Digging Alternatives ?

[DavidWW]

One of my youngsters (18 month dobermann) has recently decided her home lies on the other side of the globe and she is determined to mine her way there.

These are major excavations and this morning she left the 'group' walk I take the 3 dogs on and ran back to the houseyard to continue digging rather than running around/playing with the others.

A friend has suggested a 'sand pit' where the dogs are permitted to dig is a solution that works...I would be interested to know if anyone else had found this a workable solution. and if so how deep did you lay the sand and how big an area did you need to make this an attractive alternative for the dog- some fo these holes are over 2 foot deep... she just seems to enjoy digging - but I am coping an earful from my more house proud partner and need to try a few possible solutions.

thanks

[raineth]

Hi there,

I did it with my Dane and it worked really well.

I generally think its a good idea for any dog that likes digging.

But my success with it might be due to a couple factors:

firstly as soon as I realised he liked to dig as a pup (12 weeks), I directed him to a big pile of mulch and made it really fun - I made it so that it would be easily seen as the preferred place to dig Also I attached a command to it - which gave me a level of control over it. I could say "dig" and he would dig, and if I said my release word he would stop. then she can dig your holes for planting for you

!

to get her to favour digging in a sand-pit hide exciting things in there like bones and toys.

Your dobe sounds like she is really into her digging though! I think that creating a spot for her to dig will be one of many strategies you may need to employ to curb her digging.

There was a topic here recently about digging, and someone mentioned that some dogs do it because they detect beetles in the soil. If she is doing it for this reason then a sand pit will not help much!

Edited August 30, 2010 by raineth

[Paulp]

Worked pretty well with my lab but I initially underestimated how much he would dig by making the original 1 sleeper high. I had to increase this to 2 sleepers and was considering 3. The shadecloth is to keep the sand in rather than being sprayed all over the yard.

You just bury treats in the sand to encourage the dog to dig there. I find you need to repeat this now and again to keep the focus in the sandpit. I hide balls around the yard for him to find and occasionally bury them shallowly there to help direct him to it. If I did it again I might put in a solid floor (I just used weedmat) because if he hits bottom he goes through the weedmat and pulls up dirt into the sand which encourages weeds.

[spottychick]

aww that sand pit is spectacular! Lucky doggy

[Adnil444]

Hi, I have a dobermannxkelpie that just loves to dig - he started when he was around 18 mths old. He digs where there is dirt - so my garden beds in some areas have been completely dug out (when he stands in the garden bed, all you can see is his head!). I have given him a digging area, unfortunately though, he digs everywhere else as well. My garden is slowly but surely being destroyed, though the lawn is quite lush which is nice. I'm not a gardener (actually hate gardening) and I would love to have my yard landscaped with the sole purpose of creating a dog friendly yard, no garden beds, paving around the fenceline, a digging pit, some shade trees and just lawn (covered with chicken wire, which has worked very well also).

Try the digging pit, it is certainly worth a go. The problem with mine is he isn't interested in treats at all, so hiding food isn't going to work but would just encourage my non-digging rottiexdobe to start digging, which I don't want. He plays a game and he will pick up a leaf or stick and will drop it into the dirt and then he has to find it again, which means he has to dig to find it and away he goes!!! He no longer has any claws, they have been worn down to the tiniest little stubbs, and he must now be digging with his pads.

[lanabanana]

I am stoked to see this thread. Our wee foxy/shih tzu is a digger and she is going to get a sandpit for Xmas...

She is only little though so will just be getting a clam shell pool with sand in LOL

[aussielover]

Worked pretty well with my lab but I initially underestimated how much he would dig by making the original 1 sleeper high. I had to increase this to 2 sleepers and was considering 3. The shadecloth is to keep the sand in rather than being sprayed all over the yard.

You just bury treats in the sand to encourage the dog to dig there. I find you need to repeat this now and again to keep the focus in the sandpit. I hide balls around the yard for him to find and occasionally bury them shallowly there to help direct him to it. If I did it again I might put in a solid floor (I just used weedmat) because if he hits bottom he goes through the weedmat and pulls up dirt into the sand which encourages weeds.

what a lucky doggie you have!

That looks awesome!

[koalathebear]

Worked pretty well with my lab but I initially underestimated how much he would dig by making the original 1 sleeper high. I had to increase this to 2 sleepers and was considering 3. The shadecloth is to keep the sand in rather than being sprayed all over the yard.

That is the best sandpit EVER. You should start up a business - I'm sure there are heaps of dog-ravaged yards that would welcome it!

[Paulp]

Worked pretty well with my lab but I initially underestimated how much he would dig by making the original 1 sleeper high. I had to increase this to 2 sleepers and was considering 3. The shadecloth is to keep the sand in rather than being sprayed all over the yard.

That is the best sandpit EVER. You should start up a business - I'm sure there are heaps of dog-ravaged yards that would welcome it!

With the level of damage he was doing to the yard I had to do something. I used to joke he was a prospector, he would dig test pits all over the yard/garden and if he found something interesting like a tree root or watering system he would start excavating a mine! I started out with just a single layer of sleepers and in short order had sand all over the place and he had gone through the bottom

So I went the second layer of sleepers and put up some shadecloth on wooden stakes. Came back later and found the stakes snapped so went the starpickets so then he tore all the shade cloth off and managed to pull out a star picket. I then secured the starpickets to the sleepers and put up dog fence wire to the star pickets to which I attached the shade cloth. He has torn a few holes in this but I think I've won......