I would like to just take a little time to update on the garden progress that has been happening recently.
The vegetable garden have been growing well with the rains we have had the past few weeks.
The vegetables are doing perfectly well but the flower garden is not doing as well at all.
We keep coming home from work and there is a new crater in the flower bed. The worst ones i have seen so far is the ones on the pictures below.
Those craters have not been filled yet because they are completely demoralizing. It is difficult to get motivated to fix it when you know its only going to happen again and again until you have figured out a way to solve the underlying problem.
At this point in time I have given up on the daily war with the dog trying to fill the holes dug throughout the day. My theory is that he digs in he flower bed because the neighbors are spending time in their shed during some points of the day. Their shed happens to be on the opposite side of the fence by our garden bed. So when there is noises on the other side, any dog annoyed by the noise would try to get through to it to chase it away.
That is at least what i think is happening until proven otherwise.
I have a few tactical choices planned to try to deal with this problem. I just need to select one, or a few of them to try to combine them for a solution to the digging issue at hand.
Plan number one would be to buy sturdy cheap plants to keep on budget if I need to replace them while spending all my weekends dog training. I have almost had to replace most plants already. But with the more expensive plants I bought last time it feels a bit futile to try to buy the same ones again because I know the fate they will be facing.
Plan number two is to buy a kiddie plastic seashell pool and fill it with white sand for the dog to dig in instead. That might be a good place for him to bury some toys or maybe for us to see if we can bury a puzzle toy or something for him to activate his brain some more. But I do not see how that would work considering that the suspected trigger is location based and concentrated to the fence.
The third option is something I have considered plenty of times because it is upsetting to have the plants you so lovingly planted being dug up on a daily basis, That option is to give up and let the garden bed become a wasteland of craters and despair. This option is only ever valid at the very moment I discover and try to fix the damaged plants as much as possible. After a solid week of replanting the same plants trying to make the plants look less tragic. This option is closer and closer to become reality.
Fourth option would be to fence in the flower bed the same way as I fenced in the veggie garden, but this option is the one that worries me the most. There is the possibility that he might in the frustration try to start to rip up our lawn instead. If that would be what he would deflect the frustration to, i would rather let him kill my flowers a thousand times over. I do not want to pay for another lawn because that's just ridiculously expensive and unnecessary.
The fifth option would be to plant some kind of dog repellent flowers if there Is ever such a thing anywhere. I do not mean any plants that might be poisonous for dogs or dangerous in other ways. I mean plants that might have a less desired smell or maybe awkward trying to walk or dig through, like a rock garden with some more roses on the sides, or ground covers awkward to try to dig through. Basically make the whole thing a more awkward experience.
The Sixth option would be me trying to take an actual holiday from work to sit there and babysit my garden correcting the behavior as it is happening. This option is by far my most preferred option but its all good and well in theory, but in the real world it doesn't really work because I do want to use my holiday days for actual holidays once I use them. There is also no guarantee that he will dig in the garden while I am at home. At this moment in time I do not have too many of holiday days either.
The final option would be a combination of a few or all of the above.
It remains to see. I need to think about what to do about this because it really upsets me looking out the window and seeing the devastation every day.
Today's song:
David Guetta feat. Sia & Fetty Wap - Bang my head
The vegetable garden have been growing well with the rains we have had the past few weeks.
We keep coming home from work and there is a new crater in the flower bed. The worst ones i have seen so far is the ones on the pictures below.
At this point in time I have given up on the daily war with the dog trying to fill the holes dug throughout the day. My theory is that he digs in he flower bed because the neighbors are spending time in their shed during some points of the day. Their shed happens to be on the opposite side of the fence by our garden bed. So when there is noises on the other side, any dog annoyed by the noise would try to get through to it to chase it away.
That is at least what i think is happening until proven otherwise.
I have a few tactical choices planned to try to deal with this problem. I just need to select one, or a few of them to try to combine them for a solution to the digging issue at hand.
Plan number one would be to buy sturdy cheap plants to keep on budget if I need to replace them while spending all my weekends dog training. I have almost had to replace most plants already. But with the more expensive plants I bought last time it feels a bit futile to try to buy the same ones again because I know the fate they will be facing.
Plan number two is to buy a kiddie plastic seashell pool and fill it with white sand for the dog to dig in instead. That might be a good place for him to bury some toys or maybe for us to see if we can bury a puzzle toy or something for him to activate his brain some more. But I do not see how that would work considering that the suspected trigger is location based and concentrated to the fence.
The third option is something I have considered plenty of times because it is upsetting to have the plants you so lovingly planted being dug up on a daily basis, That option is to give up and let the garden bed become a wasteland of craters and despair. This option is only ever valid at the very moment I discover and try to fix the damaged plants as much as possible. After a solid week of replanting the same plants trying to make the plants look less tragic. This option is closer and closer to become reality.
Fourth option would be to fence in the flower bed the same way as I fenced in the veggie garden, but this option is the one that worries me the most. There is the possibility that he might in the frustration try to start to rip up our lawn instead. If that would be what he would deflect the frustration to, i would rather let him kill my flowers a thousand times over. I do not want to pay for another lawn because that's just ridiculously expensive and unnecessary.
The fifth option would be to plant some kind of dog repellent flowers if there Is ever such a thing anywhere. I do not mean any plants that might be poisonous for dogs or dangerous in other ways. I mean plants that might have a less desired smell or maybe awkward trying to walk or dig through, like a rock garden with some more roses on the sides, or ground covers awkward to try to dig through. Basically make the whole thing a more awkward experience.
The Sixth option would be me trying to take an actual holiday from work to sit there and babysit my garden correcting the behavior as it is happening. This option is by far my most preferred option but its all good and well in theory, but in the real world it doesn't really work because I do want to use my holiday days for actual holidays once I use them. There is also no guarantee that he will dig in the garden while I am at home. At this moment in time I do not have too many of holiday days either.
The final option would be a combination of a few or all of the above.
It remains to see. I need to think about what to do about this because it really upsets me looking out the window and seeing the devastation every day.
Today's song:
David Guetta feat. Sia & Fetty Wap - Bang my head
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