Digging The Tiles

[keroppiyo]

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.

[Cosmolo]

Are there any other problems with Buffy? Could be a wide range of causes from boredom to anxiety to OCD.

What kind of exercise, stimulation and training does she get?

Edited February 25, 2010 by Cosmolo

[persephone]

It may be something as simple as the fact she is attempting to scratch up a bed for herself

[keroppiyo]

Are there any other problems with Buffy? Could be a wide range of causes from boredom to anxiety to OCD.

What kind of exercise, stimulation and training does she get?

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.

[keroppiyo]

It may be something as simple as the fact she is attempting to scratch up a bed for herself

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

[Bjelkier]

She sounds bored and if your not careful it might become a habit.

I've seen a dog lick itself sore threw boredom, not good.

I think something you should try with Buffy is some basic obediance around the house, nothing formal, just keep that clever brain working.

Start simple with sits and stays, move it up to drops and some other cute tricks. Mistral knows dance, talk, beg, weave, bow and a few others.

This will tire out that very clever mind of hers much faster then walking will.

No more then 5 or 10 mins a day at her age or she will get bored.

As for toys, something I have noticed Samoyeds love are Nyla bones, mine have about 4 and every day they settle down for a good chew and it saves my things from their teeth! Also try rotating the toys so she dosn't get bored.

So kong and soft lamb one day, then take away and replace with nyla bone and treat ball.

Also mine are not allowed to dig, I don't need a moon landing look for the backyard.

They have been given a clam shell pool with water and sand which they can use.

If you get one of these hide treats in the sand, it will encourgae digging there and keep her mind active trying to find the treats.

What I would do with the digging is distract her with something else.

In a nice hapy voice call her to come to you and do a little training like sitting or what ever you are working on, just for a felt seconds, distract her from the obsession. Each time she goes back to it do it again, get her away from the tiles.

But I am not a dog trainer and can only tell you what I would do with mine.

Someone else might have a better idea

Edited February 26, 2010 by Wolfsong

[keroppiyo]

I think something you should try with Buffy is some basic obediance around the house, nothing formal, just keep that clever brain working.

Yep, I do that every now and then, but I'll probably make it a daily thing now.

As for toys, something I have noticed Samoyeds love are Nyla bones.

Also mine are not allowed to dig, I don't need a moon landing look for the backyard.

They have been given a clam shell pool with water and sand which they can use.

What I would do with the digging is distract her with something else.

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

[persephone]

Ok- instead of just giving her pats/cuddles.. why don't you ONLY pat her when she does something wonderful, like sit,lie down, bring you a toy/go to her bed...not jump up,ask permission before getting on furniture....

that way, she is always wondering what next to do to gain her reward, and she is earning her pats/cuddles.

The idea of burying toys/treats in her clam shell is a good one

[Bjelkier]

We just fill the pool up again, no biggie.

The water is really good, the dig like crazy, water the grass for us and its easy to refill.

The training is good, definatly keep that up. She is in the naughty teenage stage, in fact having another look she is a month younger then my little girl Alchemy, this is a tough time with pups, they are stuck in the middle of puppy and adulthood, hormons are doing all manner of silly things and their brains seem to go out the window. Keep up the training and when she settles down again you will hopefully have a lovely dog on your hands.

The dogs can destroy the kongs just as easily as the Nyla bones.

It will end up with chew marks, ours all have, its when the dog is biting of great big hunks that is an issue. I have also found that if you get the cheaper non brand name ones they don't last nearly as long, Nyla is the best I have found.

I wouldn't use food either.

If she dosn't listen go and get her, physically remove her from the area.

A dog we had years ago has allergies and would scratch like crazy, we sorted out the itches but it became an OCD behaviour.

Every time she would scratch we would distract her from it, eventually all we had to do was say her name and she would stop, in the end she stopped totally.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Wolfsong

[corvus]

Kivi is a Lapphund, so another northern spitz breed. He tries to dig up a little bed pretty much every time he is preparing to lie down and snooze for a while, no matter where he is. I find it fascinating. It's obviously a compulsive thing. He just digs a few times with his paw before he lies down. I used to try to give him blankets to "dig" up, but he's so not interested. He likes to lie on the ground, so that's what he digs at. He's not stupid, but he also doesn't ever seem to think about what he's doing.

He has dug out some impressive beds in the backyard. He only does that when he's bored or has excess energy to spend, though. But digging before he lies down for a snooze happens no matter how buggered he or content he is.

