I set up Dakota's first sandbox of his own yesterday, finally! He wasn't sure it was okay at first because he usually gets in trouble for digging. Once he got started though, he turned into a digging machine. He loves his new sandbox!

A few pics before the video...

Testing the waters...


I eat my dirt!


OMG that was so much FUN! I love you mom!


And the video. He started licking the sand at the end.

He's having such a good time!!!! I so need to look into one of these!! Mya is a digging FREAK! Does Dakota get really full of the sand? Every time Mya digs in the yard she's covered in dirt and it's so hard to clean her off..grrr!!! Since the sand is white it wouldn't be so hard I would think!

How much was it to build one of these?

Awesome!!

Yeah, Val... I'd love to hear specs on the sandbox design and cost if you wouldn't mind? We ARE going to do this for Koda and Hailey as soon as the weather gets warm!

Sand is so much cleaner than dirt! Our boy gets pretty dirty when he digs in the dirt but sand pretty much just falls right off...except when it's wet of course. That's why I prefer sand over dirt for him to dig in. It makes keeping him clean a lot easier. The sand is actually pretty moist right now, as it is in the video so it's clumpy, but when it dries it's so much cleaner than dirt.

We were planning to buy wood planks to build a sandbox but I saw that Costco was selling a Lifetime brand raised garden bed kit. Costco is selling them for $100 and it comes with 2 raised garden beds and a frost cover. I am using one of them for my vegetable garden which I'll start when it gets a little warmer and we have less threats of freezing temps. And the other one I decided to make into a sandbox instead. It was so easy to put together then I just dug the edges into the ground a few inches to keep it in place and voila!

Here's a link to the product:
Lifetime 4ft Raised Garden Bed Kit

All in all it was a great price and super easy to set up. Sam's has a cheaper raised garden kit for less than $40 but it only comes with one raised bed and no cover, plus I thought the Costco version looked a lot nicer. If you don't have a Costco or Sam's nearby they can be ordered online if you prefer the easy kits like I did.

awww love the last pic, he's so cute! i think i need one for my two, they've ruined our yard!

What a great idea! I would have never thought of that (Nikolai isn't much of a digger... just a few strokes after every pee, still destructive to grass though)...

ETA: Nikolai buries his nose like that in snow and bushes, too! It's really cute when he sticks his head so far... like, all the way up to his ears. Makes me giggle.

What a happy handsome boy in his great new sand box!

Ginger buries her nose like that but in the bushes! And then it makes her sneeze so hard, sometimes I think she's gonna sneeze her face off!

Best thing EVER for a husky! The sandbox is still a major hit, he digs in it EVERY day! Two wonderful benefits: 1) It tires him out (yes, he really does get tired from digging) and 2) he's not digging anywhere else in the yard anymore!

New vid... (sorry about the noise, it was windy!)

That's so adorable! I love how it takes all that digging for him to flop down in it lol

Awww he loves it!!!

You should see his whole routine! He sprints around the yard like mad then makes a beeline for the sandbox, digs like a mad dog, then takes off sprinting around the yard again, back to the sandbox, then sprints, sandbox...over and over until he finally collapses in his sandbox. That last vid was at the end of his sprint/digging craziness so he was already tired from running and digging which is why he was slower at digging than usual. Whatever tires him out.

Haha! You have to try and catch his entire routine on video. That was be hilarious!

how often do you have to fill in sand that goes over the edge?

LOL I haven't refilled it at all so far and I don't really want to because I'm thinking that maybe it's better to have the sand level lower so he's less likely to send it over the edge. Small price to pay for the protection of my yard.

oh i totally agree with you on that one. i'm really considering it, nikki is being QUITE the little excavator. she does it off and on

We're doing this soon actually. I just raked the poop-filled yard as all our snow JUST melted. I took all the poop, filled in the holes and threw the rest underneath our deck (where they like to go digging). Here's hoping it stops temporarily until we can get the sandbox situated!

Koda wrote:

We're doing this soon actually. I just raked the poop-filled yard as all our snow JUST melted. I took all the poop, filled in the holes and threw the rest underneath our deck (where they like to go digging). Here's hoping it stops temporarily until we can get the sandbox situated!

Kristina keeps telling me about putting poop in the holes and I think it will work with Mya who is a total princess around poop, but Kody is your typical boy! He care if he steps on it, sits on it, eats it...ewwwww!!!!!!!!