Keeping dog from digging

tiffanybrenner 6/20/2014, 2:02 pm

I have a husky/shephard mix who's a digger. Needs A LOT of exercise Very Happy

. If she hasn't received her run for the day yet (or if I'm too busy to have not done it yet), she'll hop in my raised beds or even small pots and dig. (And yes, I do give her other toys to occupy her). I've protected some with mesh screen/lids, but its just not practical for me to do it around the entire garden (I guess I would if I have to, but I'd like to avoid it). Any other thoughts on what to spread around or tricks to use to deter her? I've read things like spreading cayenne pepper, but am unsure if that would have a negative effect on the vegetables. Any ideas would be terrific.

Meanwhile.... I'll continue to work on methods of training her!

**camprn** 6/20/2014, 3:06 pm

A fence is the best solution next to putting the dog on a lead. Or a cable lead.

giant_trainer 6/20/2014, 4:33 pm

I have two LARGE dogs. Giant Schnauzers. I used a fence around my beds. My dogs could actually jump that fence with little trouble but they learned that I was "NOT HAPPY" if they did. I did not leave them in the yard alone for a few weeks so I could monitor their activities and they learned quickly to respect the fence. You can see from the last picture, this years fence is much shorter and easier to work over.

This is the fence I put around my boxes last year.

This is one of my Giants and a little rat terrier that was staying with us.

This is this years garden in transition. the middle box has the new fence.

jrfrommd 6/20/2014, 5:42 pm

I simply showed our Aussie where my WIFES strawberries were Very Happy

haha for real I've found I simply NEVER leave her alone in the yard..if I catch her even sniffing I make an exaggerated AHAHH!!! sound...working so far...

**AtlantaMarie** 6/20/2014, 7:26 pm

What a CUTE baby, JR!

Tiffany - we had huskies too. We got them a kiddie pool to splash & play in. They used to "dig" in the water... Just a thought...

Marc Iverson 6/20/2014, 7:58 pm

jrfrommd wrote:I simply showed our Aussie where my WIFES strawberries were

haha for real I've found I simply NEVER leave her alone in the yard..if I catch her even sniffing I make an exaggerated AHAHH!!! sound...working so far...

Wow, that looks almost exactly like the black tri Australian shepherd female that we just got last Saturday! Grats on having such good taste in puppies. Very Happy

**sanderson** 6/21/2014, 1:53 am

What a cutie!

How about a box of her own? You could even bury a couple of plastic toys in it as an activity. This from a cat owner.

jrfrommd 6/21/2014, 8:50 am

Marc Iverson wrote:
jrfrommd wrote:I simply showed our Aussie where my WIFES strawberries were

haha for real I've found I simply NEVER leave her alone in the yard..if I catch her even sniffing I make an exaggerated AHAHH!!! sound...working so far...

Wow, that looks almost exactly like the black tri Australian shepherd female that we just got last Saturday! Grats on having such good taste in puppies.

Yep that is "Dixie" quite possibly the purdiest dog ever!

plantoid 6/22/2014, 8:01 pm

The hose pipe gets our mutts attention PDQ .
If he carries on after being told NO , he gets a squirt that will chase him back to the house ..now as soon as I say , "Leave or Go Mum , Go Holly etc. " , he stops , looks at the hose and then does as he's told .

Pappy Slip 6/24/2014, 10:58 am

Most of the remedies mentioned could work I guess. If you really want to keep them out of your food supply here is this answer.

Underground fence and collar. That will fix your issue... period. You can go to ebay and find one real cheap. That's how I control my dogs and it works like a charm never problem afterwards.

Pappy

yolos 6/24/2014, 4:21 pm

I also use this method Pappy. My dog house is right next to the garden. Keeps the deer away but not the rabbits. And because of the underground fence, the dog cannot get into the garden.

tiffanybrenner 6/26/2014, 12:43 pm

Thank you for all the terrific responses! I put up a couple fences this past weekend and it seems to have helped. The reality is, for now, unless I have taken her on a long run that morning, I just can't leave her alone in the yard. As I type this I can see her plotting to try to find a way into my composter. My bad for just turning it and forgetting to put the lid back on! Razz

She's a rescue that we've only had a few months, so we're all getting use to each other.

Marc Iverson 6/26/2014, 8:41 pm

LOL, my puppy leaped over a little fence I put around the garden area I have out back and I was aghast to see her leaping about through my plants. Luckily she only killed two. She's so small she's actually a pretty poor jumper still, but she was motivated. I was on the other side.

tiffanybrenner 6/26/2014, 9:36 pm

Interestingly I found out just how resilient Chard seeds are. She frantically dug up a bed I'd just planted with Chard seeds and now I have Chard plants springing up everywhere.

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