I am wondering what is the current protocol for jobbing gardeners who do weekly maintenance in a garden that has dogs 'running free'? I have recently had a problem with a large amount of dog mess in a client's garden and wonder if it is just something we have to put up with? What would other gardeners do? Leave? Say something? Put up with it? Please help.
A fence.
Charge extra for scooping? There are actually poop scooping services out there - you could see what they charge and add on the fee.
We have a local city animal control. But, they are lazy and want the home owner to trap the dog before the come out. They go to the city dog pound then put to sleep after a couple days.
When it comes to the flower gardens and lawns, I leave the poop alone. After a good rain or two its gone. I always wear boots and garden gloves. Gloves are a must. Not just cheap brown cloth gloves. Get gloves that have a rubber like material covering the fingers and palms. I have seen too many gardeners with nail fungus. Boots get a hosing before I am done.
Vegetable garden should have a fence around it. Dog poop bad news here.
If you want to get rid of the poop, bury it. As for charging more, it depends on how bad you need the job or money.
Enjoy Life ... Dan
Thank you for your replies, however, I may have not been clear. The dogs belong to the person who owns the garden I am working in. All English back gardens are fenced. I don't think there is a scooping service in Sussex, UK. The person does not walk the dogs, but just lets them into the garden, hence the mess. I have done as Dan says, rubber gloves, and now I wear wellies, to keep my boots and trousers clean. It is almost not worth the effort, however, as I have plenty of work. Many thanks.
Being an owner of 3 big dogs I find it outrageous that you are expected to work on someone?s property that has been fouled by dogs.
Dog poo is not nice stuff, even to a dog owner, it contains countless bacteria that can affect humans. So why should you work in this persons garden with dog poo?
Even wearing wellies and rubberised gloves is not complete protection!
I have recently had builders in to remove some hedging and erect a fence along with laying a greenhouse base and erecting a greenhouse. I have also had tree surgeons in to remove some trees and lop back others.
On all occasions I have made sure there is no dog poo where they would work and the dogs have been fenced off to keep them safe and don't forget, not all builders or tree surgeons are happy around dogs, especially big dogs.
I would not want to work where there is dog poo so I would not expect anyone else to have too.
So if I was you I would ask the owner to clear it up or just don't work there.
All the best Gardenjunkie
If you feel that way, I suggest you talk to the owner.
Tell them they are the only customer where you have to deal with that.
If you want the extra work, (or money), offer to clean the stuff up yourself for a price. Otherwise ask them to remove it before you get there.
Personally, I don't think gardens and dogs work together. I have a friend with a very large yard and 3 labs. The yard was beautiful when they moved in. Now it's a wasteland with many holes three or more feet deep and not a living plant in sight.
In my view, the presence of dogs in the garden is a clear indication of their owner's regard for the garden as well as for the person who tends it. It's time to move on and to be very clear about your reasons for doing so.
What is this, the anti-dog forum?? Dogs and gardens can be perfectly compatible as long as the dogs have ben properly trained and the owners accept the responsibility for their pets. I've gardened for years with an assortment of dogs and most of my gardening firiends and acquaintenances are dog owners as well - none of our gardens are moonscapes with dead or ripped out plants and giant craters from digging. In fact, dog-friendly garden design is a large portion of my design practice - at least in my area, dog-owning gardeners are the majority rather than the minority and it certainly does not mean they have no regard for their garden. What a preposterous attitude!
If the dog waste is offensive, simply tell the owner it is and ask to have it cleaned up before your scheduled arrival. If they can't/won't accomodate, take your business elsewhere. As mentioned previously, it breaks down quickly into inoffensive components just like any other garden waste and if the dog is healthy/well-cared for, there will be no heath issues.
Yes, I'm anti-dog. All it takes is a few dog bites to develop that attitude.
But just for my information, as I understand it, a large dog needs to run when let outside. If the dog runs on the grass, in a few days the grass will be gone.
What kind of training do you use for dogs in your backyard? Do you train them not to run at all, or just in selected places?
As long as it is a decorative, and not a vegetable, garden.
It is hard to imagine that the owner of the garden wouldn't want to curb his dogs from using the garden as their toilet. A dog toilet garden is something that s/he and his/her friends could enjoy from a far.
If you are cleaning up after the dogs, you should keep track of the time that it takes you and the additional expenses involved (plus the time to calculate it and add it up) in this aspect of your work.
I don't know if you are being paid hourly or are salaried, but you should inform your employer you need to be reimbursed for additional time and materials that fall outside of your job description as a gardener.
I have dogs and I use tomato cages to protect plants and to direct the dogs to paths that I want them to use. When I find them in the garden, I yell at them ad chase them out. As for un-composted doggie doo, I'm against it in the garden (vegetable) or on the paths, so I clean it up myself. If I couldn't, I'd get rid of the garden, or hire someone to clean it up.
If the yard is adequate for the dog, there's no problem with the grass. I have dogs and grass and several gardens. I mow less every year as I expand the garden areas.
You can teach dogs all kinds of things with praise, non praise sounds and repetition. Boundary training can be taught beginning with a leash and gradually weaning off the leash. Mistakes are good, because then you can let them know that's not what you want.
