Training not to dig?

[Stephanie Sullivan]

Our little Mossy is 10 weeks old and has recently started to dig in the back yard. She is currently only allowed to go out with us and supervised, but any chance she gets she tries to dig. If she doesn't has time to dig, which is usually the case, she will rip pieces of the sod. The problem is that I worry she will dig out of the fence. I would like her to eventually be able to be back there without digging through the fence. Anyway to train this? Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!

Stephanie and Mossy

[Katie Ternes]

I'd say that you just want to monitor her closely and when she starts to dig, give her a stern correction, and then try to distract her with something she CAN play with! Maybe throw a ball or frisbee or something like that?

[Brenda Updike]

Hi, I am going through the same thing with both my girls and they are only 8 weeks, they are grabbing anything and everything, dirt ,leaves , sticks, grass, my plants all I do is run after them and get stuff out of their mouths. I think I am going to have my hubby make me a fenced in area for them to go in ,I don't know what else to do telling them no has no effect on them!

[Julie and Max]

I have been doing some reading on this, and I have read some dogs can easily be trained with leave it as they get older, but others love to dig. If the dog can be trained great, and I have read that if they just love to dig it's best to give them a "safe" dig spot. A friend of mine got a child's pool and filled it with sand and dirt and lets his dog dig there, and the dog has learned that this is the "okay" spot to dig. I have a digger too, but everything has been frozen so I haven't had to worry much about it. I think I am going to try the safe dig spot as everything thaws. 

[Katie Ternes]

I love this idea! What kind of dirt did she use?

[Susan and Bentley]

we have the same issue.  Bentley is almost a year old and he loves to dig.  He has ruined he sod in our backyard - my husband is not happy.  We can distract him but not before he rips out a huge chunk of grass.  Very frustrating!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We had to get a new fence and we had the builder put a cement footing under it. Two things suggested to us  if the dog digs in the same place - 1) put poop in and cover it up and they won't want to dig there; 2) put a blown up balloon in the hole just under the surface so that when the dog digs, the balloon will pop which discourages digging there again.

[Julie and Max]

Nancy what a great idea with the balloon!

[Susan and Bentley]

Nancy, only problem is he digs all over?

[Kelly & Zoe]

I have no advice, just sympathy :-D  We have gophers (or moles or voles) that dig under our grass and Zoe *cannot* resist digging into those holes - she gets this frenzied digging thing going on (smell?).  We've tried a bunch of methods, and correct her when we see her doing it, but since we give her free access to the backyard when we're away (she's 10 months now), we've basically just resigned ourselves to having holes in our yard until she grows out of it.  Which, I understand my be never ;-)

RE: bark, rocks, trees, twigs- yeah, all of that has been chewed upon by Zoe although she's never ingested (or if she has been sick from) those objects. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Some solutions I've read about: 1) designating a dig spot. Sort of like a sand box for dogs. 2). Put a balloon in a hole he has begun to dig and cover. When he starts digging again, the ballon pops and scares him 3) filling the holes with his poop and covering.

Not sure if any of them will work, as I don't have a digger.
For small pups, supervision, and l" leave it" command are paramount.

[Susan and Bentley]

I will try all of those recommendations, problem is, I think he'll just move onto another spot.  I also don't see how i can put a balloon - he's just pulling up chunks of grass, not deep enough for a balloon.  Someone told me it's the golden retriever in them.  BUT - he ONLY does this in my backyard - no where else!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

LOL..honestly, I think it is the " dog" in him! I raised and bred Goldens for years and never had a digger. Some dogs just have that urge! Enzo never digs here...but we take her to the beCh and once her paws hit the sand...she goes berserk! If we sit...she can dig a hole 2 ft deep in a very short span. But this the only place she has ever dug.

You may want to try and google digging and see what comes up!