Treating “doggie” areas in the yard

Thanks for your question. You are certainly not the only one to have to deal with these issues. There are a couple of ways to approach "protecting" your back yard. One is with physical measures like 1 to 3 ft high border fencing, which would keep the dog out of any areas that you choose to enclose. Stakes and netting can also accomplish this (although that doesn't look quite as nice and is a bit more temporary). We carry a great product called Dog & Cat Repellent made by Liquid Fence. It can be sprayed around areas that you would like to protect, and can even be sprayed directly on to plants. This is an excellent solution for protecting SOME areas. It will not provide complete coverage because if the entire yard smells bad to the dog and she really has to "go" then she'll still do her business somewhere in the yard. However, if you have one area in the yard that you want to steer the dog into (perhaps one sacrificial area) then you can spray all other areas, hoping to direct the dog into that one zone you are aiming for where you have not used the spray. As for helping the soil, if it's really only been a short amount of time that the dog has been around, I think you'll be fine without doing too much to "repair" the soil. As long as you are still watering regularly, it would take a while for any real damage to occur. I would, however, replenish your soil with Planting Mix once the dog moves out, or perhaps once a month while the dog is living with you. Just this little added "fresh" soil will help keep plenty of nutrients alive and keep your plants happy. I hope this helps. And, as always, feel free to ask more questions at any of our locations, particularly if you see problems developing.

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