Sorry you got bitten a few times. The more I learn about dogs, the more I'm amazed more people aren't. It seems so normal for parents to let their children pat dogs they've never met on the head or hug them, placing their faces right next to the dogs mouth, full of teeth. Dogs do not like to be pat on the head by strangers and they usually don't like being hugged by anyone. They're canines, not primates.
My biggest problem with dogs in the garden is tomato stealing. :)
I have dogs and chickens ... My dogs are trained not to bother the gardens. Chickens ... those gals really know how to mess up a garden :)
Enjoy Life ... Dan
What is this, the anti-dog forum?? Dogs and gardens can be perfectly compatible ______________________________________________ Of course dogs and gardens can compatible, but that is not what has been described by the OP.
Not everybody loves dogs, get over it.
I'm interested in the subject. One poster indicated that you just have to train the dog. Well, I don't understand how you train a dog not to run. With the design of a dogs foot, running is going to remove grass. I'm guessing, dogs and gardens are compatible if the yard is big enough or the dog is small enough.
Pretty much anywhere they run they are going to cause damage unless you build a run and fence it in or leash the dog. More details about how people cope might be helpful to other posters.
As I've said, I've seen 3 labs turn a back yard into a moonscape pretty quickly. A lab is pretty big and the yard in question is at least
25'x120'. The owner would just let the dogs out when they wanted to go out.
I'd suggest YOU get over it!
First, the issue is how to deal with the dogs that reside at the property in question - this is not the OP's garden and there is no option of excluding the dogs. They live there - he/she does not. It's a matter of dealing with the poop issue or choosing not to - simple as that.
Second, unless the dogs are still young and therefore still very trainable, it is far easier to design and build a garden around them and their habits, rather than attempting to retrain mature dogs to follow the design. That's just an exercise in futility. A good designer, professional or otherwise/homeowner, will take the time to study the habits of the dogs over time. They tend to have very set patterns of where they prefer to relieve themselves, patrol their property, interact with passersby and if in a group environment, play. Observing what those patterns are and adjusting the garden design to accomodate these patterns is entirely possible. It is exactly the same type of design consideration one would employ for any other variable -- sun/shade, poor drainage, prevailing winds, privacy screening, plant selection, etc.
And finally, there is the issue of a homeowner who cares more for the dogs than he does his garden and really doesn't care what they do to it. Unfortunately, those types of pet owners tend not to bother with training their animals at all and you run the risk of those dogs ruining any garden in the neighborhood they are allowed to visit. But that's more the owners fault than it is the dogs. Dogs are entirely trainable, if you bother to take the time, and can and do make excellent garden companions.
Several years ago my dog tore his ACL and had to be on leash for 6 weeks. His favorite game was "throw the ball!" so I'd take him out on the leash, weed and throw the weeds to his mouth. This game became his second favorite. Weeds never made it to the compost pile after that summer. :) Drove my mother nuts when she'd visit. She'd want her weeds in a neat pile and he'd be barking at her - "throw the weed!"
I am one of those pet owners who cares more about my animals than the gardens but you can have both. And a lawn too, if that's what you want.
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Uhh, thanks gardengal. Okay, I love dogs now.
Oops, snipped the rest of your lengthy post where you told me and everyone else, absolutely nothing about how to have a garden and dogs at the same time. I think you forgot to include that part.
Here's a hint, "you need to train them" is not meaningful advice. Train them to do what?
They smell, they're noisy, they're destructive, their poop has the worst smell in the world, they'll hump anyone that comes in the house, they like to eat their own poop and they bite, often for no reason. But I like them. No really, they're great.
Wouldn't want to offend any overly sensitive dog lovers you know.
No I included it....maybe you just forgot to read it. Watch the dogs, study their habits and patterns, then design the garden around these patterns rather than forcing the dogs to adhere to some preconceived notion of how the garden should be laid out.
How 'bout training them not to dig or be destructive? Dogs that are overly destructive and dig for no reason tend to be left too much to their own devices - they dig because they are bored or do not receive adequate human attention, which all dogs crave. If you just leave them outdoors all day all by themselves, of course they will find mischief to get into. You can also train them to relieve themselves in appropriate, out of the way locations, not on the neighbor's property or in the middle of your front yard. But then, this is something responsible dog owners are already aware of.
They don't need to smell any worse than any number of humans I could mention, nor does their poop smell any worse than your own. And far better than most cats. The rest of your remarks are just indicative of poorly trained dog owners rather than the dogs themselves.....and that tends to be the biggest issues with dogs - pet owners who have no clue what they are doing.
But we get it - you don't like dogs. So no big deal - you don't have to worry about designing/planning a garden that will accomodate them. Personally, I enjoy my pets a lot more than many humans I encounter and I have no issues about gardening with them - I've been doing it all my adult life. The only plant fatality I've had directly attributable to dogs was a broken lily shoot inadvertently stepped on by my aging, blind Cocker spaniel - I've encountered more plant destruction from the squirrels that dig up all manner of bulbs, nip off new shoots, strip bark from trees for nesting material and dislodge plants burying peanuts and other goodies. While she was still with me, I just protected any delicate, easily damaged plants and all was good.
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