My dog thinks it's a CAT

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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And not the furry felines, but the big yellow excavating machines. Yes my dogs have a penchant for digging up my garden! If anyone has any tips on how to solve this problem I would be very appreciative. I have a pair of 18 month Malinois, one male, one female. They have been trained as protection dogs and are very obedient and social. They are great companions, but I find my love for them waivers every now and then, especially when I find a new crater in my lawn.

You see I am a Brit. And we Brits like our lawns. We have had them for generations and as a result from our empire we have graced the world with wonderful activities such as tennis, golf, football, rugby, cricket and bowls. Not that Brits are any good at them, but we gave them to the world nonetheless and they all stem from an Englishman's (and a Scotsman's) love of green grass!

Also where can I buy grass seed on the North Coast?
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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I had the same problem so had a simple solution. I got rid of the grass and put down gravel and patio. No more grass to maintain. Easier to clean up dog poo, less ticks and mosquitos. Easy!!!!

Matilda
 

whirleybird

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Feb 27, 2006
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And not the furry felines, but the big yellow excavating machines. Yes my dogs have a penchant for digging up my garden! If anyone has any tips on how to solve this problem I would be very appreciative. I have a pair of 18 month Malinois, one male, one female. They have been trained as protection dogs and are very obedient and social. They are great companions, but I find my love for them waivers every now and then, especially when I find a new crater in my lawn.

You see I am a Brit. And we Brits like our lawns. We have had them for generations and as a result from our empire we have graced the world with wonderful activities such as tennis, golf, football, rugby, cricket and bowls. Not that Brits are any good at them, but we gave them to the world nonetheless and they all stem from an Englishman's (and a Scotsman's) love of green grass!

Also where can I buy grass seed on the North Coast?


You think you have a problem... I have lamb fast gowing to be a sheep that thinks its a dog!! He eats lots of things but won't touch grass and his favourite foods are crisps, Ritz biscuits or any biscuits with chocolate added - we all have our "crosses to bear" and, yes, I too am a Brit but with 11 dogs and 2 cats what's a lawn apart from a poo area!!! And flower gardens are meant to be dug up overnight - yes/ no?? ;)
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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Too hot!!! Whats to do about that in this country???? They dig because they want to go to Australia!
 
J

John Evans

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build them a swimming pool and games room with darts and pool table
 

sollie

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Jul 30, 2006
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Don't know your set up but perhaps a designated " digging area " that you teach them to use? I'm guessing they are bored so plenty of exercise and chew toys might help. Alas, there are always ( gulp ) shock collars. Best of luck.
 

Rocky

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www.rockysbar.com
Psych 101.
Positive manipulation by negative reinforcement.

Toss a live firecracker into the hole that the dog is digging.
That'll cure 99% of dogs instantaneously.
If he is particularly stubborn, a repeat performance will do the trick.
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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Getting some great tips here firecrackers, shock collars, designated digging areas. Maybe I could hire them out for construction work. Then they could earn themselves a living instead of spongeing off me the whole time. I dunno, they treat this place like a hotel....

By the way John Evans, they already have a swimming pool and a games room. Except they cheat at pool ( I think it's coz they're Belgian)

And you're wrong about the tennis and bowls they were both invented by Johnny Englishman. Indians don't count because England gets all the credit for their inventions (including curry) because they are a former colony.
 

beeza

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You think you have a problem... I have lamb fast gowing to be a sheep that thinks its a dog!! He eats lots of things but won't touch grass and his favourite foods are crisps, Ritz biscuits or any biscuits with chocolate added - we all have our "crosses to bear" and, yes, I too am a Brit but with 11 dogs and 2 cats what's a lawn apart from a poo area!!! And flower gardens are meant to be dug up overnight - yes/ no?? ;)

I feel your pain whirleybird, but yours is an easy solution. I just don't think that a Malinois would taste good with mint sauce!
 

beeza

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my next door neighbours cats have lost the art of digging holes and prefer to do poo poos on my lawn perhaps your dogs could come and teach them how to dig holes

http://http://tennis.about.com/od/history/a/earlyhistory.htm here is my case for the defense m'lud

Hi John, the link's not working. But I read somewhere that the French claim to had invented tennis. It was a bunch of monks and they didn't use racquets, they used their hands. Well that's not tennis, that's plain old "catch"! Try looking up Major Walter Clopton Wingfield and see what you get.

Would be happy to hire out the dogs on a consultation basis. On the subject of poo, I read that if you bury theirs in the hole they've dug, it might put them off digging it up again. I'm going to give that a try along with some firecrackers!
 
J

John Evans

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you can get nice green outdoor carpet at ochoa to mimic grass....they also do it in blue and red for no particular reason
 

leehall

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Oct 24, 2006
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My dogs were kept out the the garden area by a high fence. They took to digging up the paving bricks in the patio area instread. In the end, what worked for me was a large sand pit that I put in a corner. The only problem was...on a hot day, they would sometimes pee in it and then lie in it too cool off.
 

Sanation

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May 21, 2007
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Beeza, depending on how large your lawn area is, you could cover it with a light fencing wire (we call it chicken wire in Australia - not sure what it is called in this neck of the woods). The dogs will be unable to dig through it, but it won't kill your lawn and can be easily removed and then replaced when you need to mow.

We use this in Australia to stop foreign dogs who think they are CAT excavators from entering the country (sorry, poor attempt at humor!).

It is important though that the dogs have somewhere that they can dig so they can get cool, so a designated sandpit/digging area is a great idea. Just remember to wet it down regularly so the sand doesn't dry out too much.

It is very much an age thing which they should grow out of in a few months (usually by 2 yrs). If they are incessantly digging and your yard is huge, you could devise a doggie run whereby you run a couple of lengths of wire (one for each dog) and attach a lead to the dog's collars so they can run up and down, but don't have free access to the yard. A friend used this with success for their border collie when it was about the same age as your two. The dog used to dig 3-4 foot deep holes all over the yard. His other favourite trick was to hang off the washing on the line.

Good Luck!
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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Beeza, depending on how large your lawn area is, you could cover it with a light fencing wire (we call it chicken wire in Australia - not sure what it is called in this neck of the woods). The dogs will be unable to dig through it, but it won't kill your lawn and can be easily removed and then replaced when you need to mow.

We use this in Australia to stop foreign dogs who think they are CAT excavators from entering the country (sorry, poor attempt at humor!).

It is important though that the dogs have somewhere that they can dig so they can get cool, so a designated sandpit/digging area is a great idea. Just remember to wet it down regularly so the sand doesn't dry out too much.

It is very much an age thing which they should grow out of in a few months (usually by 2 yrs). If they are incessantly digging and your yard is huge, you could devise a doggie run whereby you run a couple of lengths of wire (one for each dog) and attach a lead to the dog's collars so they can run up and down, but don't have free access to the yard. A friend used this with success for their border collie when it was about the same age as your two. The dog used to dig 3-4 foot deep holes all over the yard. His other favourite trick was to hang off the washing on the line.

Good Luck!

That's a great tip. Definately worth a try. Thanks mate, Bonzer!