[Umbrian]

Does anyone have any tips on how to deter dogs from digging in the garden? The soil in the garden at our new house is fine and friable and our dog, that showed no inclination to try to dig when I was gardening on heavy clay soil, full of stones, has taken to trying to escape to Australia by the underground route!  Severe talking to and the occasional smack on her snout has been to no avail and I am getting very frustrated.

[Fleur Pavlidis]

A mulch made by shredding seriously thorny material (Mermaid rose prunings and Sarcopoterium are good) definitely deter cats, but it makes weeding really painful too.

[Umbrian]

Thanks Fleur, have tried to be kinder than I was to the Porcupines that plagued my life before but may well have to resort to thorny material !

[Jill S]

having lived with terriers for the the last forty or so years I've yet to find an answer! I keep telling myself they are just trying to be helpful, and certainly if I dig then they dig as well, problem is they are so darned enthusiastic about it, and not always where I need help.
I have noticed that any particularly well manured areas are greeted with relish, made the mistake one year of trying 'Rooster' pellets, not repeated. Good luck with the thorny barriers, so far nothing seems to discourage mine when in the mood (it does seem to lessen with age, maybe)

[Trevor Australis]

Our neighbours free-range Golden Retreiver was a real pain digging, rolling and dropping HUGE LOGS of poop in our garden until I went to an Indian super-market and bought a very large packet of freshly ground chilli powder which I sprinkled around very liberally. He didn't come back.

[Jill S]

You could be on to something there, mine love curry but hate chilli. Could just work where there isn't constant rain to wash it away!

[Umbrian]

Will perhaps try Chilli powder.....our dog loves curry too as I cook quite a lot of Indian food and she always clears up what we cannot manage.......trouble is, on the wonderful fine soil we have here, one scratch and it would probably disappear before having the desired effect. I bought some fine plastic mesh the other day and pegged it down over the soil that had been prepared for planting but the next morning she had managed to get under it and made a big hole. Why is it that when one problem goes away (hard, stony soil ) another presents itself...