Help, diggin' puppy!!!!

[shais_mom]

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

[Pam]

Staci...I would have loved to see the look on your neighbors' faces if they saw you burying balloons!!! LOL! 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! 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 ]

[shais_mom]

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!!

[Pam]

That is so funny! I am getting a mental picture!! 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 ). 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!

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

[RachelJ]

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.

[Logan]

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 ]

[shais_mom]

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.
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.

[Pam]

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!

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

[Dixieland Dancer]

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