street sand 'sculptures'

Why are they always the same dog (okay, sometimes 2 dogs)?
Why are they always complete, with the guy just flicking a bit of sand around pretending to finish it?
Are they in fact plastic?
Who gives money for someone making a sand dog sculpture anyway?
How far will I get if I hoof one in the face (the sculpture) then start running?

I have seen one half done. It was indeed a mould.

I have a pal who does genuine ones though. They brush on PVA to make them last longer for exhibitions.

This is something I’ve noticed too, but never really thought about (until now!)

It probably is mostly a scam, as the one I’ve seen done locally on many occasions is exactly the same as this one http://www.the-spine.com/2014/11/so-is-this-a-scam/%5B/url%5D. If you think about it it’s obviously a mold as it’s just a splodge like a jelly and there are no overhanging bits.

Interestingly, when I was googling for that pic, I found a couple ( http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Ain-t-sand-dog-Fantastic-sculpture-Hull-city/story-19360398-detail/story.html and http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Unusual-sand-dog-sculptor-entertains-Christmas/story-20241738-detail/story.html ) which are clearly different and done from scratch but of the same subject matter. No idea what connection there is between sand and sleepy dogs though!

There are genuine sand sculptors in Weymouth (a family business it seems) but I’m near 100% sure the high street ones are moulds. As we have a fella that makes one like you pic, about 200 miles away. What are the chances, eh?

Same as the one up here in Preston.
Maybe there’s a sand sculpture training course they all go on and this is all they’re taught…

I kept seeing the same one in Chichester, same dog every day. I just wanted to kick it!

Same in Surrey. Quite possibly a scam where the guy buying the mould has to pay for the crap “it doesn’t even look like a dog” franchise. Can’t see why anybody would give them money.

If they did a T-Rex eating Theresa May I’d give them money

STW gets a link to this very thread in… The Plymouth Herald! wohoo 😀

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Sand-Dogs-artistic-trick-8217-s-sweeping-nation/story-28354970-detail/story.html

When it first kicked off I was still in the Canaries and some of the ones the guys were doing were insane!
40-50ft long Dragons, snakes, castles, etc.
Most certainly weren’t a mould as you’d see them slowly built up over days with them sleeping nearby to stop the drunken idiots kicking them at night.

Exactly the same as one in Inverness too.

But the Plymouth Herald think STW is a blog ?

A very wierd multiple personality blog that argues with itself constantly 🙂

Sand dogs? Phfft.

Saw the Plymouth gang down in Torquay. 2 groups no more than 200 yards apart, with the same “sculpture” in the same unfinished state. They just swap the personnel about during the day between the 2 sites.

Just saw a comment on Twitter, pointing out that this could create an excellent Dr Who plot… 😀

This one’s a total fake: