7 Lawn Care Tips For Dog Owners

​​When the grass starts to rise with the temperatures, lawn care is on the mind. But being a dog owner throws some hurdles at you.

Caring for a lawn involves a lot of steps depending on how thorough you want to get with it. That also means there are more risks and hazards at play for your dog. So what tips should you keep in mind as you care for your lawns and landscapes?

We’ve compiled a list of 7 tips to follow.

Those 7 lawn care tips for dog owners include (but are not limited to):

1. Keep flowers and plants outside of your dog’s enclosures
2. Try zeroscaping
3. Add decor as bathroom decoys
4. Use wire cages for precious plants and shrubs
5. Use natural treatments to minimize the risk of your dog ingesting toxins
6. Use crushed gravel or mulch near fences
7. Mow grass that’s been urinated or defecated on regularly

Why?

1. Keep flowers and plants outside of your dog’s enclosures

If you have a front yard and backyard, assess the space you have available for gardening. Keeping a green thumb is hard when you have curious pups digging up plants. You can reduce the number of plants that are in your backyard, bringing them to the front of your house where your dog doesn’t roam as freely.

By keeping your plants in your dog’s enclosures, you have to be on duty at all times if you want to make sure that your dog is either 1) safe from harmful plants, or 2) kept away from your flowerbeds. 

2. Try xeriscaping

Look into xeriscaping if you’re wanting to overhaul your yard. This is the process of minimizing the need for water flow through your garden or yard beyond what the climate needs. 

Duralawn explains, “A trend that's growing in popularity with dog owners is the combination of artificial grass and xeriscaping. The ultra low maintenance of artificial grass for dogs and low water usage of xeriscape plants results in a perfect blend of longevity and beauty without the hassle and tediousness that comes with regular grass. Dogs have an area they can run and play on that's soft on their paws and you can enjoy your favourite plants bordering your property.”

3. Add decor as bathroom decoys

Your beautiful plants and shrubs might look like targets to your dog, and there’s no stopping them when there’s the urge or need to pee. One hack that’s shared all over is to add more objects to your yard, but not just that.

Pay attention to where your dog urinates the most and place a garden statue or fountain, something large, in that spot. They will shift their focus (and target) to that object.

4. Use wire cages for precious plants and shrubs

This is an alternative to the first tip of keeping your plants and shrubs away from your dog’s enclosures. If you’re limited on space, wire cages make a great solution because you don’t have to sacrifice more time to make the space and your dog is kept from digging into your plants.

5. Use natural treatments to minimize the risk of your dog ingesting toxins

From fertilizers to weed killers and bug killers, there are so many chemicals out there used for lawn treatments. This is something to keep in mind especially if you have service maintenance on your lawn and don’t have control of the products used. 

Look into pet-safe options and ask questions about the treatments and your dog’s safety when consulting with new lawncare providers.

6. Use crushed gravel or mulch near fences

This tip helps stop your dog from running along the fences (fence runner).

Whitehouse Landscaping shared, “Fence Runners have natural guard tendencies and will race along the fence line to warn passers by that they are protecting the property and people who reside there.  It doesn’t take long to compact the soil and kill the grass leaving a muddy mess.  Consider replacing the area right next to the fence with crushed gravel or mulch.”

7. Mow grass that’s been urinated or defecated on regularly

As your grass grows, the urine spots become more visible. Top that with your dog continuing to urinate on the grass, there are going to be a lot of rough patches if you let the grass grow too high. To keep your lawn in pristine condition, keep the grass cut low to medium on a regular basis.

This is just a sampling of tips and informational posts we offer at Joyride Harness. You can find more content including tips and tricks and how-tos for caring for your dog on our blog at this section. Feel free to leave a comment with tips you’re looking for!