I Feel Like Killing My Dog

[indigirl]

Ok i jst phoned TurfPave wo have a similar product to Bodpave only their produce locks togther. Alas is costs $27.95 per square metre not inc GST. I would need close to 100sq metres, so Im thinking this is jsut wee bit out of my price range. arghh.

The guy advised me to shoot the dog LOL. I told him im tempted at times but nahhh. He says to me whats Broken Hill near? and i said umm nothing. He says where is it and i said.. if you go due west around 1100km from Sydney you should see BH. He was silent for a few moments - clearly a city boy who had never ventured over the mountains - then he says umm you might have to get it delivered there. Doh! hes a rocket scientist that one!

[indigirl]

Maybe hire her out to a fencing contractor. You could make good money out of your four-footed, waggy tailed

post hole digger.

Given she likes to dig long narrow holes i was thinking more along the lines of grave digger..

Ok I called NetPave very nice lady. Its $25 a sq mtre. She suggested I lay weldmesh over the entrire lawn and peg it down securely, she says the grass will grow up thru the weldmesh and wil be fine for the little iggies feet after a short while, and it will be able to be mowed. I might try this in spring/ summer. At this time of year the lawn doesnt grow at all.

Edited August 27, 2010 by indigirl

[poodlefan]

Ok i jst phoned TurfPave wo have a similar product to Bodpave only their produce locks togther. Alas is costs $27.95 per square metre not inc GST. I would need close to 100sq metres, so Im thinking this is jsut wee bit out of my price range. arghh.

The guy advised me to shoot the dog LOL. I told him im tempted at times but nahhh. He says to me whats Broken Hill near? and i said umm nothing. He says where is it and i said.. if you go due west around 1100km from Sydney you should see BH. He was silent for a few moments - clearly a city boy who had never ventured over the mountains - then he says umm you might have to get it delivered there. Doh! hes a rocket scientist that one!

I thought you were in Wagga

[Ons]

portaloo on wheels maybe? lol I could sit on it and push with my legs, that way im 'in position and ready for action' so to speak :D

Gastro is so undignified. ugh.

harnessing her to the portaloo such as you would to a sled might tire her out a bit and you could give her some exercise and you not have to leave the loo all at the same time forget you having to push with your legs - she can do that

might need some antibiotics or soemthing if the gastro doesn't get better if the bug has really taken hold. Hope you feel better soon, it's not fun

[poodlefan]

portaloo on wheels maybe? lol I could sit on it and push with my legs, that way im 'in position and ready for action' so to speak :p

Gastro is so undignified. ugh.

harnessing her to the portaloo such as you would to a sled might tire her out a bit and you could give her some exercise and you not have to leave the loo all at the same time forget you having to push with your legs - she can do that

might need some antibiotics or soemthing if the gastro doesn't get better if the bug has really taken hold. Hope you feel better soon, it's not fun ;)

Here ya go:

You could some Scourban :D or a cork.

Edited August 27, 2010 by poodlefan

[Gayle.]

Maybe hire her out to a fencing contractor. You could make good money out of your four-footed, waggy tailed

post hole digger.

Given she likes to dig long narrow holes i was thinking more along the lines of grave digger..

Trenches. She could dig firebreaks for burnoffs. Jeeze, we could be onto something here. You could single handedly change the meaning of "foundation work" for dogs.

Edited August 27, 2010 by GayleK

[kmaci]

I can sympathise indigirl, I had 2 Goldens that loved to help out with the gardening . Thankfully they only dug at the lawn when we moved house. I think the lawn bugs were tastier at the new house. I metioned this to a woman I met on the street and she suggested putting updisde down mouse traps where they dig. When the mouse traps are disturbed they spring up and the idea is they give the dog a scare and disract the dog. I never tried it as I wasnt comfortable with the idea (was worried the mouse trap might snap onto my dog). Has anyone heard of doing this or tried it?

ps hope you are better soon

[Sheilaheel02]

Hi Indigirl,

I've owned a very destructive dog, so I realise how frustrating it can be.......

