HELP! How do I get my dog to stop digging!

[bossynbella]

So first a bit of a back story. My dog Annie (many of you know her!) is a beagle she is two years old and recently had her first litter of puppies. We have a nice sized fenced in yard, the fence is dug down about 6 inches because I was worried about her digging, but she never had. The day before she had the pups (last Thursday) she was digging everywhere, but I understand that, and since then it had stopped, until today! Every time I let her out today she digs, this morning she had two huge holes dug under the bedroom window, she accomplished this in about 20 minutes. The second time I let her out she went to the other side of the house under the living room window and dug a big hole there. The last two times I let her out I caught her digging in the window well of the basement (where she wanted to have her pups in the first place) The first time I yelled at her, and she skulked back to the house, about an hour later I let her out, go out not even five minutes later and she is right there again, she didn't hear me so I gave her a light smack on the butt and said " NO Digging, Bad Girl, Get in the house" she again went for the house looking sour-full. She has not attempted to pick up a puppy at all , not even once so I don't really feel like she is trying to make a den for them and to move them. I will get out the chain if I have to and chain her up but I am hoping someone can give me some insite on the digging and what I can do to "teach" her not to do it. It wouldn't be so bad if she would do it out in the middle of the yard, but next to the house makes the rain leak into the basement. I can just keep filling up the holes if I have to. But she is usually a well behaved dog, who is easy to teach what is right and wrong too.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[SourRoses]

First off, Congrats on the puppies! I've been looking at all the pictures today, I was surprised she had them so soon! SO cute!

Second....
It really does sound like shes trying to make a new den for the pups. She probably hasn't tried to move them because she doesent have a spot she likes for them yet.
Most moms appreciate a private, secluded area. You mentioned in one post, that she was getting startled by the sound from your hubbies tv watching. That may be one of the things that is bothering her about the location she is in. Also, the cats and other dogs. Even if she is back to playing with them and socializing normally.... that doesent mean she is comfortable having the puppies around where she feels the other animals might get to them. It can even just be the lingering smell of another animal that distresses the mom. Also people moving about the house alot can worry them, especially visitors.

So... is there another spot in the house you could move her? Where she has more privacy and quiet? A bedroom without a tv, or a guest room?

If not... there are other things you can do to help her relax.... You could put up hangings around her pool, so its darker and more cave-like... you could keep guests away from the pool itself and just take one puppy out at a time yourself to show them.
Keep the other animals in the house out of the room the pool is in.. and try to limit barking from the other dogs so she doesent feel there is danger near.

Try to watch tv in other rooms besides the one shes in... but if you have to watch it, keep it down to a low level, and avoid watching things with loud noises that might startle her.

Helping her feel private and secure, and limiting her distress, will likely end her search for a new 'cave'.

 

[carolinagirl58]

She is probably thinking about moving her puppies. I know of a lot of dogs who'd love nothing more than to raise their pups in a hole under ground.

 

[Smittenroade]

I've trianed dogs to stop killing chickens, to catch frisbees in the air, to stop chasing cars...The only real way to stop a dog from digging is to cut their paws off....That's probably about the only thing that works.

 

[bossynbella]

Squishy- let me give you a tour of our house, walk in to a small entry way (which is not insulated or heated/cooled) which at the moment houses one lonely duckling, a giant air conditioner that will never fit in any of our windows and various other " junk" - through the door to the kitchen, I am 5' tall and if I lay down on the floor my feet touch the door and my head is about three inches from the stove, length wise its a bit better, but no extra room, off the kitchen is the stairs to the basement(unfinished, dark, damp with lots of spiders) and the doorway to the living room/dining room. The living dinning room is maybe 12' wide and a nice 20' long. With the tv at one end with the couch, guinea pig cages, coffee table, and the other end has the desk, a unused table under which is Annie's pool. Her pool is right next to the door to the kitchen. The other end of the room (with the tv) has the doorway to the small bathroom (no room there at all) and the bedroom, which she has never been allowed in (DH has a thing about pets in the bedroom) though there is not really any room in there for her pool either. There are stairs off the same area as the bathroom and bedroom, they lead to two upstairs bedrooms, one is full of my sisters stuff (she passed away in November of pancreatic cancer) and the other has the extra bed and crib my niece and nephew use when they stay the night (she doesn't like either of these rooms, I tried putting her box up there to begin with but her belly dragged on the stairs up and down, now she won't even go up there.

As far as other pets, They are OUTSIDE, where she keeps digging. The two other dogs are outside dogs, they are in the fenced yard during the day, and are loose at night to guard the chickens etc. ( We live in the country and have had problems with Coyotes trying to eat our chickens, as well as coons, and opossums.) We do have two cats in the house, which completely ignore the puppies, they don't go near them, and Annie pays them little to no attention other then to occasionally clean them when she is out and about. The cat's beds are on the other side of the room from her and her puppies.

The only t.v is in the room with her, if it was up to me I wouldn't have it on, but DH can't live without it, however it doesn't seem to bother her anymore (and she is use to it as she has been around it since she was a pup) I can hang up curtains around the table if that would help.

Oh and we haven't had, nor plan to have any visitors till after the pups are at least 4 weeks old.

I had a long talk with her ( I know right) and the last time she was out she didn't dig, so maybe, just maybe, she got what I was saying. lol. Guess only time will tell.

 

[oldchickenman]

We laid down chicken wire in our flower beds and coverd it with about 2 to 3 inches of dirt works good.