Help my puppy digs and steals items

[magpiecorners]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with digging. My backyard prior to getting this new puppy, she's a shepherd cross and is 6mo...is digging pothole all over my back yard....I thought maybe she was burying things, but nope, she's just a digging. Also, she steals clothes from my room, the kids rooms, and laundry room - take them outside and chews them. She chewed apart my good sandles and my daughters thongs....is there anything to do with this? Someone has suggested that I put cayenne pepper around, this will stop her. Anyone tried this?

Chow
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[ginagt]

Hi,
You have 2 issues here, digging and stealing and chewing up things. About the digging, I have heard that digging pits help a lot with the problem. How this works is you pick a spot in your yard that she is allowed to dig in, and what you do is burry things in the pit, treats, bones, toys, anything you can think of you, put them in different places in her pit at different depths, start out shallow so she gets the idea. Somestimes she gets huge jack pot in her pit and sometimes it is just few cookies. She never knows but it should discourage her from digging in other places in the yard, where there is no reward at all.

About stealing things in your house, remember she is a puppy and even at 6 months still needs constant surpervision. If you can't be watching her then I suggest you put her in a crate with a bone or something to do. Exercise will help. How do you react when she steals things? Do you make a big deal about it or do you just walk up to her and take it away? When my puppy steals something, I walk up to her take it away and say no. That's it, not a big fuss just calmly take it away.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[wolfsoul]

It sounds to me like she is bored. German shepherds need alot of mental and physical stimulation or they will become destructive. Give her LOTS of toys to keep her busy. Kongs are GREAT. Just fill them up with peanut butter or cream cheese and treats, and they will keep themselves busy trying to get it all out. You could also get one of those balls that you put treats in -- the dog has to figure out which way to roll it to get the treats out. Nylabones are good for chewing -- GSDs are very strong chewers, so I'd recommend a Galileo Nylabone. Is she crate trained? When she is unsupervised you should crate her so that she doesn't have a chance to destroy things. It's a great housebreaking tool. You could also buy a plastic pool and fill it with sand. Praise her for digging in there rather than digging on your yard. You could also lay down chicken wire -- it will hurt her paws when she tries to dig.

I wouldn't try cayenne pepper. I don't think it would work well and it could be potentially dangerous. If she likes to steal food off counters, I would recommend putting salsa on that food. I would stay away from cayenne pepper though.

I would also recommend obedience classes. They will keep her busy, help you bond, provide her with some mental stimulation, some dogs to play with, and it's a great credential to have.

Good luck!

[mallygirl]

hey,i have a great and effective way that my neighbour who is a breeder told me and worked like a charm.put your dogs doo doos in the hole,cover it up with dirt.dogs usually go back to that same hole to ckeck and see if it's still there,lol,they'll start digging it again and stop because it smeels so bad and is all over their claws, and they should stop.they clean themselves off sometimes they don't dig again even if they didn't dig in the doo doo hole after it was covered up because they can just smell it.it works for her who has westies who are the worst diggers and it worked for me,it has been 2 years and counting. give it a try you never know.

[mallygirl]

ohh yeah and the being bored thing i think is one of the main reasons why your dog is digging.

[magpiecorners]

Well, can't say that I ever thought of putting their own deposits in the holes, but what the heck...I've tried everything else, why not try this. I'll give it a try when whether clears up, been raining alot, but seems like the sun will now shine. I will let you know if this works. Thanks for the info.

[sumbirdy]

i agree with ginagt. you should pick one spot where its okay for your dog to dig. you could even put a little fence around it to close it in (big enough so she has room to lay down) so she is restricted to that area.

My dog steals too i just try to keep everything out of her reach but it doesnt always work