She would go to obedience training and agility training classes through the week, have training sessions at home and go out and compete most weekends. Each morning we would do a 5km power walk or cycle. I would take her swimming in the warmer months as well. Bedding and toys lasted minutes (the one exception was her kong), she dug up the lawn, pulled large conifers out of wine barrel pots - and bit the heads off the terracotta ducks that sat in them - pretty much anything was fair game. She was never allowed access to some toys, especially tennis balls, unsupervised but found one at a friends place when we visited and I very nearly lost her at 6 years old because she swallowed a huge chunk of it and it caused a bowel obstruction!

She was often hard work and tested me on many levels, but she was also, tough, loyal, arrogant, incredibly intelligent and likely the best dog I'll ever own in my lifetime. I learned a great deal from that dog and I miss her dearly.

So, chin up girl, no doubt you've got a really fabulous dog there, you're probably just feeling really down because you're sick.

S

Edited August 27, 2010 by Sheilaheel02

[Sheilaheel02]

I am about to build an exercise yard for the rescue dogs and will bury weldmesh underneath the soil so it is not uncomfortable for the dogs to walk on but if they try to dig out they can't and the holes will be limited to small ones which are easily filled rather than moon craters.

If you still have the weldmesh indigirl can you draw a mudmap of where the irrigation lines are and at least bury it above where that runs to protect it and limit the constant replacement costs?

S

[~Midniara~]

What do you think Nekhbet? Ouch about this inside of your car too!

eh working line Malinois vs commodore interior. she's even ripped the spare tyre up out of the well it sits in. My fault for not crating her as she's trained

Sorry a little Nekhbet, one of my Groenendaels pulled out a $350 grey water pump and ripped it to shreds, she also dug two holes at the bottom of my dog traier. (in two different bays) She's destroyed countless hoses and loves to dig to China quite frequently. This is not necessarily a working line trait.

Edited August 27, 2010 by ~Midniara~

[indigirl]

Gawd if Karma destroyed my car or trailer I would jsut sit and cryyy lol

Edited August 27, 2010 by indigirl

[cointreau]

In the end I gave up. I have put a pond in the garden where my girl dug a big hole previously. There are certain areas I will allow digging but sometimes Sparkles will dig where she likes. Often she digs if I am talking to someone and she wants attention so I try to ignore her. If she wants to dig and I am out in the garden and need a hole dug I get Sparkles to dig there for me saves me lots fo work and energy.

Sorry you are so frustrated with your digging girl, like I said I gave up and now I just enjoy watching her have fun and looking filthy dirty when she has dug in the wet dark dirt.

[Dame Aussie]

I laughed when I read the post that said she doesnt respect me. What the f*** does respect have to do with a dog thats obsessed with digging? Until you have seen her in action its difficult to understand I guess. Shes normally well behaved, she does get barky at times but I have a barking collar that I use on her bad days. She isnt destructive at all in the house, she doesnt chew up bedding or even stuffed toys anymore. She can be trusted to be left in the house for hours when Im out. She will sit, stay, drop, and has a brilliant recall. She heels when i insist and I am always getting comments on how well behaved/trained she is. She understands lots of other commands too, things like get in the car, wait, roll over etc. I ask her if she needs to go to the loo and she will go to the back door if she needs to go. She is a well behaved dog, trained to a point where she is easy to live with. Ive taught her manners, she knows not to barge past me to get in the door - stuff like that. I used to take her to obedience but it was just too boring for her and she didnt enjoy it. She is great in the ring - unless its windy or she's in season then shes a bit scatty. She is storm phobic but soon as she hears thunder in the distance she will start barking and i crate her, she settles very quickly in her crate. She is a lovely affectionate happy dog. Its just the digging that does my head in.

Indigo who's the boss you or the dog. You are the pack leader and the dog does as you say.

You also say this....she heels when I insist. Well insist she doesn't dig.

You also say she isn't destructive in the house....of course not, you can get to her quickly to correct her.

Now nobody tell me I don't know what I am talking because I do.

