On the subject of dogs eating rocks...

[ChristyMarie]

Near my back door is an odd shaped area between the walk and the driveway. About 2x3 but curved. It was dirt when we moved in. When we got Sam the lab he found out the wire for the invisible fence runs through it. I do not want him to chew through this wire. We dug down, put wire mesh over it and covered up. He ripped up the mesh. We dug down, put down more mesh then rocks. He dug up the rocks and ate them.

I now have a piece of plywood on it with a cinder block over it.

Any suggestions that are not of the "fill it in with concrete" variety?

[Gumbeaux]

Maybe fill the holes back in with dirt and then cover the area with flagstones or paverstones purchased from a garden center?

[syzygy]

Plant cacti or other spikey-thorny plants?

Labs are tough, they eat everything, but maybe the spikey feel might deter him (and bother his paws, too, so he won't just dig).

[ChristyMarie]

Hrm....I don't want to cut rocks to put in there. And I'm not yet willing to pay someone to do it when I'm afraid he'll just try to dig it up.

A prickly plant is a good idea. He dug up the flowers I originally had there. I'm not sure what would survive here (Chicago) and I probably can't plant until spring though.

He doesn't really dig anywhere else - this spot just bothers him! And, of course, it is very visible so it bothers ME.

[mcgeiger]

NO CACTUS! ask beckms--I don't do it often but removing that from noses, eyes and mouths is no fun

[Robyncz]

Planting cactus in an area your dog is known to dig sounds like a terrible idea to me. YIKES!

You could plant some things in a variety of large pots and cover the area he likes to dig with the pots.

I do like the flagstone idea, but I'm not sure what you mean by "cutting" rocks to go in the space. We've used flagstone in several areas over the years. You don't cut it, you piece it together like a puzzle and fill in the joints with sand, gravel, or decomposed granite.

[LaraW]

Originally Posted by ChristyMarie

Hrm....I don't want to cut rocks to put in there. And I'm not yet willing to pay someone to do it when I'm afraid he'll just try to dig it up.

You can buy the flagstone already cut from a place like Home Depot or a garden center. You can install it yourself, just need some sand to level it, and its easy to fix it if he displaces the stones at all. We have a 4yo son who loves to "dig" in the sand in between our flagstone, and DH can fix it very easily. He installed it himself. He did not have to cut the rocks, except to chisel off an edge here and there to get a piece to fit.