Helping too much

[DaveS]

Hi All

It's been a while since I have posted. We are fortunate that our 20 month old male is a great dog. He is great with kids, other animals and people. Here is my problem. Kazi loves to help me. He follows me around from the time I get home from work and all weekend. I enjoy having him around and include him in my projects. The bad part is, Kazi usually ends up undoing many of my projects. For example. I recently put a drip irrigation system in my back yard. Kazi hung out with me the whole time and "helped". In less than three weeks he has gone back and dug up or ripped out the majority of the drip lines. The first time I saw the lines he dug up and scolded him I could tell by the look on his face that he had no clue why I was mad. I guess he figures why not help some more.... He has done the same thing with plants in the garden ect. He will hang out with us and watch us plant something or fix something and promptly remove it the next day or so. Existing plants or items that were here when we got him are NEVER touched. We get along so well other than this. I'm at a loss on what to do. I don't want him to stay in the house while I'm outside. Thats not why we got him.

Any advice is welcome

[Anne]

I've never had an irrigation system that has withstood the test of time with my dogs either. I gave up and now hand water with the hose.

As for the plants, the only thing I can suggest is to fence of the area with the new plants. Kazi is doing what dogs do. Nothing unusual about them loving to dig around freshly dug soil.

[TrinaJ]

The reason he looked like he had no idea why you were scolding him was because it happened 'after' the incident. Unless you catch him in the act you cant scold him and if you do catch him it must be an immediate response from you.

My only suggestion would be only allowing him outside under your supervision, that way you can keep an eye on him and tell him 'NO' if he goes near it or attempts to undo what you've done.

With regard to the plants, i agree with Anne, fence them off so he cant touch them.

He sounds like a lovely boy who enjoys spending his time with you . I agree with you on keeping him outside when you are outside, just make sure you either keep a very close eye on him, leash him or put him in a run. That way he can still be with you.

Good luck! I hope you get some other advice that can help you.

Trina

[SABELLESMOM]

Create an area, like a sandbox, where he CAN dig. Then re direct him to have his doggy fun in the area so designated. Does he like toys, like durable (made for dogs) rubber footballs with the wiffle ball like holes in it? Maybe he likes a jolly ball? Keep them near his sandbox, and redirect the play using them as well.

[greatdane]

one of my past dogs did this , she never was a digger unless she happened to see me plant something. never did "cure" her , I kept her in the house during the actual digging/planting stage of gardening since it seemed to be tied into her seeing me digging.
hope you are not in the middle of establishing a new garden like I was.

[SABELLESMOM]

Originally Posted by greatdane

... I kept her in the house during the actual digging/planting stage of gardening since it seemed to be tied into her seeing me digging.

It's very likely the smell of fresh dirt was attractive to her, as well as, your theory of her seeing. Fresh dirt, to a dog smells cool and refreshing. That's why some dig holes in summer, to cool off. Some are incorrigable!

A digger will always want to dig, pretty much. You can divert their behavior, if you work at it.

[Xena's Daddy]

Originally Posted by SABELLESMOM

It's very likely the smell of fresh dirt was attractive to her, as well as, your theory of her seeing. Fresh dirt, to a dog smells cool and refreshing. That's why some dig holes in summer, to cool off. Some are incorrigable!

A digger will always want to dig, pretty much. You can divert their behavior, if you work at it.

Ahh.....fresh dirt!! LOL......... Any excavating work I ever did around my house (I've done quite a few projects) always involved my girl digging in the pile, laying on top of it, then when everything was nice & backfilled, she'd lay on top of the work site & not move 'till it was time to go in. She definately LOVES fresh dirt!!

But she never did try to dig up my sprinklers, even though she watched me put the whole system in. And luckilly, she only goes in the garden to 'smell' the flowers! (She really does this!) She never tries to eat them or anything.......just wants a 'sniff'! LOL...........I guess she's just not a digger. (Thankfully!)

Anyway, sorry I don't have any advice. Just thought I'd share Xena's love of fresh dirt with you. I know I was surprised by it when I first realized she liked it so much.

Good Luck,
MK

[moondog]

Is there such a thing as helping too much?

When my son and I put in a walkway in the front of my house, we had to clear 4" of dirt from the path before setting the stones in, so we wound up with a mounded line of dirt on either side about a foot high (how does that happen, anyway, that 4" of dirt when removed becomes a mountain three times as high?). Anyway, after the stones were set and it was time to put some of the dirt back to fill in the spaces between stones, Luna did all the work! We pointed her butt towards the walkway and then moved along, pointing to the mound of dirt and saying "Luna! It's a gopher!!" LOL, she moved right along with us and rototilled all that dirt right back where it belonged, and leveled the rest. It saved us some back breaking shoveling and she had a blast doing it, even though she never found the gopher!

[EmmysMom]

Originally Posted by moondog

Is there such a thing as helping too much?

When my son and I put in a walkway in the front of my house, we had to clear 4" of dirt from the path before setting the stones in, so we wound up with a mounded line of dirt on either side about a foot high (how does that happen, anyway, that 4" of dirt when removed becomes a mountain three times as high?). Anyway, after the stones were set and it was time to put some of the dirt back to fill in the spaces between stones, Luna did all the work! We pointed her butt towards the walkway and then moved along, pointing to the mound of dirt and saying "Luna! It's a gopher!!" LOL, she moved right along with us and rototilled all that dirt right back where it belonged, and leveled the rest. It saved us some back breaking shoveling and she had a blast doing it, even though she never found the gopher!

Now she is my kind of dog!!!

[Shane]

Don't you mean "Rottietilled"? :)