Dogs are pretty good at smelling, and can be trained to identify specific drugs. I presume, therefore, that they can also be trained to identify a range of particular plants.

Dogs are also quite good at digging.

So.

Train dogs to recognize common weeds, dig them out (or, at the very least, pull them out, even if some root gets left behind), and bring them to their owners for a modest canine reward.

It's win-win. Phideaux will spend happy hours rootling in your flower beds for dandelions; he will be less bored, and happier. Meanwhile, your garden will be weed-free without the need for backbreaking chemicals or toxic manual weeding.

Small dogs might do a better job of digging weeds out from between desired plants.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2008

Peruvian Inca Orchid http://www.thebreed...IAN_INCA_ORCHID.htm
would I make it up? [xenzag, Jun 09 2008]

Oooh! I see Jutta's new Autobunner has been delivered!
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2008


Sorry, just liked the idea and didn't feel a need to "frost the cake". Still a [+] from me.

I didn't even autobone my own idea.
-- Klaatu, Jun 09 2008


Ah. Mystery solved. MaxCo Weed-Dog Training Camp, Inc. (franchises available) thanks you.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2008


// It's win-win.//

a bone for the puppy, and a bun for you. [+]
-- jaksplat, Jun 09 2008


A fun idea, and fairly easy to train a dog for, but the size of the excavations would cause major devastation to your petunia patch. Perhaps a mouse would be closer to the right scale. On the other hand, experience has shown that for the similar but larger scale task of digging a snow fort, a dog can be a very practical, and enthusiastic worker.
-- Heathera, Jun 09 2008


// a dog can be a very practical, and enthusiastic worker. //

This is indisputable. When it comes to removing laces from hiking boots, some canines display a persistence and tenacity usually found only in hungry Great White Sharks.

[+] for the idea, too.
-- 8th of 7, Jun 09 2008


//the size of the excavations would cause major devastation// True. Might be better to teach Phideaux to go for the foliage and pull the thing up. Even it only the leaves are removed, the weed will eventually give up.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2008


What you need is a Peruvian Inca Orchid dog.... an orchid that clears weeds - how perfect is that? (see link) +
-- xenzag, Jun 09 2008


what you need is a dog - that pisses on weeds. trouble is they don't really discriminate - bless 'em.
-- po, Jun 09 2008


//Peruvian Inca Orchid dog// That is, as far as I can tell, the ugliest dog I've seen in a while. Dandelions are prettier.

//what you need is a dog - that pisses on weeds.// I think aim is the main problem. Also, germander speedwell is immune to all herbicides short of Agent Orange; you'd need a dog that pees molecular acid.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2008



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