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Tips for a Dog Friendly Yard
| We have a dog friendly-yard, it's a bit of human/canine paradise! |  |
| We started with 2 dogs and a huge backyard of crabgrass and sickly rose bushes. At one point the daunting dirt lot seemed like an impossible project. |  |
| After two years of backbreaking work and a new puppy, we have what we had envisioned a long time ago: a backyard garden where we had our wedding and a patio for multi-species lounging. |  |
| We incorporated a large lawn with an an island to make a perfect racetrack for the dogs to run. |  |
| Shade is important. The dogs used to huddle in a tiny patch of shade when we first moved in, but now we have an arbor with one of the few original plants, a huge bougainvillea that is on top of the arbor. We also planted some shade trees. Our yard is so dog friendly that we sometimes dog-sit for our mother-in-laws's dog, who thinks he is at dog-camp. |  |
| We designed a secret pathway in the very back for hide and seek, which the dogs love and it keeps them out of trouble. We included lots of long grass for snacks and there's something about society garlic that they love to nibble on, too. |  |
| A a decomposed granite path is rough and helps keep their nails short. |  |
| The dogs know that my husband and I will not stand for digging, destroying plants, and trampling on the flowers. Since they hate being in trouble (like any good doggy children), they stick with activities they know are allowed (on the most part). |  |
| My tips are to landscape with a lot of paths and alternate with dense areas because dogs tend to go where it is most obvious.
They need room to run and need lots of shade. |
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Of course, they need places to nap, too. |
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| Dogs need lots of places to nap. |  |
Caia and Markus Paulsen