Jumping
by Bentley
on 1/19/2010 at 4:32 AM
in Training
I have been having a big problem with Bentley, He is now 6 months old, his dad was a Rotti & mom a Husky
He just cannot stop digging up my yard
He has destroyed 2 fountains already.
The yard is beautifully landscaped but by the time I get home in the afternoon he has dug up holes all over the garden.
He digs in the flower gardens, next to the pool & any corner he can find. I fill the holes up once I get home but by the morning he has dug it up again.
I am caught in a situation where I don't know what to do. He is even digging & exposing electrical cables.
I have spent a fortune landscaping the yard & he is destroying it & I am also afraid if he chews into the casing & bits an electrical cable.
Please help someone
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I take it from your comments that Bentley is left alone in the yard while you are away and at night. Unfortunately, digging is a natural dog behavior. In fact many of the breeds were created to dig and burrow to help humans. That being said you have little hope teaching him not to dig if he is left in the yard unsupervised for that many hours a day. He is bored and so he digs to entertain himself. When you have a digging problem the best thing you can do is create a safe area for them to dig. Many people buy a child's sandbox and bury some of the dog's toys in the sand so they learn to dig there and discover safe toys to play with and not electrical cords and other dangerous items.
This might very well help in your case but it is going to be very difficult to teach him the proper place to dig if he is always left in the yard unsupervised. I would suggest getting him a crate and working on crate-training him so he can be in there during the day and at night at least until you have taught him the right and wrong places to dig. If done properly crates become like the dog's own bedroom within your house. My dog loves his crate and many times I will find him in there sleeping during the day on his own free-will. When getting rid of such behaviors in dogs it is very important to set them up for success and not let them have the opportunity to perform the undesired behavior (ie: digging). If they are left to continue the behavior it will become like second-nature to them and become harder to break.
My suggestions would be to get him a sandbox or build a safe place in the yard for him to dig. Teach him that that is a safe place to dig by burying some toys for him and praising him when he does dig there. Crate him for now when you cannot watch him directly. When you are able to watch him sit out in the yard with him and if starts to dig in the wrong location take him over to his sandbox and praise him for digging there. It won't happen overnight but you should be able to help him learn to stop digging up your yard.
Hope this helps and Best of Luck!
sands904
on 1/19/2010 at 6:58 AM
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My 10 month old is chewing alot and digging some. We grow hot peppers and I plan on taking some of the dried ones I have saved over the winter and crushing them up then sprinkling them out by my cable wires as he has dug the ground in at area.
Hope it works as spring arrives, my flowers will be history when he sees them growing and blooming.
Maybe cheap washing powder sprinkled will help.
I have gone to sites with "natural" ingrediants you could use for different things such as insects. Powdered laundry detergent might help or vinegar. Check out those type of sites and good luck
stffrdd2
on 1/24/2010 at 11:43 PM
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