HI.

I have a 4 month old Staffy X (Buddy) who just loves to run around in the garden. The problem is that we have just finished re landscaping & have replanted the whole garden as well as installing an irrigation system. Buddy is very interested in the plants, and also the sprinklers that are sticking out of the ground. It has only been a day since we laid the sprinklers and already he is pulling them out.

Unfortunately there is no way we can fence off our garden as it is around the border of our property, does anyone have any ideas on how to stop him from ripping everything up??

thanks

Sorry but the only way you are going to resolve this is to stop Buddy going into the garden unsupervised. If somebody is there all the time then you will be able to catch him in the act and teach him that garden design should be left to humans and not him ! :D I have Labs who think they are budding Charlie Dimmocks and so we have had to spend a couple of thousand pounds to dog proof the garden ! You have just by the sound of it spent a lot of money on your garden so to preserve this then I think this maybe the only solution.

Best of luck !

Lucy

You will need to enclose a part of the garden nearest the back door to give the dog an area of his own where it soesn't matter if he digs or chews, and only allow him in therest of the garden under strict supervison.

You can buy weldmesh panels, or weldmesh on a roll (you want the heavy 10gauge in two inch squares) and ytou can make wooden framed panels up.

I got the 4 foot panels to partition my garden, and they are anchored using 6foot angle iron.

My neighbour made up panels using wood and the mesh on a roll, also four foot high to contain his two young Jack russells who were going to destroy his garden. Having just lost one at 13 abd the previous 0one had lived to 23 he had forgotten what wrecking machines puppies, especially terriers are.

So is there any chance he is going to grow out of this??

He will grow out of it eventually if he is not given the opportunity to let it become an ingrained enjoyable habit. Depending on his breed at around 2 to 4 years of age. Dogs are creatures of habit. My lot will not empty the wastepaper baskets in the living room while I am there, but if someone has binned sweet papers etc, they will certainly empty them out when I am out of the room, and the worst culprit is the eldest at 11. They will do what they find rewarding!!! :D

All dogs slow down with age. Terriers were bred to dig and most will do so to some extent all their lives. However, the wanton destruction that puppies seem to enjoy they will eventually outgrow. All I have to do is look at a plant and my 7-month old Cairn is on top of it trying to rip it to pieces. She even managed to get all four feet on top of a small flowerpot to dig out the soil in proper terrier style.

I too love my garden and do not want it destroyed. I bought a special stake and chain at Pets at Home and I hook her on it while I am in the garden. I could never garden with her free to roam! Eventually I will install a static containment fence (Freedom Fence, or Invisible Fence are some of the brand names) and set it up so that most of the flower borders and my small garden pond are protected. Many people do not approve of this type of fencing, for various reasons, but they have worked well for me in the past (as well as working well for the dog.)

Also, I love my pup more than I love my garden. So a bit of digging and destruction I expect and really do not mind. My garden is really more than I want to maintain these days, so I am planting more and more hassle free shrubs as time goes on. :-)

Stacey

Hi there, Garden !!!!! whats a Garden!!!!!! LOL . Its years since ive had a decent garden, I am going to get the back garden laid out this year, slabs and chips, taking away the green (brown) grass. The front garden is o.k. as the dogs are not allowed in it. I use patio tubs and find this helps as least it give a bit of colour and flowers. Its not the first time ive caught a puppy up on the patio tub trying to dig out the plants. Oh!!! well!!!! thats terriers or terrors for you.

That is what we have done, patioed and graveled and now have a pot garden . As you say though they still can dig the pots ! Often a sight to be seen in our garden if they are let out unsupervised a pot with a Labrador bottom sticking out ! :)

Lucy

Oh how I can picture this sight. Just the same in my house. Trouble is my lot don't just dig the pot they generally eat it too.

Still the last hole is just in the right spot to plant the Sunflower seeds that came home from nursery last week.

Wouldn't be the first time I have been presented with a rose bush...still attached to the garden.

Friends on ours Labs have dug so badly in their garden they are going to have to ship in earth to fill the holes. The holes are so deep that when the dogs start digging all you can see is the tip of the tail and flying earth.

That said the holes keep Christopher quiet when we go there. Nothing better for a small boy thatn a good muddy hole!!

I could have sworn it was illegal to even *have* a pot garden

:D :D

Melody ;)

:D

Lucy

We grew potatoes in tubs last year. I don't think that we had to dig a single one up as the pup did it for us :D Fortunately she is too big to actually get into the tubs this year :)

Daisy

Hi,

I agree with Brainless, the best way is to seperate part of the garden and keep this just for him. If he enjoys digging, why not give him a digging corner where he can find stuff you have hidden and this will keep him occupied.

All our pups are kept in a seperate puppy area in the garden, luckily we have about 1/2 and acre so it makes life easier, but it solves a lot of problems and saves destruction of your nice new garden :)

manda
X

Garden??? I would love a garden!!!!!

I have a couple of acres of land and even thats wrecked...what with 7 dogs....2 horses and a foal...geese...etc (18 animals in total now, I must be mad!!)

I've got no chance of ever having a garden!!

Hope you lot can manage to keep yours looking nice!! :)

Take care

Lisa

Thanks for all your ideas. I like the idea of setting up a seperate part of the garden which can be his on play area. I will give that a go and see what happens.

thanks again :-)

Hi, I'm a keen gardener, so were the dogs, but we have made a compromise which works quite well.I made them a sandpit so that they can dig to their hearts content. I then found that when it was sunny, they would still dig out holes to lie in under my shrubs, so I put a roof on the sand pit so that it is nice and shady. They love it although my Beardie gets the wrong idea and lies on the roof because it gives him a good view! My 13 year old Polish Lowland Sheepdog is still facinated by a sprinkler, standing biting at it. Again, a compromise with the Beard over the hose pipe, which drives him wild with excitement. First I tell him to sit and stay, then I water plants for a few minutes. Then I release him and turn the hose away from the plants and let him play at catching it for a few minutes. Then, you've guessed it, sit! It has taken time but works really well. He has a good steady sit/stay, the plants get watered, then he gets exercise leaping around enjoying himself and as a bonus, I have a good laugh too. I used to have a Beardie who loved to collect plastic flower pots. She would keep hoards of them hidden round the garden, sometimes with unfortunate plants in them. I never solved that problem!
Carrie

In our doggie area we have a plastic paddling pool , the type which has a lid, it looks like a big shell which we picked up on a trip to our local tip for a £1. They love it and is good cause we can put the lid on when they are not supervised and to stop midnight skinny dips ! It has solved the problem of MB digging in her water bowl as she has a much bigger and better bowl to do it in now ! :D

I think at the end of the day you have to have a compramise in the garden, a doggie area and a human area then everybody should be happy ! (until the get into the human area when you are not looking ! :D)
Lucy

Our last house had a small garden and our shih-tzu made holes everywhere in the lawn. I gave up and had it paved over but when we came to selling the house last year, although the garden looked nice with pots etc it put a lot of people off buying it. We now have a bigger garden and two shih-tzus The youngest whose 3 rubs her nose in the grass as if she can smell something and before you know it there is a bald patch. I love my dogs but I also like to see a nice garden and so we have a patio area for the dogs and then a picot fence and gate to go into the garden. They come in with me and we still get the odd bare patch but I like to think I get the best of both worlds this way. My husband thinks they should have the run of the garden whenever they like but then he hates gardening and everything to do with it.Hope you find a solution

maggie