Stop the digging...

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

Hi! So my little puppy is a digger! Her first response to getting something out of reach is to dig for it. Through the couch, through the glass of the tv stand, through the pine straw (thus further upsetting the mosquito nests...(The exterminator is coming sometime next week).) First of all, is it necessary for pups to dig like it is necessary for them to chew? If it's not necessary, how do I nip it in the bud? And if it is, how do I direct it to positive digging? The thing is, she is a little baby puppy now. Her digging in he side yard will do no harm NOW, but when she's a 90ish pound dog, well, that's another story. I'm afraid her collar will get caught in the fence or that she'll get lost or that she'll accidentally dig up something that shouldn't have been dug up. (Like those bodies I buried a few years back...) I would appreciate any suggestions. =0)

Also, as long as I'm writing...my puppy is awfully timid around other people. And it seems to be getting worse. Granted, she's only been with me a few days, but before she would only back away and hide when there were strangers. Now she panick-pees and shakes around new people. I don't think that's normal. She won't take treats. And I don't want this to get worse. Any suggestions?

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

She won't take treats from other people, that is. She loves them when I am alone with her.

[Amanda and Wheatley]

Maddens a digger too! Just started yesterday. She went fomr being extremely well mannered to being a terror. Dig, chew, bite, rip,and basically get a hold of anything/ everything possible. At least she's pretty much potty trained all ready but she ripped up my 50 dollar sandels this afternoon. Grr oh well my fault. Sorry I don't have an answer to your question, I just thought I'd tell you tha( her sister is doing that same thing! However, she lovesss people, she's not timid at all so I wonder why angel is??

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

We finally allowed Lucca the "run of the house" at around 6 months. From that point on all the garbage cans in the bathrooms are up on the toilets (he loves kleenex). I left my sandals on the floor for the first time in ages and he chewed on one ($100 error). As you say...oh well. my fault. It will never happen again. They train US!!! Good luck. They're worth it!!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Your puppy is adorable. I assume her name is Angel? As to digging...Lucca loves to dig also. I haven't discouraged it this go round but with our Golden Retriever we had we buried her poo in her digging area. She stopped digging. They say they won't dig where they poo. It's worth a try. We put chicken wire along the bottom of the fence. I was concerned he would dig his way out. He hasn't!! And to answer your question as to is it necessary to dig...absolutely NOT!!! It's just fun! A little story...we had buried pet rats in shoe boxes in our yard. 2 years later our Golden Retriever dug up the boxes and ate the rats!!! It was disgusting but she survived and my vet had a good laugh because I was panicked that she was going to get horribly sick.
Just make sure she gets around as many people as you can. They don't have to pay attention to her. She just has to get used to being around them. When she feels comfortable then have them give her a treat and pet her. I've been doing that with our mailman. Find something she likes..cheese, liver treats?
When Lucca is/was scared of something (he is 9 months now) I touch the object and say "touch it". It really works. They feel safer to go up to it and smell it. It worked with the vacuum and the dishwasher. Today was my daughter's birthday and we had metallic balloons. He kept barking at them. I had him touch them with his nose and he was much better.
Good luck. It takes alot of time and patience. They are just "babies"!!!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri is doing the same thing - we try to watch her when she is outside at all times and have been saying "Leave It" in a really stern voice. We are doing that for her chewing also. She is starting to back off when we say that. I will be curious to see what others say because I need help also! Peri can be such a crazy girl, but then can be so good.
And I don't know how to respond to the socialization part of your problem. Peri has no issue with that. I think the only advice I would give you is to not make a big deal out of meeting new people and don't coddle her too much when she backs away. I was watching the Dog Whisperer the other day and they were explaining how our feelings and attitude affect the dog much more than their actual feelings. What I am saying is, she probably picks up on you being nervous and worried about her reaction toward new people.

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

I am an avid Dog Whisperer fan, so I've been making sure that I am relaxed when I take her to meet new people. Though I probably do pet her too much at inappropriate times. It's something I'm working on, but as for my feelings, I am calm when she meets people.

But his philosophy for walking on a leash is fantastic. Angel is already walks really well on a leash, And the bitter apple does fairly well, too, to stop her using it as a chew toy.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It is a great show!!! I am obsessed. Angel is so cute - aren't these pups the best?

