3 labs & no grass

locomia7 – posted 02 January 2004 21:12

I bought a house in May of 2003 and in August I acquired 3 labs. Since then, my backyard has gone to the pits. I have bare grass and I can see dead roots of my back-then backyard. Does anyone have any suggestions in how to grow my backyard grass again? Should I try a much toughter grass (if there is one)? Should I use Bermuda grass?My wife is upset because our dogs get into the plants and dig them out. Is there any way(s) or method(s) to prevent them from doing this?I would appreaciate any advice or suggestion you have. Thank you.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 05 January 2004 12:51

You could run an electric fence around the beds. Put it at wet-dog-nose-sniffing height which is about 3-4 inches. If you put a few thousand volts on it, the dogs will get the picture quickly. If the beds are big enough that the dogs could jump over that low-lying fence, then you’ll need several strands going up a few feet. The fence should make a serious snapping sound when you have enough voltage. And the dog should make a serious yelping sound when he gets hit. That’s called training. You might have to be there to lead them to the fence the first two times. That’s all the training they need. Then the fence becomes a psychological barrier, not a physical one.

As for the lawn, you didn’t say how much room you have but apparently not enough. I’m afraid there isn’t a grass that will stand up to three active labs. You might consider some grassy looking ground covers. Or, heaven forbid (!), you might consider crabgrass or even nutgrass.

beberis – posted 12 January 2004 19:56

What about peppers? When I took my dogs to obedience training, the teacher suggested Cayenne or Red Pepper. When they dig, I put this in and they pretty much stay away from it. (Other than if there are gophers, that is!) Hope this helps. I you find anything good that works please let me know. I have two active labs and am trying to re-do the back and landscape. I hope my dogs don’t have a taste for bushes. =)