anyone got any ideas on how to keep a dog off the garden

[jackp]

my dog (a huntaway x retriever) keeps getting up onto the gardens and digging holes. he's only recently started doing it (3 1/2 yers old). he's excercised regularly and has a fairly big yard to roam in. we've put up plastic netting to stop him but he just barges through. my girlfriend is getting rather angry (understatement) at him. is there some way of breaking him of this habbit?

[Adrienne]

Do you give him bones? If you do you will not stop him digging.

[mcrudd]

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Dog-from-Digging don't have a doggy at home, but found this, the sandbox seems like a good idea, its similar to my cats carpet she is allowed to scratch but not my floor carpets in my house. She knows which one is hers, perhaps the doggy would no which is his sandbox too.

[jackp]

i don't give him bones as he has a digestive issue (megasophagus) and he tends to chew them up and swallow them, which leads to vomitting. i have just talked to a friend of a friend who has had experience with training dogs. she thinks it might be because the gardens are newly established and have been recently fertilised. apparantly he can smell the fertiliser and is digging to find the source of the smell. she told me there are some crystals available that smell bad to cats and dogs, which might put him off. i'm hoping it does, because it's my chances of getting away with another aquarium will be compromised if he keeps digging. the struggles of an animal lover in a relationship with a clean freak

[ghostknife]

hope u can hang in there hope the crystals work i know u really want that tank

[David R]

Cover the garden with decent sized river rocks? Fence it off? Don't fertilise with blood and bone!!!

The sandpit idea is an interesting one. You could always try plant it up with cacti and agave!

[anthony law]

my mate had a foxy that started to dig holes.when the the dog was diging he whould use

the hose on it .after a while it stop digging...it didnt like getting wet..

antor thing you could do is run a hot wire a round the edge of the garden..a coulpe of

shocks should keep it a way..

[ryanjury]

You could try one of those electric shock collars where you bury the boundary wire and put a shock collar on the dog and when it goes near the wire it gets a shock, you can eventually remove the collar when the dog has learnt where the boundaries are.. Even if you decide how to go down that route make sure you google testing shock collars on you-tube its brilliant seeing people test them..

[livebearer_breeder]

Ive got a almost 2 year old unfixed roti X last wighed in at 42kgs at the vets and he is a handful! I like to produce veges and fruit all year round in my gardens but Jedi had the same issue as your dog, fresh fertilisers drove him wild. I tryed changing his electric collar boundry to find out that he doesn't care about electric shocks, i watched him just scratch the collar a couple times as it went off, but was still to interested in the garden. I've tryed remote controlled shock collars as well and either he's just so thick that it doesnt register in his brain that hes getting shocked or his fur is dense enough that it limits the output, either way hardly reacted to this method.

I tryed the garden hose but he would just sit down in the garden and role around and get super muddy. One day i came home and he had completly destroyed everything (these are home built raised garden beds) and was just lying on his back, legs in the air, obviously had a good day wrecking all my hard work, so i went inside and sprayed a bottle of brute (this was the next step i had planned) into a water pistol with some warm water, then i went outside and gave him a short sharp squirt in the face. He hated this, played sad sack for the rest of the night, followed me around with a depressed look on his face but never touched the garden again! or so i thought.

A few months later i come home, gardens where on the mend, hes made his bed in them again, i was just so angry at this point because hes isnt this stupid, he knew it was wrong and he still did it anyway, so i put the fear of God into him and gave him a big smack on the bum, dragged him inside and put him in the naughty corner, where he sat for a few hours, then i let him out again but watched from my window. The momment he came sniffing around the garden i shot outside and went crazy at him, loud noises arms all over the show and got right in his face, he cowered and submitted to me, i did this once more the next day when he went near, and now he seems to be timid about going near the garden, time will tell, its only been about 3 weeks, but he hasn't gone near it since i scared him lol

Its hard because all dogs are different, you have to tailor your style of dicipline to your dog (large breed to small breed) and i hate telling them off or smacking them, but its far better than having a dog that doesn't listen to you at all like my partners dog, its very important to be firm and create boundries otherwise the dog will think it owns you, not the other way around and the easiest time to teach these boundries is when they are still a puppy.

Im not saying what i did will work for you, but i have read that laughing and pointing at a dog when they've done something wrong has the same effect as telling them off and smacking them. I have tried this but jedi just gets really excited and jumps on me.

[jackp]

it sounds like your dog is very similar to mine livebearer (though bruce only weighs 40kg). the problem is he only does it when nobody is home (if anyone is home he curls up outside the back door and waits for pats). i've sprinkled some crystals around the edge of the garden and i'm hoping that works. i do have access to a shock collar, but will save that for a last resort. that said ryan, i could bring it to a fish club meeting, could be entertaining

[livebearer_breeder]

it sounds like your dog is very similar to mine livebearer (though bruce only weighs 40kg). the problem is he only does it when nobody is home (if anyone is home he curls up outside the back door and waits for pats). i've sprinkled some crystals around the edge of the garden and i'm hoping that works. i do have access to a shock collar, but will save that for a last resort. that said ryan, i could bring it to a fish club meeting, could be entertaining

Yeah he is well behaved when people are around and he has the opportunity for attention but always gets upto mischief while im away, the food toys only keep him entertained for so long!

[burrowssj]

eh it natural for dogs to dig, my suggestion would be to get rid of your garden, those measures seem extreme, if its that bad fence your valuable garden parts off don't punish the dog for doing a natural behavior. just my 2c

[jackp]

while i can see where your coming from, he is a domesticated animal. it is not exactly natural for a dog to live with humans and have it's meals provided in a stainless steel bowl. whilst it may seem harsh to punish a dog for digging in the garden (i would also add that i would never do anything that would actually cause him pain) it is not nearly as harsh as life in the wild. there are a lot of behaviours that are natural for dogs that have to be discouraged (ie. violently defending teritory).

[Hdoubleu]

Put his poo in any holes he digs. If this is too hard put pepper in them... when the dog goes back to dig they get a suprise. You need to keep it up for a few days. I have a husky and this is how I trained her not to dig.

[livebearer_breeder]

eh it natural for dogs to dig, my suggestion would be to get rid of your garden, those measures seem extreme, if its that bad fence your valuable garden parts off don't punish the dog for doing a natural behavior. just my 2c

Dogs respond very well to strict rules! The life they get as domesticated animals is lavish (bar abusive owners) compared to how they would live in the wild, alpha males and dogs challenging will grab and sometimes tear the excess neck skin and also hind legs just to show dominance and this can go on for hours on occasions, this is a form of posturing, the real fighting can cause a lot more damage. Alpha females can be more vicious than males.

A dog isn’t like a cat, it isn’t a pet in the classics sense. It’s a responsibility, they have the ability to really harm humans in certain circumstances, you as its owner have a responsibility to make sure that your dog is disciplined and trained to a degree that means they are safe for the general public, this starts at home and means basic rule setting and boundaries for your dog, many dogs already have a good mentality around people, but some large breed dogs can be very territorial and aggressive and protective. And to train them right, and make them completely obedient and not a risk to people and children around them this can mean discipline that includes pain. Just like when you smack your child (maybe not all of you) when they do something wrong, they will associate doing something wrong with getting punished. Its not enough pain to cause any damage, but enough to deter them from making the same mistake too many times. Most dogs are very intelligent and figure out right from wrong very quickly, some dogs you must take a slightly more aggressive approach to there training.

Anyone who knows a dog breeder knows that they will tell you the discipline makes the dog. The end result is a best friend.