[03pilqobzlvp7]

I don't know about the digging, but I would be very aware of your behavior around other people, like you said. You might get a friend to come over and just sit on the floor (with treats) with your while she investigates and then praise her when she goes up to him/her. I wouldn't be too concerned at this point, since she is a little one. They typically go through a phase between 8-10 weeks of being afraid...called the "fear stage," go figure. It might come up again around 12 weeks. Duff followed these stages perfectly and came out of them quickly. He is now in the difiant "I don't want to listen to you phase."

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

I think Angel is DEFINITELY in her fear stage. She seems to take one step forward and 3 back when it comes to fearlessness. For example, I left in her crate before for a 10-15 minute time period yesterday and came back with treats and praise. Today, I went up the stairs to the bathroom to get the Fabreeze. She was sleeping when I left, and when I came back 2 minutes later she had terror-peed and was howling.

Thank God I have the summer to get her socialized and house trained. I don't know how other people do it!

[Melissa & Porter]

Can't help you much on the digging because I let my puppy have two dig spots in the yard. The places that I disagree with, I shooed him away from--I was worried about the health of the particular shrubs if he exposed too much of the roots. He is allowed to dig under a couple bushes to make cool-dirt shady spot. It makes sense and isn't boredom digging.

As for the timidity, I am getting a lot of experience with it. Porter was the last dog to go in his litter--because of his fearfulness and size (large). Luckily, he was with his canine parents, an aunt, and an alpha brother until 14 weeks, so he got a lot of dog socialization. I totally recommend that you seek calm predictable dogs to play with Angel asap and as much as possible. I think that a dog is more likely to trust another dog's statement of "This is fine, relax already."

Porter's guardian home had two teen boys, which helped on the people front too. But Porter did puke from nerves a few times after I let too many people near him at once. But overall, Porter is eager to meet people and other dogs--thank God. I started him in a puppy class asap to help with this too.

Nonetheless, he did quite a bit of submissive urination the first month he was with us, and had the potential to be a fearful mess (some of his fears were: reflections, basement stairs, cars, rumbling trucks, thunder, aggressive dogs behind fences...etc.). These things all set him trembling and hunkering down unwilling to move. Strangely enough, he loves construction work and contractors. I keep meaning to email his guardian family and ask if they were in this type of business because Porter almost seems to be looking for someone when we walk past a house with work being done on it.

I think the biggest thing that has helped him improve rather than get worse: I never felt sorry for him (more Cesar advice). Why? Well, he arrived as a 25 pound, somewhat stinky, extra hairy, food-stealer--not an itty bitty babydog. In retrospect, this was a blessing. Had I had him smaller and younger, I likely would have coddled him. Try to see Angel as a potentially dangerous animal ;-) I have to smile because she is so ridiculously cute. My 3-yr old would still have been afraid of her six months ago though.

To help with the submissive urination, I brought Porter outside to pee about every 1.5 hours during the day--even though he was able to go at night from 7 pm to 6 am--I wanted him as empty as possible all day long. That way when he met a big, deep-voiced man, he would piddle less. (I treated him and used cue words with every outdoor pee and poop for over a month so I could get him to produce even if he wasn't in the mood.)

The breeder warned me of his issues and advised "man-dog diapers" for him. Basically, these are like the neck part of turtlenecks and go around the dogs belly to catch the submissive urination. I never used them because we got this under control pretty quickly. Nowadays (almost 7 months old), he pees at the groomer (2x), but has not sprinkled on a person's feet in long time.

He is still afraid of certain streets near my house and has to be jogged into my car on a short leash. When we had thunder storms, my husband and I did NOTHING. We didn't change our behavior at all. Porter stays awake through them, but is alert--not scared. We put liver treats on the basement stairs. We walk on busy streets every day with a big alpha stroller to protect him...lol. I have covered a few mirrors--lazy I know. I did "claim" the fireplace reflection though and mostly he ignores it. My husband makes him sit near the aggressive dogs until both sides get bored (Dog Whisperer-style) but I admit that I am too embarrassed to "cause" these dogs to bark for so long so I just try to walk past without changing my mood. Once, I had to turn around because I could not make Porter walk past one set of dogs--so bad, I know.

Anyway, if you have any questions or want to share ideas, let me know. Porter is in his second fear stage now, I think. oh yay ;-}

Oh, I have to add that there are some pluses to having a submissive dog. Porter is gentle and pretty obedient (for a puppy). He won all the contests in puppy kindergarten and was picked to play with a 2 lb Yorkie "to show how a large dog can play well with a small one." He also does very well off leash which is partially training (we work on recall A LOT, but also I bet due to his timid nature. When we hike in the woods, he checks in constantly and does not stray more than 20 feet from me.