[Cosmolo]

I think it would be preferable to see a trainer soonish, given there are a few problems involved and also to show you some different ways to stimulate Buffy. Perhaps also have a look at the tricks forum on here (top of Training forum) to give you some ideas for tricks and fun things you can do with Buffy in the evenings to truly work her brain.

It could be digging a 'bed', it could be OCD- given the difference in severity of these two things i would be hesitant to let it go on for much longer.

[megan_]

I suggest seeing a trainer too. Try getting one that has a lot of options for stimulating her mind (clicker training comes to mind). You don't need to teach her serious, formal stuff either. I do a bit of shaping with the clicker every day just to get my dogs to use their brains. They love it ans i don't have a particular trining goal in mind - it is just for fun.

Try searching 'Shirley Chong" on this forum to get you started - she has a free download that many find useful for introducing the clicker.

Other ideas for using her mind:

* Try going for walks at different locations and different times. Two small walks are better than one longer one. 1/2 an hour a day isn't enough in terms of mental stimulation. Think of it this way: she is spending 23.5 hours a day seeing exactly the same thing. If we had to live that way we'd go mad. Try taking her out every night, even if it is only for 10 mins. Walk a bit, then throw in a bit of training. Walk some more. Play a game of tug etc. Try taking her to some interesting locations. Mine love the Royal Botanical Gardens and the beach.

* Do some training at home. It doesn't have to be for long (a few minutes is a good idea). You can use the clicker or other methods. This is where a 1:1 session witha trainer really helps. Alternatively, look at some of the early posts in the "tricks" section of this forum - they provide a few methods of trick training. Look at YouTube too - they often have instructional videos on how to teach your dog something. Targeting (touching your hand/an object with her nose/paw) is a really easy thing to teach and mine love it. I always get mine to target my hand with their nose before getting a pat.

* Make her work for her food and, providing she is okay with a changing diet, change things up a little. Does she get raw, meaty bones to chew? This can keep them entertained for a while. Throw in some kongs, a treat ball etc and her life will become more interesting.

[keroppiyo]

Kivi is a Lapphund, so another northern spitz breed. He tries to dig up a little bed pretty much every time he is preparing to lie down and snooze for a while, no matter where he is.

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

[keroppiyo]

I suggest seeing a trainer too. Try getting one that has a lot of options for stimulating her mind (clicker training comes to mind).

* Make her work for her food and, providing she is okay with a changing diet, change things up a little. Does she get raw, meaty bones to chew? This can keep them entertained for a while. Throw in some kongs, a treat ball etc and her life will become more interesting.

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

[pip1981]

When I first noticed your topic, I was going to say, not the worry, it's a breed thing, as Dakota does this too. However, she only does it occasionally and it is before 'bedding' down on the tiles, just like Kivi Tarro, and it is cute.

So, when you said Buffy does it in a frantic kind of manner and for quite a while, I changed my mind. This reminds me more of when Dakota was locked in the bathroom as a young pup, thinking we were doing the right thing... Dakota spent hours on end trying to dig her way through the tiles, and ended up splitting her little paw pads and making a big horrible mess of herself It was a case of extreme separation anxiety, we thought we were doing the right thing to ignore her cries that first night, but we had no idea just how afraid she was.

Obviously it's not the same story with Buffy, as it doesn't happen when she is isolated, but it could definitely still be some form of anxiety or boredom, as most have suggested. The idea to make her work harder for everything is fantastic, if she's anything like my girl, she needs to use her brain more!

Having said all of that, age is most likely playing a big part too, we found Dakota grew out of a lot of bad habits at about 12 months of age all by herself, like a light bulb turned on overnight. Maybe you have that to look forward to

[TerraNik]

When I first noticed your topic, I was going to say, not the worry, it's a breed thing, as Dakota does this too. However, she only does it occasionally and it is before 'bedding' down on the tiles, just like Kivi Tarro, and it is cute.

My Keeshond and Lapphund both do this, too. But again, it's only right before they lie down for a nap.

I don't have anything to add other than that - you've received some good advice already.

[Bjelkier]

Hows Buffy doing at the moment?

[keroppiyo]

Hows Buffy doing at the moment?

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.

[Bjelkier]

Hows Buffy doing at the moment?

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.

[keroppiyo]

Hows Buffy doing at the moment?

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...