ideas to stop digging dog

[GardeNerd]

My previous dog, a black lab. had an extreme passion for digging. I gave her an area she was allowed to dig in a half of the yard that was fenced in, but she was still pretty destructive in my spaces. Some of the strategies we tried included water balloons buried in the places she liked to dig. We tried air filled balloons, poop, cayanne pepper, and spying on her and catching her in the act, squirting her with a hose, burying ruff stuff in the holes. I would place chicken wire on the ground around the areas that could not handle the digging (i.e. my raspberries, blackberries, and camillias. It looked terrible. We never managed to break her habit. She did get regular exercise. We ended up keeping her in the house more as she aged so she would not have as many opportunities. This was the only strategy that reduced the damage. As soon as she was out, she would be back at it.

Good luck. I remember the frustration. She lived to be 14.

My current dog, a golden retriever digs as well. He mainly does it when he is bored and especially a day or so after it rains or the lawns and beds are watered. He likes it a particular texture. Go figure.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Quote:
I ad a border collie who did that exact thing.. he died a couple of years ago, but some of his craters still remain..

there was a huge fox farm near here and they had the same problem with their foxes sort of.
they would dig under the fences.
those guys stumbled on the ida of cutting a certain tendon in the fox's foot .. that prevented the fox from being able to dig.. You could check with a vet to see if he could do it for you.. The procedure was a simple snip, and it did not hinder any other movement of the animal.

Uh, cutting a certain tendon??? You are not serious I hope! I don't know a vet that would EVER do that to a dog just to prevent it from digging. I can't believe you'd even suggest that!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
huh? what?

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
This is just what I was going to suggest. You can even set the pool down into the ground. I'd fill it with sand, though, because that helps differentiate it from the "regular" dirt in your yard, and he'll more easily be able to tell the difference between "legal" and "illegal" digging!

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
That is what I heard too, and it does seem they pick certain places to dig, like around the roots of a tree.

 

[jbowyer01]

Some dogs just dig holes! I have two Doxies and I'm constantly refilling holes

but its in their nature to track moles, chipmunks and such. I can actually follow their holes and pretty much determine what they were going after. Oh and mine get walked twice a day and have more toys than my kids ever did

and their favorite toy is a pot leftover from when I bought pansies..go figure! I did read somewhere about placing mothballs in the holes, the dogs dont seem to like the smell. I'll let you know if it works, I'm trying it this weekend.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I ad a border collie who did that exact thing.. he died a couple of years ago, but some of his craters still remain..

there was a huge fox farm near here and they had the same problem with their foxes sort of.
they would dig under the fences.
those guys stumbled on the ida of cutting a certain tendon in the fox's foot .. that prevented the fox from being able to dig.. You could check with a vet to see if he could do it for you.. The procedure was a simple snip, and it did not hinder any other movement of the animal.



I fail to see how that procedure would NOT hinder movement-

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I ad a border collie who did that exact thing.. he died a couple of years ago, but some of his craters still remain..

there was a huge fox farm near here and they had the same problem with their foxes sort of.
they would dig under the fences.
those guys stumbled on the ida of cutting a certain tendon in the fox's foot .. that prevented the fox from being able to dig.. You could check with a vet to see if he could do it for you.. The procedure was a simple snip, and it did not hinder any other movement of the animal.

Uh, cutting a certain tendon??? You are not serious I hope! I don't know a vet that would EVER do that to a dog just to prevent it from digging. I can't believe you'd even suggest that!

dead serious...how is that any worse than castration? beak cutting? wing clipping?? tail docking?? ear clipping/docking on dobermans? need I go on??

the only reason you find it offensive is because you never heard of it before..

and by the way.. vets did the clipping on the foxes..

 

[Andora]

Cesar Milan says that dogs should be walked for 45 minutes at a time at least once a day, and that's how he seems to solve a lot of dog issues on his show.

That being said, I am a bad dog owner myself and can't find 45 minutes a day to walk my big dogs. My coonhound loves to dig up my yard...It's so frustrating to fall into holes when you don't look where you are stepping! The only solution we've found is to not leave the dogs alone outside for more than a few minutes at a time. They stay inside with me, when we're not home they are crated, and if I go outside they can come too. If they don't have time to dig, there are no holes!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I ad a border collie who did that exact thing.. he died a couple of years ago, but some of his craters still remain..

there was a huge fox farm near here and they had the same problem with their foxes sort of.
they would dig under the fences.
those guys stumbled on the ida of cutting a certain tendon in the fox's foot .. that prevented the fox from being able to dig.. You could check with a vet to see if he could do it for you.. The procedure was a simple snip, and it did not hinder any other movement of the animal.



I fail to see how that procedure would NOT hinder movement-

all I can tell you is,, it did not.. I cannot force you to see it..