Digging?

jkrodger

any tips to prevent a puppy from digging up the lawn?

Bondo

Ayuh,...... Unfortunately,.... Dogs Love to Dig.....

2 ways to Stop this are,.....

1),... Get Rid of the Dog.......

2),... Pave the Lawn.......

Declawing the Dog might slow'em down,.... But,.... It'll still Try to Dig......

NateHanson

Try giving the dog other stuff to do. Often dogs dig because they're bored. Is this dog penned up outside alone for extended periods? Make sure it's got plenty of toys, gets enough interaction and play (with people/other dogs) etc.

That might help. Some dogs are just diggers though.

jkrodger

that's what I was afraid of. She's not bored when she's out there, she's got lots of toys and usually we're out there with her. When we see her dig we go and tell her no and pull her away but a couple minutes later and she's back. She's not outside for long at all, especially because it's winter and she's being a baby about the cold. She didn't dig until she met our neighbor's dog. She's trying to dig under the fence to get to her (they appear to be friends and love to run back and forth along the fence line, no barking or growling) but there's one other random spot that she's digging at too.


she's only a puppy, maybe she'll grow out of it?

Spike99

Cute dog. Looks like a keeper... Your family member would definately melt my wife's heart. LOL!!!!

Dogs also dig because:
- They want to dig down to cooler ground. During the hot days, my dog always craws under our deck and "digs away".
- They smell something interesting and want to investigate further. My previous dog was a mouse hunter. If anything smelt like a mouse, she'd be "digging down" looking for it.

As a suggestion, try to create a "dig zone" area in your yard. Sometimes, a little 6ft x 6ft sand box area works. Especially if under some shade. If you can, teach your young "construction worker" to only dig in that specific area. It will be hard but after some time, he/she might get the idea. Some say this works.

Good luck....

.

NateHanson

If she digs outside the area, yell to startle her, and quickly pick her up and put her in the area where she should dig, then praise her if she digs there. Same as housebreaking.

jkrodger

Thanks, when we do our spring landscaping we'll try to give her a digging area that doesn't include my new flower beds, or the new grass seed.

We did notice that perhaps she's trying to bury something? We saw her dig a tiny bit and drop her toy in the little dent she made. She didn't try to cover it, not that there was enough loose dirt to do it anyways, but does that offer any hints?

Oh, we also put some rocks and bricks at the base of the fence where she tries to dig to the other dog. Not very pretty, but it's preventing additional digging so far.

Oldskool

Good luck, I hope she knows the different between her digging area and your flowers.

skeeter_ca

I had a dalmation that would dig till the yard looked like a mine field or would dig at the fence line. I learned that if you bury there own poop in the hole he would not dig there anymore. After awhile of digging up his own poop he stopped and never had another problem with him.

skeeter

bofusmosby

Good luck with the digging. I have a black Lab, and he has done some excavations that any miner would we pround of! I had to put some bricks, blocks etc along the foundation of the house, to keep him away. Just last weekend, I went under my deck, and he has a system of holes that would swallow a small town. I thought I had broke him of this..........Now I see, I haven't. I will be reading all follow-ups to this thread, maybe I can get some ideas.

Bondo

Ayuh,.....

Burying a layer of Chain-link Fence a 1/2ft. below grade will slow'em down........

bofusmosby

Yea Bondo, I know what you mean. When I was a kid, my dad buried checken wire along the parameter of the fenced yard to keep the dog from digging out. Dang, I had forgotten all about that! I agree, the chain-link fence would slow the varmits down a bit.