Gardening with a Vlcak...
 

So today I decided to plant some herbs, ground-covering flowers and a couple of gorgeous lilies. I always bring one of the dogs out with me while I garden - my shepherd accompanied me for the front yard planting, and I brought Luna out for the backyard gardening...
Usually the dog I bring out finds a shady patch to hang out in nearby... Luna decided she wanted to garden with me. Her nose was in every pot, every plant got munched to some degree, the discarded pots were instant toys to throw around and roll... the chicken poo I was mixing into the top soil got eaten (yuck), the straw was chewed, and then while I was raking some top soil, I felt a clump of something hit the back of my leg - Luna was industriously digging up the plants that I had just planted! Dirt all over - in less than a minute she had torn up the entire flower bed I just finished planting. AHHHHH!

If it makes you feel any better, her brother has decided to take up a career in pest management. While out walking, saw something move in the leaves - figured it was just the wind, but Corgan knew better...before I could react, he had a mouse in his mouth - gone in about 3 seconds. Horrible little mousey sounds...happy wolfdog. Disgusted owner.:shock:

I have my little balcony garden (http://balkonas.blogspot.com 8)) And I can say, that the only damage is made by... Brukne's tail :D It is not on purpose, for sure :roll:
But in "real" gardens :twisted: She just doesn't feel any difference among nice rows of strawberries and carrots or swamps and woods :roll:

Frei took some time to learn where she can dig and where not. Unfortunately, when her puppies were big enough to explore the world and learn, she thought it important to teach them all the things that are forbidden in our yard, just in case they ever found out that they are allowed in their future families. But as soon as they left she became again the nice midful doggie. So our garden is divided (virtually) into two parts - there is the english lawn and rock garden, where she may walk, lie down, have fun but not dig and not pee, and then there is the normal graden where she can do whatever she wants as long as she doesn't touch our things. So she buries her chewing bones just by the strawberries, but she never touches the plants that we put there.

I know digging is something Luna finds pleasurable - a lot fo dogs here in Florida do, as the ground is cooler the more you dig, and they like to hollow out a cool spot. I guess it also feels good to dig, too - and I am sure there's a little hunting behavior, too - she digs, sticks her nose deep in the hole, digs some more, repeat...
She doesn't destroy the plants, just digs them out, so it was relatively easy to replant them. So I try to distract her with toys or filling her pool - she digs in the bottom of the pool - sloshing the water out of it, which isn't too bad.
I am willing to bet she will be a mouser, too - we have a few mice in the yard, as we have chickens, and it's just a matter of time, I think. She of course likes to box her paws against the front of the chicken and quail coops and startling them. The quail get nervous but the chickens get annoyed and peck at her.
She has a habit of finding den-like areas in the yard - and even in some places - when I was browsing at Home Depot she made herself comfortable crawling under the tables and snoozing while I selected plants.
She has a habit of "looping" around the back of people who approach her - she prefers to meet people more dog-politely (sidling up to them rather than approaching rudely at the front). People think she is shy as they are used to obnoxious Labradors, but she makes up for it by being snuggly after the approaches "politely" and gets to sniff them. She is not a fan of ANYTHING approaching her directly or dominantly, whether it's people or other critters.

That's quite a high probability. Just make sure that she doesn't get to be a chicken-hunter too. Our wolfdog (the first one, now we do not have any chickens) liked to kill and eat our chickens. Usually she picked one (the one than laid most eggs), but in the end she killed them all. And som just commited suicide by jumping over the fence right to her mouth. So tech her from the start that chickens are forbidden.

Re the digging for den - yes, our Frei also likes to prepare her bedding, especially when we camp out, she scratches the ground to get to the soil in the place where she wants to sleep. But of course at home she sleeps on the mattrass - or during a spring sunny day she switches between the shade and the sun in 15 minute or so intervals.

As a future Vlcak Owner and being a garden owner I find all your stories very interesting... and I am surer and surer that divining the garden in two parts with an appropriate division (Vlcak appropriate!) will be one of the best thing we will be doing :D... If I close my eyes I can just see Luna and her idea of "gardening" ^^...

<Very Big Grin> Yes, Luna loves to "garden!" When we go to the local dog park (I only go when there is no one else there, as I do not trust dogs I do not know) or my friend's place (she has a gorgeous property), Luna loves to find a place where she can dig through the sandy soil to the lower, damper, cooler levels. Then she curls her body into it, with a grin on her face, tongue lolling out the side.
I think, when I have the space, I will make a vlcak garden. A sectioned-off area with sand to dig in, a pool and a wood structure they can climb on top off or burrow underneath. Oh, and some "flirt" toys that dangle around, just waiting to be tugged on.
I know a lot of wolf hybrid folks make that sort of an enrichment area, but it would have to be used only when I am out in the yard, too - my vlcaks DO NOT like to be outside by themselves. They always want to be with us.