Dog keeps digging up hops

[DU99]

might be cheaper for our canadian poster...oz version is available

 

[mmmyummybeer]

Fairly sure those are illegal here, DU. The ones for barking are anyway.

Is the use of electronic dog collars legal?

Article ID: 279
Last updated: 22 Sep, 2009

[SIZE=small]State[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Yes/No[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]name of relevant act/special conditions and requirements[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]ACT[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]No[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Animal Welfare Act[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]NSW[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]No[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Section 16 of the Act, Section 13 and Schedule 1 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (General) Regulation 1996 and Schedule 1 make the use of electric dog collars illegal. One exception to this rule is electric collars associated with canine invisible boundaries. These are not illegal provided the canine invisible boundary is used to confine dogs, but only used inside a fence through which dogs cannot pass and that is not less than 1.5 metres high.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]NT[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]No[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Animal Welfare Act[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]QLD[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Yes[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]SA[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]No[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act Regulations[/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]TAS[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Yes[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Animal Welfare Act 1993 (As long as there is no pain to the animal)[/SIZE] [SIZE=small] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=small]VIC[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Yes[/SIZE][SIZE=small] subject to exemptions under Reg 7E(2)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]Permitted under prescribed circumstances [/SIZE][SIZE=small]Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulations 1997 [/SIZE][SIZE=small](Reg 7E(2)). See [/SIZE][SIZE=small]www.dpi.vic.gov.au/animalwelfare for details.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=small]WA[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Yes[/SIZE] [SIZE=small]Animal Welfare (General ) Regulations 2003[/SIZE]

 

[bum]

Ah, there you go then. Cheers.

 

[newguy]

Electronic fence isn't an option. As mentioned before, hops are evenly distributed throughout the yard and it's not possible to isolate them and only them.

Just got back from camping. Buster actually ate a bunch of wild rose bushes. They're common on the Canadian prairies and can best be described as a cross between a rose bush and a cactus. Accidentally brushing one hurts and accidentally grabbing one is agony. He actually ate at least a dozen that we saw - thorns and all. Pain doesn't seem to bother this beast.

 

[of mice and gods]

What type of dog are we talking about here? What's the approx m2 of your backyard? If he's as big as you say then maybe he's just bored? Sounds like it's not really a problem with digging up the new hops but digging and generally destroying stuff everywhere.. that's a harder problem to deal with.

Do you take him out for walks and down to the park to try and wear him out?

 

[adryargument]

Just sprinkle them with chilli?

 

[Malted]

Do you take him out for walks and down to the park to try and wear him out?

 

[of mice and gods]

lucky I didn't say "take him out to stimulate him"...

 

[Malted]

If he's as big as you say then maybe he's just bored? Sounds like it's not really a problem with digging up the new hops but digging and generally destroying stuff everywhere.. that's a harder problem to deal with.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Lead administeted at high velocity is prob the most effective method

 

[newguy]

Mouse traps only worked for a week or so before he started gingerly digging around them, then a couple nights ago he completely emptied one of the hop holes again. I had dumped an entire bottle of Vietnamese/Thai (not sure) hot chili sauce on the holes a couple days prior. Not a small bottle either, probably around a litre. Nothing seems to bother this dog.

He's now a year old and when we got him he was 8 weeks. The SPCA said he was a Rottweiler, but I think they were high. He has some german shepherd in him, probably some lab, and definitely a hound of some type. If you google "black and tan coonhound" he looks exactly like one of them, except his ears aren't as long/droopy. He's around 50kg now; his back comes up to around my crotch/waist and I have a 36" inseam. He's a big guy.

We walk him nearly every day - only rain prevents us from our long walks. Our neighbourhood has a network of very well maintained trails along the ravines (we're situated on a triangle of land bounded on two sides by two different creeks), and we really enjoy exploring the bush/hills with the dogs. Our last walk was around 2 hours and by the end my wife and I were dragging the dogs because we had worn them out pretty well. We were dragging the kids too, but that's beside the point. When we leave on a walk, he always makes me laugh because he reminds me of the big stupid foxhound in the bugs bunny cartoon ("we're gonna catch a fox and cut his tail off!") because he almost trots with his nose on the ground, tail held high. The last time we went camping, our oldest went down to the lake to cast from shore for a while. Some time later we cut the dog loose and said "go find Alexandra!" and he put his nose down and just ran. Went straight to her without looking up.

His digging is definitely scent related - I don't think he digs out of boredom. He definitely smells something and that's what spurs him to dig. If he's bored he eats trees. Really. We have a crabapple tree in the backyard (we think - not exactly sure what it is yet as we've only been in the house for 4 months now) and he's slowly snapping off every branch he can reach, then eating them. Only that tree though. The others he leaves alone. Again, must be the smell. The old owners left behind a little bit of firewood, which he had great fun carrying around the back yard. Not small logs either - big heavy ones. He can carry logs that my kids would have trouble lifting.

But this is all a moot point because I think the hops are dead now anyway. However, I still need to break him of the digging habit. What I'm now considering is a home-made "porcupine". Several small sheets of plywood with a liberal number of nails sticking up to cover the holes where the hops were buried. The sheets will then be secured to the ground with tent pegs.

Actually, in a way, I'm kind of enjoying this chess game. Finding a technique that will stop his digging gives me another hobby.

 

[Yob]

this might sound a bit weird and prolly offend a few... but many years ago a mate of mine had trouble with his dog killing his chickens, it was suggecsted to him that to stop the dog, what he needed to do was piss on it... he dragged it into the chook shed
and pissed all over it, something to do with marking his territory..

dog never looked at the chickens again.. probably worth a try before the nails..

 

[chewy]

I have to agree with yob on this 1.... It may not work but it makes you feel a hell of a lot better..

 

[newguy]

Think I may try pissing all over the hops first. If that doesn't work, then I'll try pissing all over him.

Time to have a beer or 12. I need a lot of piss!

 

[Malted]

I tried pissing on things in the backyard to discourage a hunting dog from certain areas. He thought it was a pissing contest. Unlike us, they can pretty much pee when they want to rather than when they need to.
If you were going to piss on the hound, I would think that you should make sure that he is nearby to the hop hole when you do it - he needs an association with the hole, not just the product of your bearded clam spear.

 

[bum]

I tried pissing on things in the backyard to discourage a hunting dog from certain areas. He thought it was a pissing contest.

Soooo beta.

 

[newguy]

So I had about 5 beer last night and took a mighty piss on the wife's flower garden (one of them that he had previously dug up). Dog watched carefully and seemed almost afraid. Several minutes later he cautiously approached the area, sniffing mightily. Seemed almost afraid of it - like a Japanese nuclear technician approaching Fukushima.

It goes without saying I'm going to repeat the process on another flower bed as soon as it gets dark enough.

 

[newguy]

Despite asshole dog's best efforts 2 out of my 8 hops are alive. Hopefully the others poke up soon too.