Dogs for digging holes?

The thread on gophers made me think of badgers and that made me think of the size of the holes they leave behind once they have cleared out the gophers. THAT made me wonder if anyone has ever used dogs to dig holes for planting in? Since badgers are both uncommon and uncommonly resistent/hostile to being told what to do, dogs seem as though they might be an alternative. How might you get them to dig where you wanted them to dig? I know a former neighbor had a dog that would leave huge holes in an effort to catch moles. I can't dig holes (arthritic knees) and it's impossible to hire anyone around here to do it, have tried for two years. The augers you can rent only make little holes (biggest I can get here is 8 inches) and a rototiller held in one spot wont go deep enough before it's too heavy to haul out of there.

So the idea of some energetic dog addicted to digging sounds rather useful (especially if they weren't mine to deal with later or at other times:):)) Any thoughts about this?

Just thinking about your idea...

Take a piece of pipe, drive it into the ground the depth you want and then pull out the soil plug.

Next, insert ground beef into hole and use a stick to push it to depth.

Introduce dog's nose to the hole and let him dig out the meat.

I don't know if this would work, but if I wanted to get a dog to dig a hole, it is what I would try.

Thanks Shawn That sounds as though that might work..your post made me think that it would be possible to train a dog to dig with that technique. Trying to push ground beef might be a problem but OTOH the bits of scattered meat and fat might encourage a bigger hole. I am getting intrigued by this idea...a whole new job for a dog:) Now have to do some research on which (big) dogs tend to be diggers...I relate to big dogs much more than the little ones, although more of the little ones have been bred to be diggers or at least hunters of creatures who live in burrows.

Our dogs are diggers - well mini-diggers - they're Dachshunds and they'll dig to order.





We also had a collie who always helped us dig us drainage channels for rainwater.

Dogs are quite easy to train for this sort of thing - make it a game, they love it - just be careful that the ground doesn't have anything in it that can damage their paws.

It might be a lot easier if, instead of pounding a pipe into the ground, you get an auger bit about 1" dia, and use a cordless drill.
I know people on hard clay use (smaller) bits to pre-drill for their step-in elect. netting posts. Saves time and broken posts.

They make a small cultivator called The Mantis that will dig holes in a jiffy and it's so light weight that anyone can tote it around and use it. It is pretty powerful and you really have to get the hang of it or it will jump right out of your hands when it hits a hard spot or rock. All you have to do is place it in one spot and just rock it back and forth while it digs and it's over in seconds....pretty much as deep as you will ever need.