rish Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Digging. My husband has been re-building our garden,thus leaving piles of dirt ,the dogs discovered the dirt and dug, having some harmless fun. The dirt is now removed, but the dogs have discovered that digging up the yard is fun as well. Is there anyway to stop this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Our dog loves to dig. Huge great holes that are so deep at times you can only see his back legs and tail and he's a medium sized dog! We had tried covering them, putting poo in them...he just moved to another location... Until the day we bought a clam shell, filled it with soft sand (washed sand so it has no yuckies in it) and hid treats in it. Since then...not one hole dug - anywhere. Wish we had done it a lot earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rish Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 The clam shell pool ??? LOL. They would fave fun to ! Our dog loves to dig. Huge great holes that are so deep at times you can only see his back legs and tail and he's a medium sized dog! We had tried covering them, putting poo in them...he just moved to another location... Until the day we bought a clam shell, filled it with soft sand (washed sand so it has no yuckies in it) and hid treats in it. Since then...not one hole dug - anywhere. Wish we had done it a lot earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireybell Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Ohhhh poochmad I'm stealing your idea! We have one clam shell for hot days (Jesie loves water) so I might buy another to put sand in. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rish Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 We have one clam shell for hot days >>> We are getting 1 for water,so 1 for sand will work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) Another approach to digging is to direct it . . . "good hole" . .. "bad hole". Designate a digging place that won't look too awful, eg under a bush (mine have a great hole under the bouganvillia), praise for digging there, redirection or mild correction when digging elsewhere. Digging is natural for dogs, but there's no need to dig everywhere. Note, many dogs dig to find a cool place to lie. Make sure to locate the "good hole" in a place that satisfies this . . . preferably a shady location that gets a little moisture. Edited March 5, 2009 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Make the area you want them to dig in more attractive to them by burying a handful of treats or a favourite toy close to the surface. You can bury stuff deeper once the dogs get the hang of it. Once they realise this bit of the yard has "buried treasure" but that bit of the yard doesn't, they will develop a preference for the "right" spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Make the area you want them to dig in more attractive to them by burying a handful of treats or a favourite toy close to the surface. You can bury stuff deeper once the dogs get the hang of it.Once they realise this bit of the yard has "buried treasure" but that bit of the yard doesn't, they will develop a preference for the "right" spot Absolutely. This is exactly what we've found with Henschke. Burying treats in the sand pit has only encouraged him to dig there leaving the rest of the yard alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rish Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Isn"t it amazing how a hole can be talked about ! I will keep all idea's in mind,thank you They have stopped digging >) "good hole" . .. "bad hole""good hole" . .. "bad hole" Another approach to digging is to direct it . . . "good hole" . .. "bad hole". Designate a digging place that won't look too awful, eg under a bush (mine have a great hole under the bouganvillia), praise for digging there, redirection or mild correction when digging elsewhere. Digging is natural for dogs, but there's no need to dig everywhere.Note, many dogs dig to find a cool place to lie. Make sure to locate the "good hole" in a place that satisfies this . . . preferably a shady location that gets a little moisture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen21 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Where do you buy the sand from? Is there a particular type that they like to dig in? I have the clam shell as a pool currently, but as it gets cooler, we might convert to a sand pit. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Midol Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I'd rather use dirt than sand just because my dogs would dig the sand from a clamshell in minutes. Anyway, for digging I'd just redirect it to somewhere else. Dogs instinctively dig, and it's a self rewarding behaviour so simply digging for them is reinforcing so it isn't easy to stop. I'd use the treats method and get the dogs to dig where you want them to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now