A Dog-Friendly Landscape

Here are some of Bud's tips for creating a dog-friendly landscape:

• Use plants with interesting color and foliage instead of flowers, to avoid canine bee stings.
  
• Plant densely and use resilient plants such as rosemary and native grasses.
  
• Avoid toxic plants and keep on top of maintenance like pruning and raking up leaves and flowers to eliminate potential dangers.
  
• Garden organically to help avoid exposing pets to dangerous chemicals.
  
• If you compost, keep the compost pile away from where the dogs go. Mushrooms and other things that are not dog-friendly can grow in a compost pile.

Even with the perfect dog-friendly landscape, a dog needs a place to call home, so Bud builds Toby a dog house.

The first step is figuring out how big the house needs to be. To do that, Bud says, measure your dog. Toby is two feet from head to tail.

Next, Bud frames the house using 2x2s. He cuts the base 36 inches square and puts in cross beams for the floor, then anchors the side upright pieces to the base. He adds one more piece on top so that when he attaches the roof it will have a little slant for drainage.

Bud chooses Hardy plank, a type of cement board, as the siding for his dog house. It’s environmentally sound and also fire retardant. It attaches with simple drywall screws.

Bud also adds an air vent for optimal canine comfort and air circulation. To frame the sides where the panelings match up, he uses a two-inch angle iron that has been cut to the correct length using a vice and hacksaw. The angle iron also keeps Toby safe from the rough edges of the siding.

For the flooring, he uses grating from an exercise pen. The grating drops into the already framed floor and also pulls out for easy cleaning. A washable mat is added for comfort.

For the roof Bud uses metal roofing with an asphalt overcoating that looks like shingles. Drywall screws attach the roof and it hangs over a bit for easier rain runoff.

The finishing touch is a cool little gadget that hooks up to a source of water and has a filter on it. When the dog licks the end, water comes out so there is always plenty of clean drinking water.

Bud places Toby’s new house on the deck under the shade of a tree and close to the front door so he can look out the windows and know that Toby is comfortable in his new home.