How to make a dog-friendly garden? 10 Tipps from a dog trainer

It's that simple! If you're moving into a house or apartment with a garden, want to redesign your garden for the summer, or are getting a dog for the first time, you've come to the right place. Read on to find out how you can transform your home garden into a real dog paradise!

Fun, excitement, and play: that's what a private garden means for dogs. Here, your four-legged friends can romp to their heart's content, discover new scents, and bask in the sun. It's not just important to design the garden to be dog-friendly, but also to consider safety issues and offer the dog opportunities for activity. Of course, the garden should also remain a place of well-being for people. With enough planning, sufficient research, and patience, a good compromise can be achieved. Read here what tips and tricks you can use and how you can transform your garden into a truly real dog paradise.

Dog-friendly garden - why?

A garden is not only a wonderful place for people to get some fresh air, barbecue with friends in summer, use their green thumb, or simply relax. Our four-legged friends also love spending time in the fresh air and letting off steam.

What a garden has to offer for dogs

A private garden can, in an emergency, such as the illness of the owner or dog, replace short "pee rounds" with the dog.
Since you don't have to go outside on a leash in the garden, puppies learn house-training with less effort.
In addition, the garden offers safe off-leash exercise for hunting, anxious, or not yet trained dogs.
The garden offers many opportunities for dog-appropriate activities

Attention! What a garden cannot do:

Completely replace the daily walk! A dog needs new smells, social contacts, unfamiliar sounds, and challenges.
Be a permanent place of residence. Under no circumstances should you leave the dog alone in the garden for extended periods. This can reinforce behaviors such as barking at the garden fence.

Safety first! How to avoid dangers in the garden

So that you and your four-legged friend can enjoy the benefits of a dog-friendly garden together, some safety aspects must, of course, be considered.

First on the safety list is a sturdy fence, which should be at least 1.20 meters high and so tight that neither small dog breeds nor puppies can slip through. A narrow, slightly raised bed along the fence or a wire mesh buried about 15 centimeters deep prevents forbidden digging to the other side. Especially young, curious puppies need to get to know their environment first. Therefore, secure tools and cables, such as those from garden lights, which could otherwise be used as dangerous toys.

Unfortunately, ticks are unavoidable in the garden and can attach themselves to our four-legged friends. Prevent tick infestation by keeping grass short and, if necessary, provide your dog with a suitable tick repellent. As support and prevention, natural remedies such as those from Na-tierlich can also be given. Zeckenfrei (Tick-free) contributes to natural support during tick season. The included cistus herb strengthens the immune system and deters ticks. Brewer's yeast supports the dog's skin flora. Together, these two ingredients are intended to alter the dog's scent and make it unpleasant for ticks. If a tick still gets into the fur, it should not bite immediately due to the deterrent smell, giving you more time to remove the ticks from the fur.

You also need to be careful when using fertilizer in the garden. Fertilizer is harmful to dogs! If you fertilize your garden, do not let your dog into the garden immediately. Wait until the fertilizer dissolves in the soil or use natural products. Store the fertilizer package securely out of reach.

Likewise, pesticides, slug pellets, and similar substances are taboo. Also secure your compost heap, as many compostable wastes (such as coffee grounds or moldy leftovers) can be dangerous for your dog.

Toxic fruits and plants

This is just a selection of the most common plants, trees, fruits, and shrubs that can be dangerous for your four-legged friend. Before planting anything in the garden, find out if it is really harmless and non-toxic for your four-legged family member.

Toxic fruits: raw legumes, raw potatoes, onions, grapes, fermented fallen fruit, stone fruit pits
Toxic trees and shrubs: elder, yew, laburnum, elder, etc.
Toxic hedge plants: cherry laurel, boxwood, thuja
Toxic ornamental plants: tulip family (daffodil, crocus, tulip), rhododendron, aconite, oleander, angel's trumpet, etc.

Wishlist for the ideal dog garden

petWALK dog door

The door to freedom! With an automatic petWALK dog door, you enable your dog to access the garden independently. Your four-legged friend can simply open the door with an RFID chip on their collar, and the door then closes automatically. You can set regulated times and, if desired, even connect and use the door with your voice assistant. Or you can operate it simply with the remote control or app on your phone. A separate exit for your dog provides some variety and is a great help in everyday life.

