What do you do with a "digging" dog?

DDD

Well-Known Member
Ace has discovered the joy of digging this week. Never showed any interest before.
Hmmm. He's a big boxer so the hole is now big. husband plans to rake the dirt back into the hole but I expect it will become a game. Any thoughts? DDD
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Unfortunately... Dogs dig.

Outside is always better. What was there before the hole? Plain dirt, grass, a plant...? If you have other dogs coming into the yard, that could do it too...
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Bubba and Mandy both went through that for a bit. They just plain were not allowed outside on their own for long periods of time, and were given more walks.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
2 thoughts. Like Witzend is more walks. The other is a a sand box to dig in. Get one of those 10.00 kiddy pool and put cheap sand or dirt in it and redirect pup to dig there and not in yard. You can't let them out unsupervised until he gets it.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Fran that sandbox idea is a good one.

Molly has never been a digger. Rowdy only digs to get out of the yard.........therefore he stays on a lead run when he's out of his kennel to play during the day. (stretches from one far corner of the yard to the other in a diagonal with a 20 foot lead attached) He knows digging out when on the lead is futile so won't dig. lol

Rowdy got Betsy started on a phase when she watched him dig out a few times. I was less than happy. So for a very long time she didn't go out alone......and never got to stay in the yard just to play. She forgot about digging and hasn't done it since.

Rowdy has dug a pit to lay in under his favorite shade tree in the yard though. He did it the first year we were here. I told husband to leave the spot for him as it helps keep him cool during the summer and he's not dug another spot like it.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
If Ace actually managed to get out of the yard :nonono::nonono:...he's so full of anxiety that I think he would come back in or start whining or barking for one of us!

Hadn't thought about the swimming pool. That might work. I'll have to check with husband who is Ace's #1 human. DDD
 

nvts

Active Member
Ok, here's what I did, and it worked. I buried a blown up balloon. Coco (God rest her soul) was an evil digger. She would dig holes all over the yard - I had more twisted ankles after we got her, that I lost track. One day, I got an idea to blow up a balloon, very carefully put it in the major hole that she was currently working on and very carefully covered it with dirt. I let her out and stepped away from the door and watched her from the window.

I kid you not, this dog looked back and forth at the window and the side yard about 10 times, then headed for that stunning dirt pile...

Furious digging, then "POP!!!"

...she must have gone 10 feet backwards in midair. I laughed so hard I though I was going to pass out.

Never dug again.

Beth
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Beth, that is too funny.

DDD, if you like, he can come to my house. I have a mole problem and right now would welcome a digger, so long as he caught the darned things...
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
D3 -

If you have a mole problem? Ace is NOT going to stop digging until the moles are gone. K9 hearing is so incredibly astute that the sound of those moles digging under the ground even in the deepest dirt is making him NUTS! ( promise - I had front yard looking like Martha Stewart's crew planted it and we brought in 'foreign' soil with moles and in one month? Casper the back-hoe made it look like a bombing range) However - he would come in with a 1" stack of dirt on top of his nose and so very proud of his trenches. Piper the cat is still killing them, but they've moved thanks to the all natural mole repellent we put on the yard a year ago. What a war.

Get a good mole (all natual repellent that is safe for dogs) and see if that doesn't stop his digging for a while. Boxers are incredibly high-energy. I think you said you walk him about an hour a day before. If you don't? That would help or hire someone as a dog walker. If he's bored? Get a medium sized red or black Kong toy at the pet store, and fill it with CHEAP peanut butter and dog biscuits. Make sure he has access to plenty of water when you do. He can't eat a Kong to bits - but the chewing and licking will keep him occupied.

Frans idea of a sand box is excellent! My only thought with that is - if you don't build him one that is bottomless when he hits bottom? He may seek other places to dig and if you aren't out there to watch him? He may 'wander'. Also with it being so warm? You can FREEZE some of his favorite toys or FRUIT slices like apples you cut up into blocks of ice - our kids love this. We got a spare freezer and we bought some of those silicone molds and other dollar store foot-soak pans and fill them with water - and freeze them over night for cool treats. We also save the empty peanut butter plastic jars for INDOOR night-time licking treats. NEVER outside. (after the duck fiasco - nothing is unmonitored)

If he's digging out? Whomever suggested the chicken wire around the fence line is absolutely correct - we have it all around 2 acres.

As far as the hole? Fill it with rocks and concrete too - and make sure Ace is sitting there when Daddy fills it - and sees him filling it. At this point saying no dig is futile.......but when you fill it with gravel at the top - they don't like to dig in gravel so much. So while he won't dig that hole again? No guarantees he won't dig any other hole - but my guess is he hears MOLES.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys.....now I'll be dreaming of mole invasions!

He really doesn't like being outside alone for long. If one of us is on the porch where he can see or hear us then all is well with the world, lol. He "may" have heard a mole but I think that he was fixing a comfortable space for a little rest. He rearranges his blankets with precision to make it comfy. I've seen him use his paws to make a hump of blanket and then circle around until he could use the hump for a head pillow.

Gravel would work. The balloon would absolutely work. Guess it's time to make a plan. Thanks.
DDD
 
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