Back in 2102 I blogged about the sand dog sculpture below. I was genuinely delighted at the ingenuity of the person who was creating a dog from a small bag of sand.
In the years that followed I’ve received numerous enquiries from people about whether these dogs are fake – whether it’s a scam. I wasn’t able to publish all posts as some varied from being vaguely racist to down and outright rude about immigrants. I’ve even had a national radio station make a formal enquiry. Who would have thought that such an innocent subject could cause so much controversy.
Anyway in 2016, I was in Edinburgh and to my delight there was a sand dog sculpture. As you can see from the above photo, the dog is only just beginning to be made. It is clearly NOT A FAKE! Furthermore the person who was creating the dog insisted that I didn’t give him a donation but requested that I gave it to a homeless person further down the street. He also let me poke and prod the half-made dog. It was sand all the way through.
Now, to also debunk any more myths. It was February and the temperatures were below freezing. So four hours later I walk past the same place and a different person is now making the sand sculpture. Look closely. The dog is completely different. Different person, different dog, same place. Common sense says that shift work will happen. I hope all involved got a hot cup of coffee.
Sand Dog Watch – Update 2017 I was in London, January 2017 and happened to be passing this sand dog. Again, I was allowed to touch it, prod it and so on. It is sand. It is different to the other dogs I have seen. I am yet to find a fake dog.
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I hope this ends the debate. I will continue to keep a look out and post photos. Why dogs? My conclusion is that they are the equivalent of snowmen. Everyone builds snowmen from snow. Dogs are easier to sculpt from sand.
Original post from 2012 with a 2021 update
Recently I passed a guy in the street. He had a bag of sand, a bottle of water, an old rag and three different sized paint brushes laid out on a piece of material…
Armed with these materials he set about making this sand sculpture.
It’s great that you can wrap a little sand up, transport it and use it in any wee space.. It reminded me, once again, that it’s perfectly possible to make do with only a little sand and that it can be an interesting and absorbing medium for children and young people of all ages for many investigations and explorations…
- Creative sculpting. The range of sculptures one can make is huge. In a play context, seeing what children make and create can also be very interesting. Whilst sand castles are popular, this can morph into other ideas with enough time and provocations. For example showing children photos of sand sculpting competitions and displays can spark the imagination.
2. Using a range of different tools to work with the sand. Brainstorming useful resources to use with the sand. The street artist liked their range of brushes and just a little water. Experimenting with different tools will help children explore the sand as a creative medium.
3. Developing an understanding of the visual elements of art. Exploring sand as a medium for other investigations such as printing, pattern making and line work.
4. The use of sand as a medium for telling a story. Whilst it can be used for creating settings for stories, the sand can be moved and re-shaped as part of the story telling that happens orally before being recorded or captured via writing, video or other means.
5. Sand in a box can be useful for modelling landscape changes. Creating a landscape then watching what happens when it rains and the weathering impact. What happens to hills and mountains? How does the water move through the landscape? Where does the sand end up and why? Remember to take before and after photos.
6. Considering the structure and building materials of bridges. It’s easy to make bridges from sand. And break them. So challenging children to find out what style and size creates a bridge with the strongest load bearing capacity can be an absorbing investigation. They will need to decide how to plan, document and ensure that the experiment is a fair test.
What would you do with a bag of sand?
Sourcing sand
- Play sand bought in small bags is usually the most expensive way to purchase sand, even when supermarkets are promoting it as a special offer. Instead look for a local supplier and buy more less often.
- You need white sand with a rounded particle profile and a grain size maximum of 1.25mm with a high proportion of fines.
- Do not buy builder’s sand which may contain a dye. You can check this be rubbing a piece of white cloth with wet sand.
- Avoid crushed stone and sharp sand which are less play friendly. When calculating the quantity, an online calculator can be helpful such as this guide for calculating the amount of sand you think you will need.
- Remember to lift and move sand with care in line with your manual handling procedures and policy. Teach your children to do this safely too.
- NEVER take sand from a beach.
- For more information about sand in schools and early years settings have a look at this blog post.
Did you see him making it?
We have two people doing this in our town. I’ve come to the conclusion they are fake. Was impressed one day as only saw one of the guys but he was only touching it up, then the next day saw two of them, one down each end of the street. The dogs looked pretty much the same from the day before and you never see them fully build it. You only see them brushing it, pretending to touch it up. Pretty sure if you watch them when they leave, they are ready made models.
🙂
Thanks Jon
That’s a really interesting comment. I can’t remember and I’ve checked my photos to see if I took “before” and “after” photos – I didn’t. This was in Chester – North England.
So perhaps other visitors to this blog post can tell us now… “Sand Dog Watch!”
