Pet-friendly back yard?

I have a small yard with two small chihuahuas. Any recommendations on a pet-friendly backyard? I worry they will eat or pick something up that could make them ill. My yard is extra-small and have left several message with landcape gardeners with no return calls back. Maybe job too small but would like expert advice. Pet-Friendly Advice

De-stink dog ''toilet'' on dirt?

pardon me, but I have a tiny patch of dirt under/around my tiny back deck for the dog to do her business. I scoop the poop every day, but the pee soaks in so the dirt is noticeably stinky as the weather heats up. I have plants growing in this patch, and don't want to dump chemicals like bleach, but other than watering it is there a solution? andrea

Dog-friendly garden space

We have a small garden area (dubbed a ''Tuscan garden'' when we bought our house). It is right off the living room, with French doors opening out. It has various plants and flowers on the borders, and the ground in the middle (about 7' x 10') is covered in small gray rocks.

The problem is that the whole area smells like dog pee. We have a pug, and she goes out there a couple of times a day. Rather than just walking her every time (since part of the allure of the house was a space for Daphne) we'd like to change the ground cover to something that won't smell like pee so that we can enjoy the garden as well.

I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for anything besides grass (maybe bark?) that will absorb the smell better than the current ground cover. I like the idea of grass, generally, but the maintanence might be too difficult . . . seems silly to buy a mower (which would have to go through the house) for such a small space). Any suggestions appreciated! mary

You can neutralize the ammonia (which is what makes it smell) in your dog's urine by giving her Yucca (Yucca schidigera) capsules or extract daily. It's the active ingredient in a product called Green-Um which is sold to help prevent dog urine damage to gardens.

I had a tall male dog & had ''dog pee blight, leg-lift variety'' all over my garden, & was looking for solutions. I found the Green-Um, tried it & it worked in terms of the smell and to some extent the damage, but I didn't want to keep paying the price it sells for, so did some research. Turns out that the ammonia neutralizing properties of Yucca were first used commercially in a product called De-Odorase to eliminate the foul odor in pig pens.

My male dog has passed away, but I still have two females, and when I finally get around to putting in a new lawn I'm going to start giving them Yucca to reduce the brown spots from peeing. In terms of plant damage (which doesn't sound like it's your problem), there is still some damage from the concentrated salt content of the urine since the Yucca only deals with the ammonia, and to reduce that I'm going to try setting my lawn sprinklers to run every day for just a couple of minutes after their first morning pee, which is always the most concentrated. Then I'll also give it a deep soak weekly so that the roots don't just stay on the surface.

I get my Yucca in capsules from Vitacost, the Jarrow Formula brand, and it is quite inexpensive. http://www.vitacost.com/JarrowFormulasYucca41Extract I experimented with dosages and would give him 1 capsule at night in the rainy season when there was water from the sky to flush the urine from the soil, and an additional capsule in the morning when the weather was hot and dry.

The other thing, which I'm sure you do anyway, is to make sure that your dog always has a generous supply of fresh water available to help keep the urine dilute. Cece

Dog-proof ground cover?

does anyone know of a good ground covering for the area of yard where the dog goes potty? we need to landscape our yard but have not done so yet. because of this our yard is mainly dirt and mud. i'd like to put something down for the area where the dog goes to the bathroom so that she doesn't get so dirty when i take her out. it will likely be a temporary solution until we get some permanent ground coverings and plants. many thanks. dirty dog owner!

Gravel, 2-3" thick, preferably packed with a heavy hand tamper, is perfect. Dogs like to 'go' on gravel. My dogs naturally go to my gravel driveway for most of their business, but still like to do some in the garden (dealing with that is a whole other story of tricks and tactics).

Use a 3/4" gravel, which is unlikely to get stuck to feet and tracked inside as a smaller gravel can. Choose an ornamental one (there are many) if it's where you see it, or if it's an out-of-sight area, you can use something cheap like drain rock. Cecelia

Pave our yard for dogs?

I'm trying to figure out a way to pave our yard, 900 sq ft, cheaply and nicely given that we have two dogs and nothing will grow. I was thinking to use pavers or bricks and just have a border of ivy for them to do their business in. But it's very expensive! Any suggestions on alternatives? Cathleen