1. Instructor at obedience

2. Titled dogs in obedience

4. Passes at Best in Trial level

5. Held an obedience judges licence.

When you find the dog digging, run towards her making loud noises. Push her to the ground and roll her around manhandling her. This is what the pack leader would do if she disobeyed.

Let her know it is wrong to dig.

If that fails think up things that are displeasing so that when she digs she will blame herself for it.

It's also very easy with electric collars. Put one on her and let go out side and when start to dig zap her.

If you are not standing close to her and do this every time she starts to dig she will soon blame herself.

Make the dog blame herself for digging. She will soon learn that digging brings bad results for her and she will think she causes it and should stop. :D

Just make sure you are well away from the dog when she gets zapped in this case you want the dog to blame herself.

If you want the dog to blame you and see you as pack leader, try the first method.

I agree with this post.

You can stop wrong behaviours, the dog will associate digging with your displeasure. Tell the dog what to do...(or not to do) and it must comply.

So how is manhandling or shocking a dog telling the dog "what not to do". It's just an assault for no reason that's clear to the dog. If the dog is already digging, it probably wont' even know why you did it. There's no command, no cue, no required behaviour being taught. Indeed, the poster who recommends using a shock collar you shouldn't be near the dog at all. Pack leader dogs don't beat up other dogs for doing what is natural, non-confrontational undirected behaviour. The analogy doesn't wash with me. How does "leadership" get involved when you want the dog to "blame itself" for doing something wrong.

I agree with this.

[Dame Aussie]

SSM:

Most people I know with dogs have a back yard that looks like a moonscape/dusty tundra/junk yard.

Or in my case, like a crime scene. There are plush toy animals strewn from one end to the other.

Yeah, that'll be my place. Little dead bodies of teddies, flattened ducks, headless rubber chooks all over the yard. But I have to admit for having three active dogs, our garden is surprisingly nice and aside from a few broken plants due to zoomies, they leave things pretty well alone. Puppy loves the fishpond though so my plans to fill it with fish are on hold.

We have a bungalow in the middle of the back yard, there is a permanent "zoomie track" of mud right around it. Other than that it's not too bad at the moment but it has looked like a desert before.

Oh and as for dead stuffed animals....I won't even go into detail... They last approximately 5 minutes in our house.

[Dame Aussie]

Umm the alpha roll think sounds exactly like the what the dickheads who run the local dog obedience would do. Brute force isnt my thing sorry! I cant imagine how the dog would react. Either be absolutly terrified or think it was the best game ever. If that what it takes to get 'respect' from my dog (will she still respect me in the morning? hehe) then I will stick with disrespect. I appreciate that you think this alpha thing is the way to go. Those who us who aren't obedience gurus and who actually want to teach our dogs to learn - not just get the desired behaviour through fear.. are not into that kind of thing. Ive seen how the local dickhead "Im the Head coach" treats dogs. Two weeks ago a dog he was handling growled at another dog he swung the dog off the ground and held it in the air while it was wearing a check chain!! He swore at the dog and threatened it for maybe 10 seconds .. when the dog finally got its feet back on the ground it was cringing and terrified. Did it growl at another dog? No. But that to me is NOT training. Thats cruel and abusive. This is the head trainer mind you. I spoke up against what he did and omg they went for me. I told them it was abusive.. he got very verbally aggressive to me then LOL. Stupid prick. So I have ZERO faith in anyone who thinks they know how to train a dog just because they are an obedience instructor. Sorry. I have no need to have a power trip over my dog.

I will diligently exercise her o the point of exhaustion but $100 says she will still dig the moment my back is turned. Anyone wanna take a bet?

What? That's disgusting.

[huski]

So how is manhandling or shocking a dog telling the dog "what not to do". It's just an assault for no reason that's clear to the dog. If the dog is already digging, it probably wont' even know why you did it. There's no command, no cue, no required behaviour being taught. Indeed, the poster who recommends using a shock collar you shouldn't be near the dog at all. Pack leader dogs don't beat up other dogs for doing what is natural, non-confrontational undirected behaviour. The analogy doesn't wash with me. How does "leadership" get involved when you want the dog to "blame itself" for doing something wrong.

