My Goldendoodle is pulling up weed block fabric

[Cheryl and Breeze]

My golden doodle, Breeze, is 8 months old.  She is very obedient in the house and hardly ever bothers anything and only chews toys.  But outside in our backyard, it is a different story!  She has been sniffing around and keeps digging in the rocks to find weed block fabric.  She then pulls it up with her teeth and then rips it out!

It is very frustrating to me because she will not drop it, even if I use a very stern voice.  She thinks it is a game if I try and chase her with it and there is no way I can catch her anyway! 

 I am afraid she will swallow some of this fibrous material that could be very harmful.  We have lots of rocks with underlying weed block all over our back yard.  Any suggestions?

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Here's a link on DK in the Doodle Whisperers group about Cayenne Pepper and balloons: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/doodlewhisperers/forum/topics/cay...

Hope it helps.

[Cheryl and Breeze]

Thanks for your suggestion! I have used cayenne pepper in some spots and it seems to help. I need to get a giant container of it to cover more area.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Oh, no...a giant container:)?

[Max, Sunny Girl and Jeanine]

Not sure how much time you have -- but you might try to shake a can filled with something that makes a lot of noise when she starts to pull out the weed cloth. Keep the can behind your back and make a loud noise to get her attention. I am working on this with Max who is 9 months old and has decided to start digging up all my plants that he had left alone all summer. A little success noted - also a game to him! good luck to both of us.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Hmmm. I don't know how she can SMELL the weed block fabric. My guess is that she might smell some small animal under the week block (gopher?) and then starts to dig and finds the edge of the weed block fabric and thinks it makes a great tug of war game. I would cut off the fabric when it becomes visible and just tell her no. Don't get into a chase game with her. She is just looking for something to do outside. Play fetch or tug of war with something you want her to play with and hope she gets over the fascination with the weed block fabric. Our puppy liked to dig around the oak tree on the deck and would dig out the bricks. (Look at the photos on my page.) That is pretty much over now and he is on to biggger and better things.