Setting Up A Digging Area

[Elsie Girl]

Hi - we have a lovely beagle Miss Elsie (10.5 months). We have a specific garden bed we'd like to set up as a digging area for her. Just looking for advice if this is possible and how to go about setting it up. Picture of said pup will be included once I work out how ????

Edited July 15, 2016 by Elsie Girl

[Elsie Girl]

Just had to make file really small - hope it works.....

[Papillon Kisses]

Nawww, look at her. I'd bury treats in it to encourage her to dig and find. The more she's rewarded for digging in that specific area the more she'll do it there, vs. elsewhere where no goodies are found. Freshly turned over soil also seems to interest dogs.

I found one half of those plastic clamshell sandpits at a council cleanup and put that in the garden filled with children's sandpit sand. You don't want to use builders sand as it has nasty things in it. Did the same thing with burying treats, which my dog watched me do then dug them out. He's not much of a digger though so in the end it was only used for bone burial. Nothing wrong with digging in the dirt, provided it's not contaminated I suppose. It's just what I did.

One thing I will say with a beagle is you might want to make sure the digging doesn't happen where she could then dig under a fenceline and escape to track all the wonderful smells in the neighbourhood.

[sandgrubber]

Depends on why she digs. If she's after critters, she's going to dig where the critters are. If she's after a cool place to lie down, she'll go for a damp shady spot . . . like under a bush that you water. If she's digging just for fun, you have a chance of training her by praise, hiding treats, etc.

[baby gates]

You don't want to use builders sand as it has nasty things in it. Did the same thing with burying treats, which my dog watched me do then dug them out. He's not much of a digger though so in the end it was only used for bone burial.

[The Spotted Devil]

I use bags of playground sand from Bunnings. And yes I bury treats and use praise but they still sometimes dig in the wrong spot. Makes me feel good though  and my current litter just love it!