My garden won't survive ....

[moominsareace]

8 month old cockerpoo puppy. Loves, and I mean loves, digging holes in the grass and eating it.

I have tried the green jelly-like pellets to stop him from digging in one particular spot - he just moves to another! I am in despair that my garden won't survive (we've only got a small lawn but it is in danger of disappearing completely).

I knew that dogs loved to dig, but this is really getting me down as we've got a nice garden and I'd love him to be able to wander around outside as much as he wants, rather than having to watch him every minute in case he starts digging the lawn. Any suggestions anyone? Is there even a way to keep him in one spot rather than destroying everything?

You either need to provide a digging pit and not let him have access to what you don't want dug up or only let him out on a lead.

A digging pit? Is that like a sand pit but for dogs (presumably with mud, not sand?) Sorry for my ignorance, I haven't heard the phrase before.

Have a Google. I don't have one and am not sure exactly how to make one but I know of the idea. It's fun to dig. You either need to stop the behaviour or allow it in a certain space.

A digging pit is exactly as you describe but can have sand. Get a sand pit and bury 'treasure' in it like chews or toys and then encourage him to dog for them. Make a big fuss when he gets a prize.

Yup, digging pit, kiddies plastic pool, play sand, bury treats and toys in it with him watching, help him dig them up a couple of times.

Keep putting treats and toys in and he'll get the message.

Brilliant. Thank you everyone. I shall go to B&Q at the weekend and see what we can find.

Cheap as chips in Argos. Pool

We have a digging sand pit , it doesn’t stop our dog trying to dig elsewhere given the oppurtunity so we have simply fenced off the patio with an ornamental metal fence so he is only allowed on the rest of the garden when he has a supervisor . It also means we never have mud dragged indoors and the garden stays nice . My dog is a very determined digger though , he even digs on walks if I stop to chat to someone and he has to stand still for a few minutes .

I have a dedicated digger too. Unfortunatly, providing him with places to dig hasn't stopped him, though he enjoys the sand too - I think for him it's not enough resistance to be really satisfying.
Alas, the chickens enjoy his work too, so we've given up on a nice lawn..

We have a digger too. Looks like me hoping she'll outgrow it is in vain.

I think digging is really interesting, mine digs long trenches as opposed to deep holes and has no interest in burying things whereas our childhood dog used to actuallly bury her bonios and then go back later and dig them up to eat them .

Our garden rocks a WW1 battlefield look with trenches Floral. Ddog2 does sometimes bury things in them, but more very temporarily as part of the digging game rather than long term storage

I thought Bluepuppy was happily chewing on the pigs ears I gave him when I went out. Then he started bringing them inside in various states of decomposition after then being buried

My goldie pup is a digger. We are on chalk and the garden is usually quite hard, but with all the rain that's fallen over the last couple of weeks its got quite soft.

She now has about 6 holes in the garden. She seems to dig for chalk or flint and then will happily eat the chalk!!!

I am wondering if she can sniff chalk and her body's missing something.