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The doghouse

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Original poster

I live next to a park, is a ruined garden inevitable with a dog?

40 replies

cromartyforties · 25/06/2023 09:59

Slowly moving towards getting a dog, haven't had one since I was a child. That dog was a beagle with zero recall and we lived in the countryside and couldn't secure all our boundaries, next to farmland, so we weren't able to let her run around freely outside and she got taken out for wees and frequent walks. That's not reflective of how most people are with their dogs though, so I don't know how it 'works'.

We live in a semi-detached bordering a middling sized park/field, no play areas, often used by dog walkers. It is a matter of 5 seconds to get from the front door to being in the park.

We also have a garden which has no lawn Cottage garden style so a mixture of paving and big borders. Husband is a gardener and I love the garden as it is and don't particularly want a dog to dig it all up.

If I am WFH I can frequently take the dog out for a run around. I just don't want to leave a dog outside all day, unattended, and have it ruin the garden. I don't mind stepping into the park in pjs to take dog for a quick wee.

Is it reasonable to assume that we could manage having a dog without it ruining our garden?

OP posts:
Waterfallgirl · 25/06/2023 10:10

I am not sure what you mean by ruining the garden? Not all dogs dig up borders, or trample on plants , but some dogs do ruin the grass with their urine.

I am sure you can train your dog to do what you need in the garden, but are you saying you don’t want them in the garden at all?

5 seconds from a park sounds fab, but think about what you would do when:
-late at night when they need to have a wee before bed?

  • up in the night? (very occasionally but happens)
  • wee before or after breakfast when you are still in pyjamas?

I think you could train a dog to ( for example) wee in a certain place but I think it would be difficult to always leave your house to go to the park every single time they need to go out.

Plus if you love your garden and your DH and you are out enjoying it, wouldn’t the dog be with you? Or will it stay in the house?

Waterfallgirl · 25/06/2023 10:12

Sorry I have just read again that you will be leaving a dog all day unattended, sorry OP if you are leaving a dog all day, then maybe a dog is not for you. It wouldn’t be kind at all.
Never mind the garden.

Purplecatshopaholic · 25/06/2023 10:13

Depends what you mean by ruin the garden? I am not ‘garden-proud’, lol, so I don’t care if my boys dig or whatever, but just don’t let them do that if you don’t want them to. If you are literally that close to a park a dog doesn’t need to be in the garden at all by the sound of it.

Rainrainstayawaytilseptember · 25/06/2023 10:14

Fence off a smaller area for ddog. Maybe pave a section?
We have fencing between flower garden and doggy yard!
Works great!

Purplecatshopaholic · 25/06/2023 10:15

PS but no, you can’t leave it home alone for hours at a time, or run about unattended… I assume you didn’t mean that..

Polik · 25/06/2023 10:15

Your dog needs a garden to wee snd poo in. These can't all be fine at the park on walks.

I don't think you have the right home for a dog.

Girlintheframe · 25/06/2023 10:17

Think it maybe depends on the dog. Some are naturally more diggers than others. Our spaniel used to love digging and burying bones. Our lab also used to love digging things up, especially new plants. Current dog is not remotely interested in digging and hasn't gone near the plants/flowers.

GoodChat · 25/06/2023 10:18

My DF's dog wont go to the toilet on walks. She will only go in the garden.

My dog avoids poos in the garden and will only go while on walks.

You just cant know.

But if you're intending on leaving a dog in the garden all day, you shouldn't be getting one.

Days like today, it's too hot to take a dog out.

eurochick · 25/06/2023 10:19

We had dogs growing up and they never toileted in the garden. They were walked three or four times a day, including first thing in the morning and last thing at night, in all weathers.

MumUndone · 25/06/2023 10:21

Lots of people without gardens have dogs so yes, it is possible. Our dog has the run of the garden but rarely toilets in it, he prefers to wait for his twice a day walk... though he does seem to have an unusually strong bladder!

RedHandGangMember · 25/06/2023 10:22

Why would it be outside all day unattended?

Unluckycat1 · 25/06/2023 10:23

My dog loves pottering about in the garden. I also have a field used by dog walkers very close to my house but her experience there is very different to her garden experience. The garden is a relaxing zone, sunbathing, sniffing familiar smells, and yes, digging. Looking for places to hide her favourite toys and treats etc. Whereas the field has other dogs, she often has to be on the lead, the smells are more changeable, her arousal levels are higher. I know not all dogs have a garden, but I think if you do you'll likely quickly see how much your dog values it and might struggle to not let them enjoy it.

