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04-15-2024, 10:58 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Aug 2021
Zone: 7b
Location: Chesapeake Bay Shore
Posts: 68
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How to stop a canine pest attacking my orchids
Maybe this isn’t quite the right place to post this, but I consider this 4 legged monster a pest at this point. How do I stop a large bernadoodle from grabbing my orchids? I don’t have another place to put them due to light restrictions in the house. Does anyone have any techniques that work? Sprays? Devices? Before the floof becomes the death of me? Many thanks!
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04-16-2024, 12:10 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,586
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Get yourself to a good dog trainer. You can teach the dog to leave them alone, but somebody must show you how, step by step. It is simple but will require daily work. It will be worth whatever you have to pay. That large a dog must be under your control at all times. Both Bernese and Poodles are intelligent dogs amenable to training.
I foster dogs for dog rescue groups. I have had several hundred dogs of all sizes through my home in the last 30 years. The #1 reason dogs are given up by owners is lack of simple, easy to perform training.
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04-16-2024, 02:33 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2022
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Location: Olympia, WA
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You can put a tall pet-playpen/baby gate setup around the orchids in the short term. Physically separating the dog from the no-no items goes a very long way. I’d suggest a minimum of 36” height on any barrier you use.
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04-16-2024, 08:48 AM
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oak Island NC
Posts: 15,159
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Hot pepper wax?
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04-16-2024, 01:37 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2015
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Gates and barriers may work for a while. Most big dogs view them as an easily conquered challenge. Hot pepper wax may or may not work. I had a Giant Schnauzer who enjoyed fiery hot chile sauces. He also drank a freshly prepared double Manhattan, including the ice cubes, when I went to get a book. Fortunately I don't impale the cherry and orange slice on a toothpick.
Training works.
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04-16-2024, 02:31 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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I know a surefire way to explain to a dog that what it did is unacceptable, and to not do it again. I tell it in exactly the same manner its mother would, taking it down, quickly rolling it onto its back, biting it gently on its throat and growling. Be prepared, as more often than not the dog will urinate as a signal of submission. You have to catch it in the act and do it instantly, right there and then, or the dog will understand that it did something wrong, but won't know what that was. Sounds crazy, but they really do understand if you do it properly. Now whether or not you can pull this off on a dog the size of an adult berndoodle is something only you can figure out.
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04-16-2024, 06:51 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2010
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Location: Ohio
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I trained my childhood dogs and the ones I've owned since i was an adult to not touch my plants. I even trained our pet rabbit and guinea pigs to not nibble on my plants.
Then...we had the little Shih-poo. She was great for the first five years and would 'help' me care for my plants. Then one day, she got jealous as I was busy with the kids and she went on a rampage. I scolded her harshly and she was great for six months and did it again. Scolded her again and she was great for two years and.... I lost so many of my favorite/hard-to-replace/impossible-to-replace orchids. It was just so unpredictable and I would think she had learned but...she would do it again when I least expected it.
I did start putting the orchids on a high shelf when bringing them inside for the winter but I had to be careful to always watch her when the plants were outside.
A few times, she heard thunder or fireworks and would jump on the shelves with the orchids and knock them all off...so I had to put the orchids behind other plants.
She was very good otherwise. We lost her last month and I really miss her as she was my little shadow. I do admit that, in the middle of my grief, I somehow realized that I should get a new Angraecum magdalenae since she will not be around to destroy it. I promptly called Andy's Orchids to see if they had any (He did and I got that and a couple of Tuberolabiums--I am so grateful to Andy and that really nice person who always answers the phone! They are so amazingly nice and knowledgeable).
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04-16-2024, 07:01 PM
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If you are willing to work on your dog’s behavior, you can try teaching “leave it” command and extend this command on your plants or anything else pretty much. Unfortunately it is not an instant measure, but it is a useful one. Instant solution is to introduce a barrier.
How to train your dog “leave it” command video
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04-16-2024, 07:06 PM
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I have used 'Leave it' to teach our late American Eskimo, our two current Eskimos, my daughter's poodle-mix and the other daughter's Westie (when they come to visit) to leave the plants alone. I highly recommend this.
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