how do you keep a dog from...

[sma]

digging up everything in your yard! >:(
we have 2 dogs. sadie is a rottweiler (american, so she's the smaller kind) and is about 9 years old. pooky is a boxer mix (maybe hound but we're not sure) and is about 3 years old. they won't stop digging!
they always have plenty of water and food, they have sticks, dog bones, and tennis balls to play with/ chew up, lots of treats, they both have a huge place to run, nice dog houses, and plenty of shady spots to stay cool. yet they still dig! we can't figure it out! we put up this cheap fencing, about 2 ft high, and that deterred them for awhile from digging around the roses and jumping on the cellar door but they finally jumped it and started digging. they got in trouble by my dh and now they dig around the outside of the fence. they also dug a hole in the middle of the yard! we don't have moles either so i don't know why they're doing it.
anyway, dh is frustrated and we don't know what to do. i can't have a garden next year if they're going to dig it up.
any suggestions? HELP!

[Faye]

My daughter had one that dug up the ground especially around her porch. They dig down to cool soil and lay down in it to cool off. You can buy stuff to put out that is supposed to keep dogs off. I used it for keeping them off patio furniture. It was a spray but it also comes in granules I believe. Sorry I can't be more help.

[Rama_das]

mine digs to keep cool, husky though. . .

could they be hiding their bones, balls, and other toys? my other dog will hide things. ( a raw hide in the toilet once >:( 75$ for a plumber to cut the toilet off the bolts on a holiday sunday. . .) maybe they have too many toys out there???

[nancy1340]

Breaking a dog from digging is almost as hard as breaking one from killing chickens.

If it's from the heat you could try a kiddie wading pool for them to play in.

I would suggest you get in touch with a good dog trainer and ask them what they would recommend.

[hillbilly_mom]

We have a black lab that digs. The other two dogs on the place don't dig. We think he is hot, because he always digs down to cooler dirt. I like the idea of the kiddie pool. But for some reason, this lab doesn't like water. ::) If we take him to the creek to cool him off he runs for the house.

[sma]

thanks for the replies...
before, we thought it was the heat cause where we used to live there weren't many shady spots. but where we're at now there are these giant bushes that stay shady all the time. they've dug little places under those to lay in (we didn't care since that's where their dog houses are and we figured that was their area) but where they are digging now is out in the sunny areas. i don't ever see them laying in those spots. and they aren't burying anything, they just dig holes.
sigh... we could try a kiddie pool, but pooky will probably just chew it up. still, it would be worth a try...

[ozarkinit]

Instead of trying to stop them from digging, pick a spot with the same conditions, and teach them to dig only there. Make a wood, or string square, or use paint, and teach them there. bury treats for them to find, for example.

[rideaway]

My sister's chocolate lab, who basically lives w/ us, because we show him attention, digs when he is upset with us, ie everyone leaves him alone (my mom and sister live in houses right next to ours)and he will dig holes in our barn or in the orchard as punishment if we all go somewhere. *He started this two years ago, and he's 9 now, so I don't think we can break him. *I scold him and he knows he's in trouble...I've heard that cayenne pepper sprinkled where they are digging might help. *Hit the "Dollar" store and stock up.

[jajbellsouthnet]

I have found that mothballs will keep a dog away from just about any place where you don't want them to be. Works better than cayene pepper dust, believe it or not!

[Pigzzilla]

When our black lab was a pup, he was a digger. He dug up my blackberry vines and ate them. He had holes everywhere but his favorite place to dig was right outside my bedroom, along the foundation. I thought he was trying to dig under the house. He had some pretty big pits going by the time I had a bright idea. DOG- POOP !! I started filling in the pits with the dirt he removed and I tossed in some poop. He did not dig that spot again, so from then on I put poop in the bottom of the pit and then dirt on top. He quit digging after about 2 weeks. I guess I took all the fun out of it. We lost him just recently, he managed to live almost 13 years.

[leera]

My dog used to dig,but I guess he outgrew it or something,because he doesn't do it anymore.

But whenever I saw him digging,I'd yell"NO",and he'd stop..........maybe he just got tired of getting yelled at...........but if he was persistant,then I would get the water pistol out and shoot him with some water.......he got the idea,or like I said maybe he just outgrew it.

[daphodil]

My dog did this a LOT his first couple years and now not as much so,

but if your dog is nine and doing this, it must be a bad habit and will be hard to break now.

I like the suggestion of burying things that smell bad like moth balls and doo doo where you don't want them to dig and neat toys and bones where it would be okay.

Do you have his claws trimmed regularly? That might help a little.

I have heard of putting wire mesh down a few inches around plants and cover with soil to deter cats from digging, but don't know if it would hinder a large dog?

Good luck! I know it can be frustrating because you can't keep your doggy entertained all the time. It's probably a matter of him really liking to dig and not being caught in the act enough to be yelled at and make the connection that it displeases you.

[MYellowRose]

My vet suggests burying some of his poop where he digs and says that will usually stop them.

[edward_4576]

One of our dogs would want to get out of the backyard and would try and dig under the fence. We tried to stake the fence down but to no avail. We put garden edgers across the bottom of the fence but again he would dig under that. I finally stopped him by attaching chicken wire fencing to the fence leaving about two foot sticking out at right angles and saking it to the ground he don't even like to walk on the wire let alone try and dig under it.