Kitchen Garden Forum

This year i've decided to try peas etc in veg patch,just as a trial I put some pea sticks in to see what would happen,the dog pulled them all out and chewed them up!! I've tried various sprays from pet shop but to little effect.Fencing it off is not an option,any ideas?

Evening Larrylove, i don't know how old your Labrador is but, i think i would spend a little time with it down the garden teaching it what is and isn't allowed. It's surprising how quick they can learn if you are patient and can keep calm.

I hope that I do not sound condescending but dogs have to be taught from an early age that NO means NO. Once taught then their dicipline is easy. The key to training dogs is to realise that they are not very bright (except terriers) and any training should be be regularly repeated but only for very short periods of times and made enjoyable for them. If your dog goes onto a patch of garden that is out of bounds to it you just say NO as long as you've let them understand that NO means NO.

I have not kept dogs for over thirty years now but have worked with hounds, gundogs, border collies and terriers. Many people say that border collies are the most intelligent dogs but in my experience they are the most easily trained but most stupid. I reckon you could even train a collie to run flat out into a brick wall but you'd never train a terrier to do that, terriers have got real intelligense.

Barney

You haven't met my sister's dog then Barney if you don't think dogs aren't very bright!

She has a miniature poodle - and no poodles are not silly yappy things unless they are brought up to be so. She doesn't have a fancy cut wool either.

She knows the manes of her toys are can virtually have a conversation with us and can also problem solve. Not maths problems of course as we haven't taught her to that level yet!

A friend has a border collie and it is far from stupid.

Hello Glallotments

I think you may be confusing trainability with intelligense.

Barney

Hi Larrylove. My Step-daughter had this problem with her chocolate lab too. She invested in a roll of chicken wire, held it upright with garden canes, to make a temporary fence around the veg plot. It worked to a degree, at least long enough for the plants to get a head start. Eventually, the dog just waded through it but by then, he didn't do too much damage to the vegetables!

And the chicken wire came in handy for keeping the pigeons off the brassicas!
Cheers.

Cider Boys wrote:Hello Glallotments

I think you may be confusing trainability with intelligense.

Barney

I don't think I am - she hasn't been trained - if anything she has trained herself. Intelligence is shown by applying strategies to new siituations which is what she does. It's not a case of just repeating actions that she has been trained is acceptable.

Hi All,
I agree it is just a matter of training, put a lead on them so you can enforce any command. Our dogs from puppies and older ones 'rescued' soon learnt that they weren't allowed on the borders and veggie beds and had to stay on the grass- to the extent that they wouldn't run onto the beds to fetch a ball so I had to retrieve it for them!!!!
Hilary

Hello Hilary

You are quite correct, it is just as simple as you describe.

Barney

Hi thanks for the response,regarding training,no means no etc believe me thats been tried and tried from when he was a pup,maybe it's because he's a chocolate lab but he has selective memory for certain commands!! Funny though he always remembers what "time to go out" means!

Simply take the dog to the ground on a lead if necessary and push him on it and say NO. If he does not get it he needs to know what NO means, so repeat it and strike the dog sharply once with a thin stick across his shoulders and repeat NO at the same time. It might take a few attempts with a thick dog but they all get it in the end. Then walk around the perimeter of the ground saying GOOD BOY and repeat NO if he goes towards placing a paw on the ground. The dog has to associate going on the ground or anything else you do not want it to do with the initial sharp pain and you firmly saying NO. I do appreciate that some dogs are easier than others and older dogs are harder to correct, but if the dog is playfull then it is young enough to correct.

Best of luck

Barney