Curious dogs.....What should i do!

[pinklady1457]

Ok heres the situation my two lovely 2 year old chow/Shepard mix dogs...Bob and Marley.....decided that mommy's new orchid would be a nice play toy........I don't think it was out of the potting mix for too long.....the roots weren't harmed.....but i did notice some puncture marks on the leaves......so you think they are ok.....or is there anything i can do?

[Ron-NY]

pot it back up and sprinkle the punctures with cinnamon. I think it should be fine.

[wetfeet101b]

The orchid will be fine as long as you put it back in the pot and treat the wounds.

I am more concerned about the dogs getting poisoned by playing with plants that might be treated with fertilizers.

[Ron-NY]

fertilizer isn't going to hurt them but there are some chemicals that could.

[stargazer]

If your dogs are going to continue uprooting your plants and getting into potentially dangerous chemicals here is what I would do: Get a spray bottle, any empty one from anywhere will do, and fill it with white vinegar. When they come near it, just give 'em a good spray. Sure, it smells for a bit, but it evaporatrs pretty quick and gives the dog a good idea about staying away.

Little trick I learned in Vet school. xD Soon, all you'd have to do is set the spray bottle near the plant and they won't go near it. Works like a charm on my husky for anything.

[Gin]

Thanks for the tip , I will putting my plants out soon out of reach (maybe) have two puppies with big mouths. gin

[stargazer]

No worries. xD It works on cats too. -grin- And some dogs are thicker than others and it might take them awhile to get used to the idea but they will. Mine is at the point where if she sees the spray bottle she looks at it, sits down and stops doing whatever she was doing. Keeps dogs from being naughty, for sure!

[clintdawley]

Can you say, "Operant Conditioning"

If your dogs are going to continue uprooting your plants and getting into potentially dangerous chemicals here is what I would do: Get a spray bottle, any empty one from anywhere will do, and fill it with white vinegar. When they come near it, just give 'em a good spray. Sure, it smells for a bit, but it evaporatrs pretty quick and gives the dog a good idea about staying away.

Little trick I learned in Vet school. xD Soon, all you'd have to do is set the spray bottle near the plant and they won't go near it. Works like a charm on my husky for anything.

[clintdawley]

..one more thing..

I trained my big fat cat like this. I would shoot him with a squirt gun and say, "squirt gun". After a while, I just say "squirt gun" now and he stops whatever he is doing.

[hcubed]

Aside from the chemicals on plants, there are also lots of house plants that are poisonous for house pets. As far as I know orchids are not among those, but you might want to check if they seem interested in eating plants! Funny, some animals ignore them completely and some can't stop munching!