug rope, the tire...but Luke is a perfect mix of play, cuddle, comfort and a great companion. Yes, I love my dog!

"BUT if there is a squirrel anywhere on the claim , that doesn't could as they skid through the hostas with the greatest of ease with me yelling my head off to no avail."

I understand that, Faye.

I live in the city on a small lot. The biggest shade comes from pecan and oak trees, so of course, we have squirrels. In addition, my neighbor (who has since passed) put corn out for them every day, so we had more than our share.

As my hosta collection got bigger, I decided to arrange them around the pecan tree, as grass wouldn't grow there anyway. BIG MISTAKE!!! When the squirrels took a run for the tree to escape the dogs, they followed, with no regard for the big pots of hosta. Yelling didn't help then, either.

Those dogs have since passed. One was a Shepherd mix and the other was a rat terrier. Both were great dogs.

bkay

bkay I see I should do a spell check before I post at night when I am not sleepy but you got the message I was trying to relate. They give so much joy in our lives with the kids grown and not living close. I did have our grandson bring over their 3 boys yesterday so it was a pleasure. They brought their little dog so our little Buddy had a wild time but they both played on the lawns. Sure slept well after the busy few hours .

We have a Golden Doodle and a Golden Doodle x Labradoodle. The Golden Labradoodle barely sheds. The Golden Doodle not at all. They are pretty good about avoiding the gardens as long as there is a border of some kind. A couple inches above the grass and a couple inches wide is enough. The new bed I put a short fence up as they usually race over there chasing things (birds, rodents, deer). They help keep the rabbits, voles and deer away. A
chipmunk has a residence and keeps building new hidey holes to escape
the dogs. It can even scale the brick house. I had to move the hose reel
away from the plants as I couldn't keep them away when the chipmunk was
hiding in it. When they do venture into the garden, they generally walk around the plants. Usually retrieving a ball/frisbee. The only time they dig is when they are after the chipmunk or moles and so far it is only in the lawn. Here are Maggie (GD x LD) and Bo (GD) watching the Easter service (Hallelujah Chorus) with us.

Adorable pets----all of them!

I only have a pet budgie. We have a perch stand right on the kitchen window ledge. She is out of the cage several hours a day. When she is sitting in that location, and I am outside, I will occasionally wave to her. She will bob her head up and down. At times when I walk by, she chirps her head off. My family knows that it's because budgie Coby sees her "mom."

This is Shadow hiding

Rooney looking majestic when in truth she is incorrigible

Piper lounging....there are more cats but I need to get new pics of them

My "good" dogs - hence the fence Theo is in the first picture and again with his brother Duncan in the second. Most of my gardens have fences around them to protect them from these two. They will charge through beds chasing squirrels, bunnies cats, frogs, the noise from the neighbours kids, they dig out plants so they can lay in the dirt. But one of the biggest problems this year is Duncan jumping into the pond. He did this the first time I brought him home, but didn't again till now 6 years later. Several times this year I would have to wash and dry him off before bed because he went for a night time dip. 70 bucks later for more fencing the pond is again off limits. Despite this they are good dogs who are rather tolerant of the time I spend gardening instead of petting and spoiling them so all in all fences are a small price to pay to have it all.

Love that shaggy dog!! Newfoundland?

debra

nope he is a cocker spaniel lab cross, that was his simba pose. Most of his fur this spring was shaved due to a wet winter a lot of mats so the second pic is him now, his fur is growing back but its going to be a while before he looks himself again.