Friday 5 September 2014

Our Non Digging Dog!

One of the questions we asked when we went to see our Goldie at his previous home was- does he dig. We were not asking to be precious about our garden, but just to know so we could make things safe at the boundaries. 

Maybe the breeder misinterpreted this and as we watched Goldie running around exploring the garden she said "No he doesn't Dig". At this her sweet little girl wide eyed said,  "No Mummy you are wrong- look what he did this morning , he dug a BIG hole right There!" pointing to a rather large crater in the flowerbed border!!

Of cause it made no difference to us and we always had a laugh over our "non digging dog" !

We watched him dig in the flowerbeds, dig behind the big conifer when it was hot to make himself a nice cool bed. He did well to dig in our rather heavy clay soil, but made short work of it. He "helped" me dig when I was gardening and it was great if I succeed on the odd occasion to encourage him to dig where I actually wanted a hole :) 

Most of all though he LOVED to dig in sand.....beautiful pristine light sand. He adored the beach and was on a mission to find good digging. Most dogs dig with one front paw following the other but when Goldie got excited he would somehow dig with BOTH front paws together ! It was quite a sight!!

I know a lot of people hate their dogs digging and do lots to try to stop them, but it never really mattered much to us. Yes we lost a few plants in the early days (thats another story !)  but we learned. The holes could easily be filled again and the dug soil was great to use for new plants !  
Golden retriever dog lying down

We loved the look on his face and a clear sense of achievement he had once the right sized crater was finally finished! 

So there you have it our "non digging dog".
   

4 comments:

  1. I have actually known people who gave dogs away because they would dig! It is totally awesome that you didn't mind, even encouraged, this very natural behavior in your Goldie.

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    1. I cannot imagine giving a dog away because of digging. Dogs dig, you can train them to some extent but we felt is was a natural behaviour and accepted it. Also it was so funny the way Goldie did it , we wouldnt have wanted to suppress that for anything:)

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  2. Out of the mouths of babes! My dogs weren't diggers, per se, but each did dig their own 'cooling hole' in the yard, which was, of course, quite alright with me.

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  3. Yes Ruth the little girls comment was priceless! I think a lot of dogs like to have their cool spot when its hot and why not dig your own !

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