Hiding in the roses.

The reason’s name is Miele, which is honey in Italian, but we call her Millie because it’s easier to pronounce. She’s a rescue puppy from South Bay Purebred Rescue in San Jose. She’s pure dog, but that’s about as pure as she gets. She’s a funny little puppy with a great personality and lots of energy. She goes everywhere in our yard and picks up anything she finds interesting in her mouth. A good amount of what she picks up winds up in our house. Definitely not an animal I’d want to have around toxic garden chemicals.

You may notice from the pictures in this post, we don’t have what you would consider a regular back yard. Most of our back yard is vegetable garden. When my wife and I bought the house, the yard was pretty traditionally landscaped; lots of lawn, a good amount of concrete and the usual assortment of shrubs. It was also conventionally maintained. Herbicides, pesticides, synthetic fertilizer and overhead spray irrigation.

Mulched paths to help keep weeds down and to keep dog paws a bit cleaner when it rains.

The lawn and concrete are all gone now with the exception of bits of grass poking out in a few places. More importantly, the herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are gone. Miele runs in the rows between the planting beds, hunts under the growing vegetables and digs in the compost pile. She can do this without us worrying about her. (As long as she doesn’t eat the tomato leaves, but I’ve never met a dog that wanted to. Tomatoes yes. The leaves no.) So far, the most toxic thing she’s managed to put in her mouth are dried garlic scapes. She loves them. Mmmmm. Garlic puppy breath.

Miele seems to like the yard the way it is, as does our beagle, Trouble. Mulch provides endless opportunities for nosing and chewing. We have lots of lizards in the yard and they are a nice distraction. But mainly, there are no toxic substances. Don’t get the idea we don’t have anything growing. In addition to the vegetable beds, there are lots of roses, an assortment of fruit trees and a couple blueberry bushes. All managed through building soil fertility. Not a bad place to be a crazy little dog.

What do you do to keep your pets safe in your yard?

(Click on any picture for a larger version.)

Oh to have the energy of a puppy.