keroppiyo

Thanks aquaticmalamute. When we first got Buffy a few months ago, she did dig at her shadow on the tiles once or twice while under the dining table. Luckily that behaviour went away afterwards. Only resurfaced recently. Our tiles are glossy, and there is a definite reflection, so we were also thinking she's intrigued by the image of "another dog". A couple of times I've distracted her mid-digging and called her over to me. She'll come and do a couple of "sits", "hands", etc, but will abruptly turn and go back to digging. In those cases it's not her suddenly realising the reflection that prompted the digging, though I do feel a lot of the times it could be initiated by it. She doesn't dig the concrete (where there's no reflection) outside when she's left outside during the day. This obsessive digging of the tiles, even if it's because she's seen her own reflection, still worries me. Some days are better than others, but it hasn't completely stopped. Will decide on a pro dog trainer by end of the week to see if they have any insights on this and to help with other Buffy problems.

I've just started walking her more and training her with her meals to try tire her out. No digging yesterday, but did a little bit this morning. I'll keep this up. Still too early to tell. Well its a good start Good luck. Spoke to soon. She's gone back to digging this evening...

Once she learned to stop pulling, did you switch back to a regular collar?

Must be a spitz thing -my Lappie sat and had a massive howl when I put the easy walk harness on her Haha, I was planning to get one of these for my Samoyed, Buffy. Not sure if she'll have a hissy-fit too.

I've just started walking her more and training her with her meals to try tire her out. No digging yesterday, but did a little bit this morning. I'll keep this up. Still too early to tell.

Yep, I'm looking at possible trainers to get help from, have shot off quite a number of e-mails. I recently bought a clicker too. Was previously using the marker word "yes", so might give the clicker a go now, as I read they register the click much more easily and quickly than a verbal cue. Got 4 different kibbles, they look and smell a bit different, but all taste the same (i tasted them myself, taste like cardboard ), so I supplement with small amounts of things like fish or yoghurt. I only give her bones when she's outside during the day, along with stuffed kong. I'll definitely do the short training sessions in the afternoon as you and others have suggested though. Instead of making her earn her meals every now and then, I'll make it a daily thing. Thanks

That sounds kinda cute. But when Buffy does it it's not. She's frantically digging, and it's not for somewhere to sleep.

Yep, I do that every now and then, but I'll probably make it a daily thing now. She has a nylabone, and I rotate her toys too. I'm a bit worried about the nylabone though. She's got a regular sized one, but has really put lots of teeth marks and small dents in it. I'd never leave that with her unsupervised, but I do leave the kongs and treat ball with her. I bought a clam shell pool for her a while back, but haven't used it yet. I was wondering with the sand, with all the digging they're capable of doing, wouldn't you go outside to find that all the sand's no longer in the pool, but on the floor? Do you just sweep it all up and put it back in the shell? I'll try distracting her next time and see what happens. She may not respond though, and I don't want to use food to lure her cos it'll most likely reinforce that behaviour. Might have to run around like a crazy monkey to get her attention. Thanks for all your suggestions Wolfsong

She should be smart enough to realise by now that any amount of scratching will not bring up our tiles

I'm not aware of any (medical) problems with Buffy, but other behavioural problems are ones like barking, pulling on leash, etc. I walk her for about 30 mins first thing every morning, then she's inside with us for about 2 hours until 9-10am, when I put her outside. She's not very interested in her breakfast (dry kibble) when it's offered to her in a bowl, so I often stuff that, plus a bit of chicken carcass into a couple of kongs for her to have outside. I've let her in for a couple of hours during lunch time recently, but when she's inside she'll dig the tiles again. She seems to do more digging inside than out lately. Then she's outside again until about 5 or 6pm. I leave 1 or 2 toys outside for her, but she doesn't play with them at all, and every time I check on her she's just resting or sleeping under the roof of her kennel, she doesn't seem anxious to me. It may be a stimulation thing, as when she's inside with us in the evening, even though we do give her considerable attention (i.e. just give her pats and cuddles), there isn't much in terms of stimulation. I'm not sure what I can do to engage her mentally. I haven't been to any formal training with her for about 3 months now. Though the people at obedience are helpful and friendly, the things they train (mostly heeling) and the method used, doesn't quite seem compatible with us, or I just haven't been persistent/consistent enough. I am considering going back to see how she goes though. It does seem a bit like OCD though, which is why I'm so worried. It doesn't seem to be triggered by anything in particular, though when we say 'no', she can't do something (like rip the rug), she'll turn around and start digging. But she'll also do it for no apparent reason.

Hi, my almost 8 month old Samoyed, Buffy, has been "digging" the tiles around our house for the past few days. I know Samoyeds are known to dig, and she does dig outside, but it doesn't seem normal to dig indoors. When we first got her, she did it a couple of times inside the house. Looked like she was digging at her own shadow. But soon after she never did it again, until recently. She has been doing it very often, throughout the day, at different places around the house, so I don't think it's any particular smell or things under the house that's attracting her. I'm very worried about this, as I've read somewhere it can be brought about by stress. Has anyone else experienced this problem and have any ideas how I should deal with it? At the moment I just ignore it, and only go back to her once she's calmed down.

Yes, I've been to different types of training. With (1) RSPCA that ONLY uses positive reinforcement and allowing no contact or playtime between dogs, (2) socialisation classes run by Lort Smith that allow our dogs to play freely followed by some basic training using praise and treats as rewards, and (3) local obedience school that is similar to the socialisation classes, but a bit more formal and only using praise as reward. So I've tried each different method learnt from the various classes. (1) using food to lure, constant feeding, ignore bad behaviour/pulling and just stop in my tracks; (2) stop when she pulls or change directions when she gets too far ahead; (3) stop walking when she pulls, but also be firm and quick tug of leash to get her to return to my side. At the moment I'm more doing the stopping when leash is tight, and continue walking when she turns back to me (only her head will turn back, but I think it's good enough), also giving treats (relatively high frequency) when the leash is slack. All the methods I've tried have some, but limited success, and everything just goes down the drain as soon as she sees people, dogs, bikes, and basically anything else that moves. It seems she gets angry at me for not letting her chase after those things, and will react by doing zoomies in between jumping at me, growling and trying to bite. As for at home she always talks back to us, so we have tried using the command quiet, tried making loud noise (only tried this a couple of times), or ignoring, yet she still barks at us everyday. I've tried to do lots of research on the internet, including on this forum, and reading training books, but there are just too many methods (some of them completely conflicting) and I'm probably not using the right one/doing it correctly for Buffy. So I think professional help is in order.

Thanks Huski. I've e-mailed a few of the trainers you recommended.

Hello. This is my very first post, and I'm posting because I have EXACTLY the same problem as you with my 7-month old Samoyed, Buffy. This morning I had a woman walking her golden retriever tell me to take my dog elsewhere because she was very annoying (she gets too excited and tries to lunge at other dogs and people). I always try to take Buffy to one side when I see other people approaching, but she will try to pull towards them, and after they have left she will jump at at me, try to bite me, and give out high pitched barks. I'm also at my wits end, and have contacted a few dog trainers in Melbourne, but they all seem to combine discipline with positive reinforcement, while I'm trying to find one who will use only gentle training methods. Sorry to have hijacked your thread, but I'm also in desperate need of help. I think my stress is causing Buffy to stress, and that's where her behavioral problems arise, yet I haven't been able to use any methods to alleviate her worries. Any suggestions or recommendations for trainers would be greatly appreciated. I hope we can both eventually tackle this problem...