A Gardening new Puppy Question

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Since we moved to the cottage only in February we are just now tackling the garden.  The first thing we did of course was to fence it all , in anticipation of our new puppy.  Now I am at the stage of 'designing ' the garden which we have divided into two.  One ornamental and one for fruit and vegetables.  I am thinking that as well as grass I would like some pebbles and a gravel path.  Is it likely that a  puppy could 'eat' or pick up the pebbles in his mouth?  Or do I need to review the plan.  I won't be leaving the puppy alone in the garden as he will be taken out frequently.  We have great places very near for excercise and safe off lead areas.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Nicky, I have no answers..sorry...we are lucky with our two that we still have grass..LOL! There is a Garden Group on DK and I bet they would have all the answers.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Our puppy finds stones to carry into the house constantly and we do not have gravel or small stone in our yard on purpose. Our other dog never did this. One concern I would have re: gravel is if you have hardwood floors the gravel will get in their feet and scratch the floors. Just a thought.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Thank you Bonnie, I do have hardwood floors throughout....Maybe time to review the gravel.  I may just do an area with the big pebbles.

[Adina P]

Mine couldn't care less about pebbles...but some dogs do like to pick them up.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

All I can say is that Peri would pick them up and bring them inside CONSTANTLY.  But, it will depend on the nature of your dood :)

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

I don't think we have ever had a dog that DIDN'T pick up rocks and bring them in the house.

We have hardwood floors sealed with Gym Coat and they still need refinishing every 3 years! The dogs bring in rocks, sticks etc and drop them on the floors, amking dings in the wood.

Would definitely rethink the pebble idea.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I'm doing a major rethink.. Only in the planning stages so I will take another look at the plans.  I may have to grass it all and lay a proper path.

[Leslie J]

If it's not rocks, it's twigs or wads of grass... many dogs bring in all kinds of junk... I don't think rocks would be such a problem.  As far as the hardwood floors, I'm sure her claws will scratch them all up anyway.  Our floors were almost brand new when we got Cocoa and even though we try to keep her nails short she had scratched the floor considerably.  I just figure that we'll refinish them every ten years and just live with the scratches in between!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I'm not going to worry about the floors It's just wear and tear and we can sand them in a couple of years if we want.  I will keep his nails short and file them a little to try to minimize the scratching.  I forgot about the twigs, bark and grass!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Owen brings in twigs (branches), grass, dirt, rocks, you name it! I don't care about the floor scratches from them running in the house, but when there is gravel embedded in their paws it is far, far worse. We put gravel on our side yard and it was a big mistake.

[F, Calla & Luca]

My dogs track in lots of things but not pebbles or rocks. But DK members have reported dogs eating rocks and I know some dogs have had surgery for this.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

We have a gravel driveway and some gravel walks.  There was  no problem with Cole' (RIP).  When Haley was a puppy from the very begining he would pick up a piece of gravel and chew on it.  We were constantly removing gravel pieces from his mouth.  He finally lost interest in the gravel.  When he was a 1 1/2 years old he swallowed a large piece from the driveway (apparently when scooping up his Frisbee that had landed in the driveway).  He was not able to pass the rock and it had to be removed surgically.   Also unless you have a weed free yard you would be fighting weeds in the gravel walks - I know from experience.  We will be eliminating the gravel walks because of the weed factor.