Best wishes
Juliet
This came up as a topic for discussion on Facebook. I did some more online digging and found this article… http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Ain-t-sand-dog-Fantastic-sculpture-Hull-city/story-19360398-detail/story.html
I don’t think it’s a fake – I think it’s the same guy travelling around the UK doing sand dogs as they are all slightly different.
If anyone does see Stan the Sand Dog man, perhaps you could ask nicely if you could carefully poke a hole in its back – then send me the photo to confirm it’s sand all the way through. 🙂
Im in Chester and have seen a sand man take a dog mould out of his bag and just place it on the mat on the floor, he just pretends to touch it up all day. Sad but true I’m afraid.
If you notice it is always the same dog, always the same position and always looks exactly the same.
I know there are genuine sculptors out there, but the one I seen in Chester is not one of them.
Thanks for this comment – I can’t find a sand dog mould online to purchase… any idea where or how to get hold of one?
I’ve watched from start to finish and they definitely aren’t fake but it’s funny how people believe that just because they’re on the street! 🙂
Oh how helpful to know! Thanks Joe for your eye-witness account!
I’m not saying they are faked BUT I’ve seen them all over the country and the dogs all look like they come from the same litter 🙂
Oh clever comment, Tony! Now I’m going to have to have a closer look, AGAIN!
They are fakes, it’s a conspiracy!
Thanks Linda. I may have to try making one on a beach. My other thought is perhaps it’s quite an easy sculpture to make so perhaps that’s why so many are seen.
Two observations based on 3 experiences in three different UK cities.
1. The artists were diffetent people. The dogs were the same as the one in the photo and were all having “finishing touches” applied.
2. Despite the fact that three different people are all (coincidentally) adept at producing a dog, there is no evidence they have ever done any other kind of sculpture.
I have concluded it’s a scam.
Back to this again because they are back in town with the same scam, yet again.
Annoyingly I can’t find it now but others have seen them setting up in the morning elsewhere and they were ready made models.
Thanks again Jon. I found this article which also seems to support your argument http://www.the-spine.com/2014/11/so-is-this-a-scam/
There were two people making sand sculptures of dogs in Glasgow yesterday. Both were completed, with a little pile of sand nearby, both were applying finishing touches to the dogs as if it was part of the process. One of them was still there applying finishing touches to the dog when I walked back home at the end of the day. I don’t doubt that there are one or two people out there making real sculptures but I suspect the vast majority aren’t.
Thanks for your comment Kit. I think you are probably right – some sand dogs are genuine start ups and then clearly some that are not made from scratch.
early morning before theres many people around, they quickly put a model on the floor and throw a bag of sand over it, so it looks like a pile of sand, then wait til it starts getting busy, then they get a brush and a few tools and start brushing the surplass off it.
SCAM.
Thanks John – have you seen this actually happen early in the morning? I haven’t – but then I’ve only ever seen one sand dog – the one in my photo.
I’ve seen a few of these in various towns, but never seen them in any state other than complete and being touched up. From a practical point of view, the volume of sand that would be needed to make a sculpture of this size is not inconsiderable. I certainly wouldn’t like to carry it any kind of distance!
I haven’t seen any of these buskers. Perhaps they haven’t spread to Australia yet. We did, however, see some very impressive larger sand sculptures at the Hawkesbury International Sand Sculpting Championship. From what I can remember, they use a special kind of sand with grains that are more cuboid than beach sand. They pack it all into a box with frequent additions of water, and sculpt it using techniques like those used for ice sculpture or wood carving. The artists in the competition have about a week to create their sculptures. One year when we visited, sadly, many of the sculptures had been vandalised. I’m not sure if it was running last Christmas. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-29/sand-sculpting-championship-windsor/5177524
Hi Sam
The link you have added is amazing. It takes sand sculpting to a new level. Thanks so much for your comment.
these highly skilled migrants contribute to british society so much with these wonderful sand dogs…they are also fantastic big issue sellers…im a remainer.
I just seen one of these in Glasgow today – golden labrador, laying down, head to ground between his paws, pretty much perfectly complete… Exactly like the photos.
I never thought to believe it might have been fake, wow!
I cannot fathom how and why would anyone use a mold. Beside it is heavy and repetitive, one is paid especially when doing something, not just brushing and polishing. Check my sand animals from Dublin. https://plus.google.com/photos/114220829247841748718/albums/5251460986955659985?banner=pwa
Thank you so much for the link to your beautiful sand animals. This post was written several years ago. Since then, every dog I have seen has been different. Furthermore when I look online, the dog moulds are all very different. The evidence continues in favour of genuine sand dogs and other animals and their sculptors.
I have security cameras at the front of my business and have reviewed these sand dogs being assembled in the morning. What does that involve? Carrying the same half completed dog out every day and adding finishing touches. It’s a scam.