Space to romp and run

For your four-legged friend to run and play in the garden, there should be enough free space. If a new garden is being laid out, choose an extremely robust grass variety, such as heat-resistant play or sports turf. Be prepared that, especially with larger and active dogs, a perfect ornamental lawn will not be possible. Be careful when fertilizing the lawn!

Dogs eating grass?
Now and then, our four-legged friends eat grass. There is no cause for concern, as this is a natural behavior, provides fiber, and promotes gastrointestinal cleansing. It becomes concerning if excessive grass eating occurs, which can lead to gastrointestinal problems. For dogs that only want to nibble grass occasionally, you can consciously leave a corner with taller grass.

Digging corner

To spare the beautiful flowerbed in the garden, dedicated digging corners are suitable, where the dog can live out this natural behavior. The digging corner can either be an area in the garden or a large box, for example, a sandbox. However, make sure that the area is not in direct sunlight in midsummer.

Also offer variety to the digging fans. A large area with a deep layer of soil, leaves, or sand will make a dog's heart beat faster. If the dog digs in other places, joyfully encourage him to continue in the digging corner instead. So that your four-legged friend uses the corner voluntarily and happily, do not lead him to the digging corner as a punishment or strictly.

Dog toilet

If the dog is allowed to do its business in the garden, a separate place can be trained for it. This avoids yellow urine stains on the lawn and the business always ends up in the same spot. The dog's own area should be clearly demarcated. It is best to choose a spot where he often does his business anyway. The surface can be covered with grass, soil, sand, or even bark mulch. Especially with male dogs, make sure there are bushes or trees as peeing spots.

Using this corner requires a lot of patience and should be built up positively. Reward your dog with lots of praise when he has done his business in the right corner. You can also help a little at first by keeping the dog on a leash in the garden for a few days and leading him to the correct corner.

Shade and places of relaxation

A dog rests up to 20 hours a day. If you spend a lot of time in the garden, offer your dog resting places there too. To find your four-legged friend's favorite spot, the following tips are suitable:

Embellish cozy resting places with special outdoor dog blankets and dog cushions. Or place a normal dog bed in protected, dry spots during the day. Dogs like to lie in elevated places from which they can observe their surroundings. Not everyone is a fan of traditional dog houses, but they can provide shade and a protected retreat.
Likewise, enough shade can be created with trees or large shrubs, parasols, high privacy screens, or sun sails.

Activity, play, and fun

For many dogs, a trip to the garden simply means play and fun. There are many ways to make the garden dog-friendly with simple means.

One of many dogs' favorite activities is sniffing things out. Treats, toys, or a treat pouch are good for exciting scent trails.

If your dog doesn't train in an agility dog sport club, you can create an improvised obstacle course in the garden to your taste. Depending on the dog's age, size, and fitness, purchased tunnels, hurdles, or slalom poles are suitable. However, sticks, garden benches, stones, or tree trunks are also sufficient to encourage the dog to jump up or on.

Attention: definitely pay attention to safety! Obstacles must not tip over or collapse. Surfaces should be non-slip. Also, be careful not to overexert your dog. Especially with older dogs, you should focus on simple exercises that promote coordination and fitness but put less strain on the joints. You can therefore let older four-legged friends slowly climb over low obstacles or balance.

Older animals, in particular, benefit from constant access to the outdoors. This way, they can go into the garden for short rounds and, if they get tired, simply return to the house. You can also try to support the dog with food supplements such as Bewegungsfreude (Joy of Movement). The composition of willow bark, nettle leaves, and currant leaves is said to strengthen muscles and joints.

Taboo zones

Depending on the garden design and the dog, taboo zones are sometimes necessary. Some dogs, especially puppies and young dogs, gnaw on branches, bite plants, while others dig excessively. Beds, ponds, areas with edible, toxic, or expensive special plants should therefore be designated as taboo zones for the dog. As with the other areas already mentioned, training to keep away from taboo zones requires extraordinary patience.

Taboo zones are easier for the dog to accept if there is a visual boundary, such as a raised bed border, low hedges, or a low fence. These also ensure that the taboo zone can be better perceived during play.