Help, diggin' puppy!!!!

Hi there, just joined :-). this looks like great place for info & support!
Shelby is my 10 month mini schnauzer. Have to say she's the cutest ever, but aren't they all? Love my little girl!
Our problem is she is digging up my backyard! She started along the fence line, once in awhile, now she has this spot (getting bigger by the minute) :-( in the middle of the yard. She has toys to play with & has a doggie door. I do have to work, so she is alone, except for the cat (not too much company there :-) ) I realize she must be bored but geez my yard! She even does it when I'm home now so needless to say she hasn't been allowed out alone. I've heard this prob is next to impossible to remedy, please tell me I'm wrong!
Look forward to replies! Thanx, Shelby's Mom!

You might want to get a sandbox or something that she IS allowed to dig in. Teach her that it is okay to dig there but nowhere else. While you're still in the process of teaching her, you might want to leave her inside only while you're at work. Thats if you're not gone TOO long and she can hold it. If not, it might be more helpful to teach this when you have a vacation. This way you can remain consistent.

Welcome to Pet Talk. You'll love it here http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

I don't really have any advice; my Basset Hound Daisy isn't a digger and she is my first dog, so I have no experience with digging dogs. I just wanted to say welcome to Pet Talk! It's a great place, and very addicting http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Good luck with Shelby!

My puppy, Bella (standard poodle), is 5 months old and also enjoys digging. I usually try to watch her at least part of the time she is out just to see if she starts digging. She has three nice sized holes in the yard that I keep filling in. For some reason she goes back to these three spots. If I see her I yell "NO DIGGING!" and she does stop. Of course, if I don't see her she tries to dig to China. For the time being I think both of our pups will need careful watching and correcting when they start to dig. Hopefully this will pass as they learn this behavior is not making us happy. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif It was good reading your post and realizing that I am not alone in this! By the way, you have found the best spot on the internet. Pet Talk is a wonderful place to kick back and meet some great pet lovers! Welcome aboard!

Welcome:

Terriers/puppy's naturaly like to dig, so
your problem is two-fold.

All my dogs as pup's did some form of digging. My young male still digs when
bored but not nearly as often. My suggestion is to keep your
dog busy when you are home with play and walks before and after work.
When you are not home and not able to
catch her in the act, maybe you can
confine her to a smaller area where she
can not cause any damage. That way when you let her out after work, you can catch her in the act and teach her not to dig.
With training and maturity she will get less destructive. You might even consider
taking her to an obedience class.
Remember she is still a mischief puppy.
Good luck, Shelby sounds like
a cutie. : )

it will help if you have an establish command that means "you don't do that" such as no. i was able to train my rat terrier in a matter of a week only to dig in one specific place in the yard. (come to find out she was digging to get cicada larve. yummmmmy!) this was back when i didn't know much better. what i did is when she went out side i'd watch her, if she started to dig, i said "No". well, i wasn't always able to watch her, so when i'd find a new hole in a bad place, i'd bring her over to it, give her a small swat on the butt and say bad girl! then i'd take her over to her digging area and giver her a treat and praise. and take her over to the hole and only tell her bad girl, then back to the other area again and tell her good girl. by the second day she was already starting to dig there, but it took a whole week to get her to completly stop digging the rest of the lawn. it may go against alot of people training methods, but it worked. and alot better than those a$$ho!e$ who use the water technique. grrrrr. those people make my blood boil. anyhoo, you could substitute the butt slaps if plain simple no's are effective w/ your pup. it also would probally help if there was a physical border such as a rope. her area was this spot in our yard where the grass had refused to grow. i think aly's suggestion of a sandbox is a good one too. but i'd either put dirt or a dirt sand mix in it. digging is a good way for dogs to keep their nails down. i wish you the best of luck!

Wow! thanx for all the input! So far I think what might work is getting Shelby her own digging spot, maybe a little kids pool with some sand/dirt in it? I have to work 8-10 hours so keeping her in isn't really an option. Sooo, we're gonna have to compromise since I can't catch her in the act, little sneak!
Thanks again, Shelby's Mom, any other input sure is welcome!

Obviously, she's digging out of boredom. One alternative would be to crate her while you are gone at work. Crates are not cruel as long as you don't leave her too long in the crate. How long are you gone at work?

If you are gone too long to confine her during the day, then try buying a bunch of toys. Kong toys with treats in them work well, buster cubes, balls?

If she is digging in the same hole, over and over again. Then fill the hole in and put in some of her poop. Sounds disgusting, but she won't dig there again. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

------------------
-Rottie
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/010/Kg/Fr/vi/m895429.jpg

Again thanx for the suggestions. As I mentioned before I am gone at work 8-10 hours & that just seems too long to keep her crated, (I'm not opposed to crating), wish I could acutally http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif. Believe it or not I bought her a kong toy & she wouldn't play with it, so I put some of her treats in it, no go, next I resort to peanut butter, generally she gets no people food, 'cept veggies. Anyhoo, once she got all the peanut butter out that she could, no interest & I ended up with a kong full of ants :mad. I will try the poop suggestion, had forgotten about that one!
Glad i found this site! Shelby's Mom

I have tried all the above even put mouse traps in the area she was digging. Come to think of it I haven't seen those traps for 2 years!! I usually don't catch her doing it, but when I do she gets a butt slap and stern NO!!
I have heard of people who have the money making their dog a sandbox, so they can dig there, its good for their nails too, Or taking the pen they may be in and filling it with sand so they dig there.
Good luck
http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

