Digging

[JudyN]

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It's that time of year when I want to garden, and Jasper wants to help... or he wants me to play with him and if he gets bored, he knows how to get my attention... or he's feeling a little warm so wants to dig himself a nice cool scrape. I say scrape, he can dig down a couple of feet in no time at all, and the spoil ends up all over the lawn and the border on the other side of the garden. I thought it might be useful to share some tips on how to prevent our little darlings from heading for Australia...

1) Plant stuff in the gaps. Not really an option for us, as if we planted enough to stop digging now, it would be a thicket by the end of the summer. And unless we planted very large plants, he'd just dig them up too.

2) Giving them somewhere else to dig - I've tried this, but by the time we've got to a suitable area he's forgotten what it was he wanted to do anyway. And anyway that wasn't where he wanted to dig!

3) Yelling 'OI!!' I've had some success with this, and then he'll come to me for a reward, but it's not 100% effective, and I sometimes get the impression he starts digging just so he can get the reward.

4) Strew old logs & branches around the bare areas - this is the one we've had most success with. Maybe I'll have to dismantle the log pile and turn all the bare bits into low-level log piles till the plants have grown up a bit.

Any more ideas?

 

[JoanneF]

Start a new gardening trend with a more 'textured' appearance? You could call it "Moonscape Meadow".

 

[Janer]

Give up! that’s what I did when we had Roxy lol. I’m missing her so much even the digging up of my favourite plants. My wisteria that she loved to wee on and sleep under flowered beautifully while she was alive, this year it’s been terrible. Here she is in her favourite spot, as you can see we tried putting seashells under it but that didn’t stop her!

 

[Ari_RR]

On the positive side - does this solve the issue of (lack of) afternoon walks? Digging up the garden ought to be a nice workout, no?

 

[Turpentine]

Maybe if you're okay with you dog digging in a certain place, bury treats or something so he looks for them? That's what one of my friends did in her garden, now it's messy only in one corner instead of the whole thing!

 

[JudyN]

It's worth a try, @Turpentine - though where I'd like him to dig is right down the end of the garden and he's a bit of a velcro dog who would rather be nice and near to me - even if I do keep saying 'OI!'

Love that photo, @Janer

 

[Caro Perry]

I've given up! My lawn is full of scrapes. There is a patch he's allowed to dig but he doesn't want to dig there!

 

[Turpentine]

It's worth a try, @Turpentine - though where I'd like him to dig is right down the end of the garden and he's a bit of a velcro dog who would rather be nice and near to me - even if I do keep saying 'OI!'

Love that photo, @Janer

Try to encourage him digging where you want him to ! Like, if he digs at the designated place, tell him he's doing good and give him a little treat maybe? Go with him where you want him to dig as well,if he likes to follow you everywhere( my senior german shepherd does the same, will follow me everywhere!)

 

[JudyN]

Buuut, that's the shady bit of the garden, I want to be in the sun!

Actually, this afternoon, he had a little scrape up this end in one of his digging locations but then settled down to doze in it. It's behind bushes so not visible (but is doing the roots of those bushes no good) so if I could persuade him just to lie there and not dig it'd be OK. Till the hydrangea dies, and any rate

I guess a lot will depend on whether he's digging to get somewhere cool to lie or just because it's such darn good fun!

 

[Turpentine]

Buuut, that's the shady bit of the garden, I want to be in the sun!

Actually, this afternoon, he had a little scrape up this end in one of his digging locations but then settled down to doze in it. It's behind bushes so not visible (but is doing the roots of those bushes no good) so if I could persuade him just to lie there and not dig it'd be OK. Till the hydrangea dies, and any rate

I guess a lot will depend on whether he's digging to get somewhere cool to lie or just because it's such darn good fun!

Aww I see, I'm sure you will figure something out!
Maybe he just digs to get a colder place to lie down like you said, my dog always digs a bit and then lies down,he loves it!

 

[JudyN]

Actually, I've just spotted what could be the perfect digging/lying in the shade close to the patio spot OH is in a grump though because when I mentioned it to OH and said he could dig it out to clear it a bit, he'd just been yelling at J for digging behind his hydrangea, and doing a heavy gardening job I'd ordered I mean asked him to do, and he really doesn't cope well with hot sunny weather. I think he has Viking blood.

 

[niamh123]

Mine have one of those shell paddling pools the kids have the hard plastic ones,it is filled with sand and is placed on one side of the patio they love it keeps them quiet and amused plus the good thing is as it's on the patio I can just brush up the sand and put it back in the pool I just make sure the lid is on at night to stop the neighbourhood cats using it as a litter tray,It cost me £3 at my recycling centre it's been well worth the money

 

[JudyN]

That's a brilliant idea, Niamh - though if Jasper did take to it I'm sure our patio and quite possibly parts of our lawn would look like a beach before long!

I had wanted to get J a paddling pool to cool off in, but when I experimented with the base from an old rat cage, despite the fact he'll happily wallow in ponds and streams on walks to cool off, he acted as if he thought it was an acid bath - just getting treats out of an inch of water was a bit scary...