Dog Wrecked Garden - what to do?

[HarrietSchulenberg]

DDog had wrecked garden, as in during the 12 months we've had him he has slowly turned the grass into a mudbath reminiscent of the last days of the Somme.
Trenches dug, grass scrabbled up so there's just mud left, path buried in mud.
I sweep up every week but now I'm just sweeping swathes of mud.
He's walked 3 times a day and is played with between times.
He's not burying stuff out there, just scrabbling and digging. I stop him when I see him but sometimes I just let him out for a quick wee while I'm doing something else and he trots in 1 minute later leaving a trail of muddy devastation behind him.
Any clues on how to stop him, or am I just going to have to pave everything? I don't particularly likwe grass anyway but I'm too lazy to want to pave .

[DrElizabethPlimpton]

I'm not sure you can re train a digger. Could you fence off part of the garden that is just for DDog and keep another area for you? Obviously this is a dramatic solution, but I can't think of anything else to help.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

Thanks Dr Elizabeth, but I'm not sure I could fence anywhere securely enough.
Might have to resort to putting wellies on him.

[needastrongone]

How about a sand pit, filled with treats and bones etc, to encourage him to dig in there?

Otherwise, I know it's a pain, but don't go in the garden without him. I DO know that's a pain as my dogs won't go into the garden without me!!!!

[Floralnomad]

We have fenced off the patio area and our dog is only allowed on the grass when it's dry and he is supervised . I would just say that the main reason we did it was because our dog is a digger and when he was a pup he dug up and ate a daffodil bulb ( or part of it) and was extremely poorly for a few days - not a risk I was prepared to take again .

[Floralnomad]

We have a sandpit for him on the patio but it would not stop him digging the garden - if you stand still on a walk to talk to someone he starts digging if he is near grass he just can't seem to help himself .

[Mitzi50]

I have a similar problem and am currently dreaming of laying an artificial lawn to replace the weed infested lawn full of holes dug by my greyhound. Unfortunately it is out of my price range and probably isn't any good for the local wildlife.

phoenixlawns.co.uk/artificial-grass-for-dogs/

[CompetitiveCrispEater]

You could maybe get some of that wicker type fence panelling, or similar cheapo stuff to section it off? Or give him his own sandpit (with a lid, so local cats don't use it as a toilet), or let him wreck one particular area as he wishes- maybe a raised bed/trough with toys in it?

[EasyToEatTiger]

Our dogs trashed our garden. Grass could not grow! Grass is only one plant and lots of other things survive. Shrubs are good. Trees are good. It depends on the size of your garden. Raised beds are good. Our garden and our house were full of mud and the garden was for the dogs. But we did have fruit trees and smelly things, and we could have done more. The garden was about 10mx10m.