Dog killing our bushes

Joe in MO · #1 04/11/06, 09:48 PM

Our German Shepherd has been going to the bathroom on our bushes and shrubs. Needless to say, they've all been dying. Is there anything I can put around the bushes/shrubs so they won't be a "target" anymore? I heard a long time ago that tabasco sauce works? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Joe

wvpeach1963 · #2 04/11/06, 10:16 PM

Tobasscoa sauce does not work.
He is marking his territory, if you touch them he is more likely to make them.
I have for dogs. Thre Alpha males. They will make where they mark.
They may stop in front of you but will make a bee line to hit the bush's as soon as you aren't looking.
Try another spot. You have picked there spot.

Maura · #3 04/11/06, 10:16 PM

There are products on the market to keep dogs or cats away. You can also place a large rock in front of the bush and he will pee on that. Whichever you decide to do, hose down the bush first to help dilute his scent.

gypsymama · #4 04/11/06, 10:32 PM

You can try pushing a few moth balls into the grass around the bushes.

Columbia,SC. · #5 04/11/06, 10:48 PM

Get some powder cayenne pepper from SAMS. A big jug costs about $4 it will go a long way. Sprinkle it on the abused bushes it will not hurt the bushes but make REX stay away! It also works for trash or anything else you want any dog to stay away from. It will not mane or kill them just teach a lesson!
Columbia,SC.

swamp man · #6 04/11/06, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe in MO

Our German Shepherd has been going to the bathroom on our bushes and shrubs. Needless to say, they've all been dying. Is there anything I can put around the bushes/shrubs so they won't be a "target" anymore? I heard a long time ago that tabasco sauce works? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Joe

Is he peeing on them(this is not a stupid question,I have a dog who would go to great lengths to poop right in the middle of a bush)?
Does he kill spots in the lawn where he uriates?If so,his PH is killing the stuff.Try putting a little tomatoe juice in with his/her water.It will help out the PH problem.My landscare customers have this problem sometimes.I couldn't tell you an exact ratio,but a coupla' teaspoons of tomato juice to a gallon of water usually straightens them out.Happy growin'.

wvpeach1963 · #7 04/12/06, 09:55 AM

Me too Joe. I have a dog who pooped in my bush's constantly.
Was trying to figure out how he got his butt high enough to poop
about five feet up in the middle of a clemitis.

Kept finding the stuff way up in my bush's, walked around a couple
of weeks scratching my head. Maybe something else was leaveing me presents.
The dog was way too short to do this.

Caught him backing his butt up over the side of the porch and plop.

Needless to say he got a whuppin. Had to keep after him a month or two till
he quit with the plops over the porch side.

CraftyDiva · #8 04/12/06, 11:17 AM

This is a little cruel ( just a tad). My grandfather had rose bushes in front of the house (in the city) and one guy would walk his dog past the house and let him go on the rose bushes. Gramps told him to stop and watch where his dog relieves himself. The guy just kept letting the dog go on the bushes, probably even more since he was told not to. Well................ gramps hooked up a car battery to a metal plate that he put under the bushes. After the dog stopped screaming bloody murder, he never used those rose bushes again for his toilet.

albionjessica · #9 04/12/06, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraftyDiva

This is a little cruel ( just a tad). My grandfather had rose bushes in front of the house (in the city) and one guy would walk his dog past the house and let him go on the rose bushes. Gramps told him to stop and watch where his dog relieves himself. The guy just kept letting the dog go on the bushes, probably even more since he was told not to. Well................ gramps hooked up a car battery to a metal plate that he put under the bushes. After the dog stopped screaming bloody murder, he never used those rose bushes again for his toilet.

Isn't that just an old wives tale? Like peeing on an electric fence...

I thought that didn't work. Just curious.

CraftyDiva · #10 04/12/06, 11:44 AM

The metal plate has to be large enough for the dog to be standing on it when he lets it rip, kind of acting as a ground. His just relieving himself on the plate wouldn't work.

Little Quacker in OR · #11 04/12/06, 01:21 PM

I guess I would have a couple of questions here. One..is it just urine or are BMs the problem? If it's just urine, is your dog neutered? This can make a really big difference in whether the urine would be a problem for the bushes and why he is doing it and when.

Now..... I would wonder why you can't just fence off the bushes to protect them? I can't see your yard of course but that is what would occur to me first. My dogs don't eliminate on my bushes but they will crash onto and through the ones right by my porch after birds and squirrels...so, I have those bushes protected with lattice work as these are my Daphne Bushes and I love them. lol

You can easily train a dog to "go" elsewhere..regular walks will do it easily until they get the pattern and once it's a habit they will hold it if you are a bit late. As long as you are reasonable and stay faithful to the times of the day to go out with the dog and do it at a reasonable frequency. Our walks here are in the AM and PM after mealtimes, as the dogs are adults, and they wait to "go" until we are well away from home. Even though I live on 2 1/2 acres I still walk (and hike with)my dogs.

I believe that most of the trouble with dogs eliminating in places that we deem unsiutable are caused by our lazyness when the dogs are pups or when we first get them. If we take the dog out, on leash, every time... and take them to where you would like them to go..they will develope this habit and later you won't have to go with them. It just requires regular training like teaching them anything else.

Patience and reward is the key..not punishment.

LQ

Maria · #12 04/12/06, 03:08 PM

My dogs kept lying down on the flowers and bushes in front of my house and the chickens kept making deep dust wallows in the flower beds, so this year I put a wire fence around the house flower beds and replanted the bushes they'd killed. Everything looks great for the first time in years.... even the green coated wire fence doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

sullen · #13 04/12/06, 04:33 PM

I have the exact same problem, Maria, and I solved in exactly the same way. Great minds think alike!!

I think it is soft there so my dogs love to hang out in it. Short green metal wire fence is too high for them to get into it.

My dogs pee but it doesn't kill anything...But I have heard of that. Even my unfixed dog's pee is ok, so it isn't only fixed dogs.

nogreaterjoy8 · #14 04/12/06, 05:45 PM

peeing on the fence is NOT an old wives tale........never heard of the car battery/plate trick, but we have used a solar fence charger and wire fencing. If you have small boys who love to pee outside, you might warn them.....or roof repairmen (ask me how I know, lolololol)

edcopp · #15 04/12/06, 07:18 PM

Time to make a choice. You either like the dog complete with urine and fecal meterial, or you like the bushes. Both can not thrive in the same space. It is crude at least and very cruel to expect a dumb animal to be trained to ignore its instinctive habits. Open the gate for a few weeks and see if the dog makes a different choice.

NCGirl · #16 04/12/06, 07:38 PM

I don't know, but if you figure it out PLEASE let me know

Joe in MO · #17 04/12/06, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edcopp

Time to make a choice. You either like the dog complete with urine and fecal meterial, or you like the bushes. Both can not thrive in the same space. It is crude at least and very cruel to expect a dumb animal to be trained to ignore its instinctive habits. Open the gate for a few weeks and see if the dog makes a different choice.

Actually he's more intelligent than some people I know

vtfarma · #18 04/12/06, 09:58 PM

no old wives tale on the electric fence thing. We used an electric fence on my parents back porch. They had just natural cedar sided the back of the house when the neighbors dog decided it made a very nice bush. The strung the electric fence about 4 inches and 8 inches off the porch floor. Plugged it in. The dog made contact and yelped for a good long time but never came back again. However this is your dog - it does work though!