------------------
~~~"Noone appreciates the very special
genius of your conversation as a dog does."
Christopher Morley

Fritz likes to dig too. Each time he starts, I spray him with a water bottle. This also works well when Hans barks.

I saw a suggestion of making a pepper mixture (dry black pepper and cayenne, I think) and sprinkling it on the area she is digging in. I'll check and see where I saw it and give you a link soon. I should probably try it myself! Mine are avid diggers and I have two BIG dogs!

Welcome to Pettalk.....hope you'll enjoy it as much as the rest of us do!

Logan

hi
my puppy digs to. he is so bad we had to come the yard in ply wood. our sulutiopn is we are going to get a cement padio, they dont have to look horrable, if they are nicely done, they can look really cool! :-)


------------------
N~i~k~k~i~

I once heard on one of those satelite channels that you should make the pepper and cayenne mixture and put some in a balloon, blow it up, tie it and then put in in a hole in the area your dog digs the most. (they said that dogs usually dig that same area over and over again). You are supposed to bury the balloon where he will dig it up. Once he has dug up a balloon or two and had it pop, they usually stop digging. Don't know if it is true since Ricky is mostly an indoor dog or on a leash. :)

I like all the suggestions posted here. Sounds like anyone of them will work (especially the pepper mixture). All my Golden pups dig when they are small but usually grow out of it by the time they are 1 year old. I spray bitter apple on the hole once they start digging. I don't cover it over until I'm sure they don't go back to it. They also get a stern NO when caught in the action.

Give your pup time and he won't dig anymore. Then you will be finding something else they do that you need help with. This is a good site get help from.

I bought some balloons today and blew them up and buried them -- we shall see what happens!

Staci...I would have loved to see the look on your neighbors' faces if they saw you burying balloons!!! LOL! :D Mine would surely think I have gone over the edge! Let us know how it goes! Bella is still digging although not quite as often and not quite as deep and I think I know one of the reasons why. She likes to dig up stones! When she gets a nice one she proudly brings it up on the deck with tail wagging, waiting for my praise! :rolleyes: Also she doesn't understand when I am pulling weeds I am not digging. I try to explain it to her when I am down on my knees in the yard that there is a difference between weeding and digging. Again, I am sure the neighbors are probably enjoying seeing me having these conversations with my dog while in the flowerbed! :)

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: Pam ]

The balloons are not working!!! Shai thinks its a game, kinda like dive bombing things!! I just don't know what to do with her!!

That is so funny! I am getting a mental picture!! :D I spent hours yesterday working in the yard. (I can feel it today!) Anyway, one of the areas Bella loves to dig in is a large flowerbed (which for the time being contains no flowers due to her :D ). Anyway, I put some large pieces of slate in there yesterday in sort of a design. There are still lots of spaces in between but nothing where she can get a toe-hold or should I say paw-hold. She immediately ran over to investigate and looked so disappointed. ;) I also put down a couple of bags of top soil and then covered it over with a couple of strips of sod to take care of some bare spots. Hopefully she will not realize that it would be pretty easy to tear off a piece of sod and run away with it before it has a chance to root. That is a great source of enjoyment for her. Running off with my things....gardening gloves, small gardening tools, even the little mat I sometimes kneel on. Now if that didn't look funny! :D

[ August 26, 2001: Message edited by: Pam ]

I can just picture Bella carrying things around. You need to figure out how you can channel this into something useful as like picking up and putting away her toys. I think one of the hardest things to teach a dog (if they are not so inclined) is to pick up and carry things. If she lived with me, I'd having her picking up my husband's dirty laundry that gets left on his bathroom floor.

Pam, good idea with the slate! Poor Bella! I swear, the rock people love me. I just keep getting more and more, trying to put them in places that are highly susceptible to digging! I need a truckload!

Shai and Staci!! I can't believe that a balloon popping doesn't do the trick! My Honey would be frightened to ever step foot near the hole again! What did Shai do, Staci? You might have to resort to the pepper method...Good luck!

Logan

[ August 26, 2001: Message edited by: Logan ]

I did put pepper in some of them, but when I went out there they had already popped, not b/c of Shai. But let me tell you it wasn't fun blowing up those balloons with Cayenne Pepper in them. :eek:
She just puts outs her foot on the balloon and it POPS and she just stands there!!
I am really surprised it doesn't scare her as timid as she is any other time. The other day one popped that I had in the house and both the cat and the dog took off!
A couple weeks ago, something fell off the table when I was in the bathroom,, and the dog and cat both flew into the bedroom. It took about 5 min before they both slunk around the corner to see what it was. :eek:

Oh Staci I am laughing again. I look at the picture of Shai and just try to imagine her behaving like that! LOL! And the story of her and the cat slunking around the corner is a riot too (more mental pictures)! Bella is a bit of a daredevil so I don't think the balloons would work for her permanently. My cats, on the other hand, would go into hiding for a year! Sorry to make light of your problem but I am just getting all of these funny pictures in my head. Hope you can resolve the digging, maybe with the pepper like Logan said.

Rachel, Bella would love to pick up your husband's laundry! No telling where it would turn up though! She would probably hide it and then bring it out when you had company! :D

[ August 26, 2001: Message edited by: Pam ]

I had to laugh at the laundry being drug out when company comes. My puppy did that to me just last week, only it was my dirty underwear. Only I wasn't laughing then :(