My Labradors a gardener !

Hi i,m new to your forum so i,ll tell you i have a Labrador Dog called Pip ....... he is one next month and is such a good natured, trained young man apart from he is ruining our garden !! the lawn is almost gone and he digs in the boarders and removes plants! He house trained very quickly and soon using the garden but i would like to know if we fenced off the garden would Pip get used to using an area we would put a patch of arteficial turf .... we have a large patio area that i could wash down every day to keep clean... i,m at my wits end. Best wishes Lesley xx

 

Hello and a warm welcome to the forum. The thing you want to avoid is him practicing behaviour that he finds reinforcing, but you don't want, such as digging in your borders. So, yes, it would be ideal to fence of an area where he is safe and doesn't get to practice this. Some people like to give their dog an area where they are allowed to dig, because it's so rewarding to them. They just learn that that is their specific spot for it.

You'll probably find, if you stop him doing it by restricting his access, he'll grow out of it in time. I found this with my first puppy, Willow, who loved digging in my boxes. I just fenced them off and moved them so she couldn't get to them, and when she grew up, she had no interest anymore.

Good luck!

We'd love to see some pictures of Pip

 

Oh thank you for your welcome xx i could fence off an area and make it just for him, good idea ! the garden is big enough for that lol i know he,s still young but a part of being a gardener he,s been great, we had a puppy as i retired last Feb so i,m with him almost all day every day ....... i,ll try and post his pic, he,s a retriever but we think a one off lol. Thank you so much for your help xxx

 

My dog, Lady, used to do this too as a puppy. I think they all do to some extent as they are growing up. She stopped when she was about 3 as far as a I remember. I still haven't quite recovered the holes in the lawn properly and she's 7 now! Also she was a nightmare pulling plants up out of pots on the patio. Even now she very occasionally pulls one up. I think it's just part of the fun of having a dog these days, but I found it pretty annoying at the time.

 

Thanks David, yes Pip loves to move plants too lol as you say he as time to grow out of habit,hopefully

 

Ive managed to pop a recent photo of Pip ...... i,ll try and get some of him as a pup xx

 

Hi and welcome! Pip is beautiful.
My dog Pongo (now three years old) did enjoy a bit of light gardening when he was a puppy, but has grown out of it now. He did a bit of digging, and he also had a strong opinion on the design of our little water feature - the hose was just NOT quite in the right place. If you click the link below you'll see what he meant.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/15j9hs49ika918g/VIDEO0014_01.mp4?dl=0

He still enjoys helping me, by following me to wherever I am working and then laying down RIGHT on the piece of ground I want to weed / hoe / plant / etc. I have learned that some plants can survive being sat on by a 42kg Labrador and others.....well, not so much. My planting plans have changed as a result.
His other contributions include helping us with the branches we have pruned / coppiced off trees.... he helps by dragging them back to where they belong (under the tree) rather than where we have foolishly put them (stacked ready to be burnt). Silly humans.
So our gardening activities have adapted a bit to the addition of Pongo to the team....but not too much!

Rosie

 

Hi Lesley, In addition to the great advice above, you might also find this article of help: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/stop-my-dog-digging/

 

Thanks Lucy that was very interesting ..... i,m sure fencing my garden off will do the trick ! fingers crossed x

 

Hi Rosie, Pongo sounds just like Pip he loves a bit of pruning lol even when not asked to ! Thank you we think he is beautiful too not what we expected though lol his Mum was a chocolate Lab but we didi,nt see Dad, but he,s are Pip and we love him xx

 

I just love Pongo

 

Welcome Lesley and Pip from Hattie 9 years and rescue boy Charlie 6 years in Hampshire. Charlie pruned and re-potted all my patio pots repeatedly and even now IF I plant anything new he does the same thing but thankfully not as often I see you are in Stoke on Trent, my Son started at Keele University last September xx

 

He loves you right back!

(and there is an awful lot of him to love....)

 

Hello & welcome to you Lesley & Pip the Gardener. I am lucky Coco is not a digger!

 

Hello and welcome from me and Lilly!
Pip looks like a big softie.
Would love a larger picture. He looks like he is a bit curly - has he some poodle in his mix somewhere?
Loving his colour-co-ordinated seat

 

Hello and welcome to the forum from my two Fred, Annie and me. Fred use to do this when he was a puppy, but grew out of it. Now he just pinches the fruit off the apple trees.