Gardening With Dogs

My recent putterings in the garden lead me to an interesting discovery. 

Cocoa mulch is toxic to dogs.

. Finding myself at the local hardware store in need of mulch and I was shocked to see just how many types are available. Yup, I'm a newbie gardener. Last thing I wanted was to be stumped by MULCH!

Anyway, as I strolled the seemingly endless isle of mulch I simultaneously ticked off the ones I didn't want. Color Enhanced, no. $12.00 a bag, no. Wood chips and bark, cypress, straw, pine needles, landscaping fabric, plastic (ewww), newspaper, cypress, pine bark nuggets, rocks.... AGH!

It's time for a glass of wine...right?

Head spinning, I finally settled on cypress mulch as much for the great cost as for the lovely smell (for those of us that like a cedar scent).  I liked the idea of cocoa mulch but the thought of chocolate made me wonder if there would be an effect on the dogs. It appears that it's possible. Snopes (I love Snopes) gives the lowdown here. It seems some companies have changed their formula to lower or remove the Theobromine (the stuff that's toxic to dogs) but I'm not a chance taker with my pups.

With so many choices there's no reason to put any of our kids at risk!

 Now...where's that wine?