Makemyday99 · 25/06/2023 10:24

Train the dog, we have 2 dogs who are trained to know where they can/can’t go on the property (no lawns), they also are trained not to toilet in the private garden or courtyard so you can teach yours the same its not hard. All dogs should be trained to have recall so you must teach that as a priority. Training is easy if you’re prepared to put in the time & effort & keep it consistent.

startafresh123 · 25/06/2023 10:36

Not wanting to be mean OP but you don't sound like the best dog owner! Why the heck would you not let your dog in the garden??

Doje · 25/06/2023 10:44

Definitely possible. We have a garden but Ddog eats sticks if left unattended so isn't allowed to be out there unsupervised. Most days he just gets 2 good walks a day and has a good life. If he needs a wee outside of the walks we take him into the garden on a lead.

Original poster
cromartyforties · 25/06/2023 10:54

Apologies, I was confusing with my choice of words. When I wrote "leaving the dog outside unattended all day" I was being careless. I would be WFH, or only away from home for short stretches, so the dog would be in the garden when I was home, but not necessarily under close supervision. I wouldn't leave my dog in the garden all day while I was out.

When we had a dog who needed wees late night/early morning/middle of the night my dad would have taken her to part of the garden. It was a longer "walk" for him to get there then it is for me to slip into the park. Park is genuinely as close to our house as a garden would be- there is about a foot of pavement between us and the grass of the park.

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 25/06/2023 11:03

I don't see the problem, assuming you don't get a large and/or boisterous dog. Ours were never a problem. They never ate any of the poisonous plants either.

My last dog didn't like being left out in the garden by himself anyway.

Original poster
cromartyforties · 25/06/2023 11:05

To reassure people, the reason we don't have a dog yet is because I work 4 days a week, and though I'm only 5 minutes from home, that would only give me 20 minutes to walk the dog each lunchtime and they'd be at home from 8.20 till 12 then 12.20 till 3.30 and I don't think that's good enough.

Will have a think about what parts of the garden we could fence off as I think that might be sensible.

OP posts:
grimmers44 · 25/06/2023 11:09

If you live next to a park it should be easy enough - do you have an outside seating area that you use? Maybe you can fence that area off so you can still enjoy being outside with the dog.

WhineWhineWhineWINE · 25/06/2023 11:11

If you've a park next door and the dog goes there for plenty of exercise and regular walks and wee breaks, there's no need to leave it out in your garden at all if you don't want to? In your shoes I think I'd prefer it didn't get used to toileting in the garden anyway, when there's a large marvellous alternative nearby!

grimmers44 · 25/06/2023 11:12

I would be WFH, or only away from home for short stretches, so the dog would be in the garden when I was home, but not necessarily under close supervision.

You can't really do that anyway with most dogs, and certainly not puppies. They'd be eating sticks/stones/plants that they shouldn't be. I'm sat here watching mine retrieve yet another bloody stick to chew despite knowing I'm going to take it off her within seconds

CindersAgain · 25/06/2023 11:14

We have two large dogs and the grass needs a bit of love from them running around on it, the the borders are fine.

ginghamstarfish · 25/06/2023 11:14

So it's OK to ruin the park but not your garden? Of course, the first is maintained at local taxpayers expense ...

Shopper727 · 25/06/2023 11:22

How would your dog ruin the garden? Mine digs so he doesn’t get left alone in the garden. They are then learning destructive behaviour we redirect him and he stopped doing it, you can train your dog out of most things. Ours also can pee on concrete or grass - I just taught him with a cue word obs I don’t let him do it in the middle of pavements etc but helps if you have no grass and you can slosh it away with water if you need. we’ve had stones and all sorts so he needed to be able to go there rather than wait till we find grass. Saves the lawn too.

we now live a stones throw from a park. He doesn’t pee there though and I can’t see how he’d ruin it? There’s foxes, cats, squirrels all peeing there too 😂 there’s lots of in and out with a young pup as they need out numerous times. Not sure id want to do it again our dog is now nearly 3!

Moltenpink · 25/06/2023 11:26

Our garden is fine, we have a boy lab. He wees against the trees and bushes and doesn’t dig. I once had a border collie who just ran constantly in circles though, and we had a missing track of grass where she had worn it out

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