The Glade 4.0

Ok, I'm not quite sure how to deal with this problem.
I'm the not-always-so-proud owner of a 75 lb. black lab. He's sweet as anything, but dumb as a post.

During the spring/summer/fall, I prefer to let him out back to run around rather than throw him in a cage while I'm at work. I have a decent sized back yard, but my idiot dog seems to follow very specific paths when running around the yard, most specifically he runs from the right side of my house (to look at passing cars I assume) to the left side (again, to follow the cars) --he's completely killed the grass along this path--its nothing more than a sea of mud--the problem is compounded by the fact that the yard slopes down so the yard is wettest near the house. (this also causes leaking problems in my basement, but thats another story--though keeping green plants there to soak up some of the water would help.

I need to be able to let the plants grow back there, but I don't know how to keep him from wearing this path. I SUPPOSE i could just throw chicken wire or something over it, but I have this suspicion that the dog would just trample over it, or wear a new path above the chicken wire. I hate to chain him up.

On top of all that, he likes that path so much that even when I just let him out to do his buisness he still follows the mud so when he comes back in, even after several days of dry weather, he's got amazingly muddy paws.

If I could re-grow the grass it would help, but I need to break him of the path-habit.

Ideas?

This is probably a dumb idea, but I thought I'd just throw it out there in the spirit of brainstorming. You could hide little dog treats around the yard away from the path to encourage him to explore that area more.

Cover the path with pea gravel. It makes cleaning up the dog's feces easier too.

_________________
"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Sounds like you've too little yard for your dog. I would suggest transferring him to someone that can better accomodate his energy levels.

_________________

Put landscaping timbers or that lovely black plastic edging around the dog's path area and then fill the area with either mulch, gravel, stepping stones, or a combination of the above.

_________________
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Not necessarily. It could be he finds that area interesting.

From the OP:

Riov,

Labs are very easily trained to respect undergound electric fences. This does not work on some breeds, but is very successful with labs. Consider burying the wire and providing him with the shock collar while he's out. Once he learns, you probably won't need the collar at all.

He can't do that..dogs are part of family...that would be like getting rid of a child that does something you don't like.

No one is perfect, you just figure out how to fix it

_________________


Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

Pssst: Hey buddy! You want a dog? I can get you a dog. With nail-polish!

_________________

Whatever you do, don't invite Taskiss over :p~~

I have a similar problem, she patrols the perimeter of the fence although the section by the street and sidewalk gets the brunt of it. She loves to run up and down the fence and bark when people walk by, especially when they are walking their dogs. If you can block him for a while to regrow the grass try using a fescue, there are varieties that hold up better to traffic. I have been slowly reseeding the area with it and it holds up better.

I would never advise leaving your dog outside while you are away all day though. Someone can steal him or he could even get lose and get hit. Believe it or not people do steal dogs for things like training fighting dogs they get used as bait dogs. Exercise him well in the morning and again when you get home and use a crate during the day inside. If you can I also recommend doggy daycare if it is available in your area. It helps keep them socialized and will tire them out, Winnie is exhausted when she comes home from it. I take her twice a week and she loves it.

_________________
I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Ha!

We had the same problem with Lucky (the rotty), slop and all. He just loved pacing between the two side gates where he can see outside. I noticed that the toys can help, especially those balls with treats in them where he has to figure how to get them out by rolling them a specific way. (I hope you don't have a flight of stairs he could drop the ball down... needed a bigger one after that he couldn't pick up in his jaws.)

It also got a lot better after we got teddy (the shi-tsu), as he had a companion to nip at his heels so to speak...

The grass eventually grew back, and we always took extra care during spring with all the grass/neutrient pellet thingys dad use to toss around that area.

In all seriousness though, doggies are family, and what is a little grass compared with your baby.