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Talkback: Dogs in the garden
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My own dog Poppy, an airedale terrier, was never much use around the garden until this summer when I discovered she had a hidden gardening talent. We have a terrible problem with next door's bindweed which spends all year trying to take over our borders, but it is impossible to completely dig the roots out of our heavy, claggy clay soil without it snapping into pieces. Being a terrier, Poppy is a great digger and when told to, will enthusiastically dig in any specific spot until told to stop. So on my command she will begin to slowly dig out a patch of bindweed, stopping every few seconds to allow me to pick out the roots from the big pile of broken up clay she effortlessly gets out. She dug down almost a metre this spring in one particularly bad spot allowing me to get out some massive roots (and all the little bits too) and refill the hole with the bindweed-free friable, airated clay. well done poppy! Makes it easy to forgive her less helpful garden antics, like squashing the new season's growth under her massive paws as she sees squirrels off her patch.
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The only problem is that my efforts to puppy-proof our boundary have made it difficult, I suspect, for visitors like hedgehogs who would be very welcome.
A suggestion for Alan Pasco - what about one of those 'cages' you can anchor to the lawn to prevent big birds (crows, jackdaws,magpies) taking the bread? Ours works very well for dogs too! You can get the cages from the RSPB and Pets at Home.