digging

[maxmatusik]

My rott is about 7 months old now and he just started to dig in the back yard. i obiously do not want him to dig up my yard. i not to leave him unattended in the yard for very long at a time. What is the best way to stop him from destroying my yard?

[RottiMomCT]

Don't leave him unattended at all...that's a sure fire way to get him to stop. And when you DO see him begin to dig, STOP HIM.

[boombamax]

My pups are 7 months old too but they have been digging a deep hole in the lawn since they were 5 months old, maybe they want to go to China !!! Our neighbor suggested that we put poop in the hole and cover it back with mud, so next time they dig and find poop, they won't dig again. My pups eat their poop so that won't work for me !! Our backyard is destroyed totally, from 5 palm trees to one left. All the plants and flowers are gone !! The dogs stay with me in the house and sleep outside at night and they still dug a big hole and are able to destroy the yard like that. I feel for you !! We all need help !!!

[RottiMomCT]

Boomba - totally off topic but if I were your pups and outside all night, I'd dig upthe lawn/yard too...its called BOREDOM...bring them inside at night!

To the OP...supervise the dog when outside - if you see him start to dig, sto phim. If you want to allow digging, build a 'digging pit' and train the dog to dig there (it CAN be done!)...

[boombamax]

Rotti-Yes they do sleep outside but so happens that they DO NOT DIG. During the day when they go outside to play or for whatever reason, that's when they dig. I have housework to do, so when i have to vaccuum or clean the house, i have to send them outside because they both bark at the vaccuum. When I look out the slider and find them digging, I immediately go out there and tell them 'NO.' They would stop, actually as soon as i open the slider, they would stop. They don't want to be left unattended and always seek attention, that much I know. I am doing my best with them !! I didn't get puppies just to leave them outside unattended.

[RottiMomCT]

Originally Posted by boombamax

They don't want to be left unattended and always seek attention, that much I know. I am doing my best with them !! I didn't get puppies just to leave them outside unattended.

But they are unattended...outside, at night....without supervision...and they dig, during the day, when outside, unattended.

I have two adult dogs who bark at the vacuum...big deal...they attacked it a few times too...big deal. I know they'll do it so I put them in another room and close the door, or crate them with chew bones to occupy them while I vacuum.

Anyways - if digging when supervised or not supervised, build a digging pit and train them to ONLY dig there...it can be done. When they start to dig where they should not, take them to the spot they CAN dig in...when they dig there, PRAISE them!

[sweetkate]

My dog is a digger..kind of...I don't know if this will help because they may be digging for other reasons, but I let my dogs out to play all the time..a lot of times unattended. They dig because I have big pecan tress out there and they like to dig up old buried pecans they smell underneath the ground. I would let them out and come back and notice a big whole where they found something. But I also noticed they dug where it was moist (like the shrubs that I water) or a really shady spot that stays kind of damp. When I see a hole they have started I fill it back up with dirt and stick a plant stake (that holds a rose bush or shrub up) where the hole was to prevent extra expainsion on the hole. They would always leave that hole alone if there was a stake there. You can pick up the stake a week later and they will leave the old hole alone. I could be wrong...I think mine may just stop because they got their pecan, but you could try it...

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Oscar kept digging in one area of my garden this summer so we just sprinkled it with cayenne pepper. One taste of that and he's never gone back (and yes I made sure he had water waiting. lol!). He digs a tiny bit in our pea gravel under the deck area but I let him get away with it because it's very minimal, makes no mess and takes 2 seconds to straighten back out. He's a dog, dogs like to dig. Have you thought of making a "designated" spot in your yard just for digging?

[PuppyLove]

Designated digging spot. It can be done and it works. Search the past threads.
Supervision and/or secured confinement above all else, if only for the safety of your dog.

[winniecnm]

I watched a show on the discovery channel about a dog that was a really bad digger. The trainer took tin foil and gravel and put them in the holes the dog had already dug before they were filled in thus "boobytrapping" the yard. It worked. Dogs don't like the feel of the foil or the rocks on their feet.

[maxmatusik]

i had heard the same thing about chicken wire

[shromani]

My Dog was digging around the yard untill he found a spot at the farthest corner and does most of his digging there. If he digs else where a bit I'll fill a bucket with some of his poop and water to make a sort of poopsoup. I then go to his "big hole" 3' deep at this point, and a great source of fresh top soil. I scoup some to fill any small holes and then pour the poopsoup all around and throughouly saturate this spot. He doesn't go back. If I don't make his soup then he'll just dig up and toss aside his poop.

Also the fresh top soil mound he created is a great source for the flowerbed