This is a perfect illustration of why "obedience training" and "behaviour modification" should not be considered to be an automatically complementary set of skills. Having an OC Obedience dog doesn't necessarily mean you know anything about modifying unwanted self rewarding dog behaviour. Hell I can think of at least one multi state title winning obedience trialler whose dogs could not be reliably recalled under even low distraction outside the ring. Conversely, I can think of very talented behaviorists who will never darken a trialling ring.

Totally agree.

I can't believe people would recommend alpha rolling at all - it is NOT natural dog behaviour (this has been disproven time and time again) and you'd have to be an idiot to think it would solve a digging problem.

[spikey]

I thoroughly sympathise Indigirl, I know exactly how you feel - when my marriage broke up, I moved into a rental house with my GSD. Unfortunately he had to be at home all day alone whilst I worked, but I walked him every morning and every night, spent heaps of time with him on weekends, took him to obedience training and trials, trips out to the dog beach, always left bones, Kongs filled with food, chicken necks/frames hidden in cardboard boxes for him to find, and so on EVERY day when I was at work. He didn't do a lot of digging at the start, but then one day I came home to find he'd dug up almost all the reticulation in the raised garden beds around three sides of the backyard. I buried it all again, covered it in chicken wire weighted down with rocks and bricks, only to come home night after night to find it all dug up again AND most of the reticulation pipe chewed to bits. Logically I knew he wasn't doing it to "get back at me" or anything like that, but I wasn't thinking very logically at the time and burst into tears as soon as I saw it. Like you, I could have killed him. I was still trying to cope with the divorce, I was in a dire financial situation, no family here in Perth (they all live in the Eastern States) so had no one who could help me out with him and I had a terrible time coping because I felt he was doing it deliberately to upset me!!! Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone who could come in and spend time with him or exercise him whilst I was at work, friends and neighbours were either elderly people or were at work themselves. I would ring up Mum and Dad in floods of tears, not knowing what to do - because I was living in a rental house, it was costing me a fortune to keep repairing the damage so the landlords wouldn't find out. Mum and Dad then lent me the money to buy one of those dong containment systems where you run the wire around the area you want the dog to keep off and the dog wears a collar that beeps a warning if they get close to the wire, and then if they keep going there's an electrical "correction" - not the most pleasant experience for him, but I had it on the lowest setting and also held the collar myself to experience what it was actually like. Thankfully it worked to keep him off that area, but like your dog, he seemed to just love digging - luckily the place I was renting had a "play yard" in one corner with a kids cubby house up on stilts and the whole area was sand (quite deep as well as most housing blocks here are nothing but sand!). I would go and sit in there with him and start digging with my hands near his feet, saying "diggy dig" (and other silly things ) and as soon as he started to scrape with a paw, I'd praise him madly. He soon got the idea that digging near the cubby was A-OK with Mum, but I'd go off at him as soon as I saw him anywhere near an area where he wasn't allowed to dig.

It saved my sanity - I would come home from work to find he'd dug these HUGE trenches in the area around and under the cubby to find the chews and toys I'd buried, and I'd tell him what a clever dog he was, fill in the trenches and away he'd go again the next day. Saved my sanity and no more sad GSD face from him for being yelled at.

Edited August 27, 2010 by spikey

[indigirl]

Ok i jst phoned TurfPave wo have a similar product to Bodpave only their produce locks togther. Alas is costs $27.95 per square metre not inc GST. I would need close to 100sq metres, so Im thinking this is jsut wee bit out of my price range. arghh.

The guy advised me to shoot the dog LOL. I told him im tempted at times but nahhh. He says to me whats Broken Hill near? and i said umm nothing. He says where is it and i said.. if you go due west around 1100km from Sydney you should see BH. He was silent for a few moments - clearly a city boy who had never ventured over the mountains - then he says umm you might have to get it delivered there. Doh! hes a rocket scientist that one!

I thought you were in Wagga :D

No we rescue dogs wherever they come up in pounds accross the state. If i was in wagga i wouldnt have had to use that shitty establishment as I have a quarantine run at my house. I live way wayy wayyy out in the stix lol.