Mess Makers inc.

[Enelya]

Hi,

I love my 2 cockers, Maddox and Tyler. On any given day they are the sunshine of my life, they have however ruined of our garden (the grass won;t even grow anymore when we reseed it), what with an unholy amount of excrement, digging, wood chewing etc. We tidy it up everyday but can't seem to get on top of it since Tyler joined us this summer. They both have access to the kitchen & the garden when we are out but the mess theycan produce in the space of a couple of hours is unbelievable.
The crux is we are moving soon and I was thinking of creating a seperate but enclosed part of the yard just for the dogs (part of it would be covered if it rains and it would be large enough for them to run & play). As it is now, we can't even enjoy the garden ourselves - it has just morphed into their playground/toilet.
How do you keep your dogs at home (for those of you who have more than one)? Do your dogs have access to the whole house? If you have an outside run could you describe them for me and how they help you to live in a home rather than a kennel?

Any suggestions/ideas more than welcome!

[JaspersMum]

We have partitioned the lawn off from the rest of the garden and slabbed a bigger chunk where the dogs have plenty of space to run and toilet in.  It's much easier to clean up after them and if like us you have kids, the lawn is a relatively safe clean area still.  We still pick up at least twice a day with the 3 dogs though or it would be unbearable for the neighbours  Most of their toileting is out on walks too.

That said the grass is struggling to grow but always had problems with it pre dogs  and the dogs do go on the lawn when supervised so I know where any poos are to pick up immediately and can stop them when they dig.

In the house, they have access to all downstairs when we are in; when at work and at night, they have the conservatory - that's where their crates are too. If it gets too warm in the conservatory in the summer they can go in the adjoining room or the kitchen. If extremely hot, the garage is integral to the kitchen so they could have their crates in there as it never gets too hot.

[Enelya]

Thanks for the feedback!

I really appreciate it. Did you build this enclosure yourself or did you buy it ready made?

[JaspersMum]

Just fenced off an area of the garden with cheapish fencing about 3 ft high, mine are not escapers fortunately and the whole garden, which isn't huge, has 6ft panels round it anyway. The whole area still serves as family garden too, ie patio table and chairs and loungers on it in the summer 

[Enelya]

You see that's really what I want to create as well... a place where we can sit outside when the odd ray of sunshine appears and enjoy a cocktail.
Maddox can jump 3 ft fences though so I'll look for something a little higher that won't make me feel like i'm in the state pen lol

Thanks again!

[JaspersMum]

You see that's really what I want to create as well... a place where we can sit outside when the odd ray of sunshine appears and enjoy a cocktail.
Maddox can jump 3 ft fences though so I'll look for something a little higher that won't make me feel like i'm in the state pen lol

Thanks again!

How about trellis, 6ft panels that you could grow something up to, like clematis   

[JackieD]

We have our garden partitioned like that too, though we have 4ft high fencing that you can see through, sort of how you would make a gate type, so Maddy is quitye happy to stick her nose up to whilst we are gardening, "her" side is all concrete with a soak away at the very bottom corner, it's easy to hose down and we still have our bbq and patio table at the top of it. 

[Enelya]

That sounds great - I'll nip in to B&Q & see what I can find.

Thanks a million - I'm finally seeing a light a the end of the tunnel = )

Much appreciated!