We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard offers
plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?

Les

les said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't
worked yet?

With the one digger I had, I encouraged her to dig in a mutually
agreeable area.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

les wrote:
We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard offers
plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?

Les



I seem to recall reading it helps to mix up a portion of the dirt with
sand (for easy digging), and distribute chew toys through various layers
of the 'allowed digging area' (the sandbox, basically) so the dog is
rewarded for digging there, instead of elsewhere. Make sure some of the
toys stick out of the ground, so the dog has a hint to start there.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:39:05 -0500, "les" wrote:

We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard offers
plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?


Digging is FUN. It's great exercise. Moles, voles, all sorts of
things may intrigue a dog to dig.

Apparently, 15 minutes is as long as it takes for your dog to be bored
by the fun rabbits, squirrels, etc (they leave pretty quickly and then
there's nothing to play with!). I can't think of why I'd need my dogs
to be outside for 15 minutes without supervision, but one would get
really bored and bark to come in, the other would just hang out -
different dogs.

You can teach an approved digging spot, but that means you need to be
out there and training. General obedience training is a good idea as
well.


--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

Generally, I work at home, so if the weather is nice the dogs are outside.
The fenced in yard encompasses the shop and back of the house, so they are
not isolated. At the back door to my shop, I have a baby gate, and they
love to hang out there. If I'm in the house, they lie on the back porch of
the house. I have, on occasion, left the back door of the house open so
they could have free run...in or out. They literally lay on the threshold.
1/2 in and 1/2 out. I don't leave them outside when I'm not home...maybe if
I run to the store for a quick pick up, mostly because the husband insists
it's ok, but *I* really don't like them human unattended. I am doing
carpentry and design renovations as a sideline business now, so when I have
to leave for the bigger part of the day, I have a friend who comes about mid
afternoon, and lets them out to stretch and pee, etc. That's a tremendous
service...
Perry

"diddy" wrote in message
...
in thread : Janet B
whittled the following words:

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:39:05 -0500, "les" wrote:

We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard
offers plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?


Digging is FUN. It's great exercise. Moles, voles, all sorts of
things may intrigue a dog to dig.

Apparently, 15 minutes is as long as it takes for your dog to be bored
by the fun rabbits, squirrels, etc (they leave pretty quickly and then
there's nothing to play with!). I can't think of why I'd need my dogs
to be outside for 15 minutes without supervision, but one would get
really bored and bark to come in, the other would just hang out -
different dogs.

I can. It was a gorgeous day outside yesterday. I left the kitchen door
open so the dogs could come and go as they pleased while I did some
painting. (Helps to fumigate paint fumes too)
The two elkhounds spent most of the day playing/wrestling and generally
sniffing around. They spent time basking in the sun. Had I forced them to
be with me, they would have been sitting on the floor with me. I feel
their unsupervised voluntary outside time was far more beneficial to them
than being forced to mommy sit while i tried to keep them out of the
paint.. JMO
You can teach an approved digging spot, but that means you need to be
out there and training. General obedience training is a good idea as
well.

Oh yeah, on topic..digging...the little wenches love to dig. And they love
to dig....did I mention that they love to dig?
Perry
"Perry Templeton" wrote in message
. ..
Generally, I work at home, so if the weather is nice the dogs are outside.
The fenced in yard encompasses the shop and back of the house, so they are
not isolated. At the back door to my shop, I have a baby gate, and they
love to hang out there. If I'm in the house, they lie on the back porch
of the house. I have, on occasion, left the back door of the house open
so they could have free run...in or out. They literally lay on the
threshold. 1/2 in and 1/2 out. I don't leave them outside when I'm not
home...maybe if I run to the store for a quick pick up, mostly because the
husband insists it's ok, but *I* really don't like them human unattended.
I am doing carpentry and design renovations as a sideline business now, so
when I have to leave for the bigger part of the day, I have a friend who
comes about mid afternoon, and lets them out to stretch and pee, etc.
That's a tremendous service...
Perry

"diddy" wrote in message
...
in thread : Janet B
whittled the following words:

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:39:05 -0500, "les" wrote:

We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard
offers plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?


Digging is FUN. It's great exercise. Moles, voles, all sorts of
things may intrigue a dog to dig.

Apparently, 15 minutes is as long as it takes for your dog to be bored
by the fun rabbits, squirrels, etc (they leave pretty quickly and then
there's nothing to play with!). I can't think of why I'd need my dogs
to be outside for 15 minutes without supervision, but one would get
really bored and bark to come in, the other would just hang out -
different dogs.

I can. It was a gorgeous day outside yesterday. I left the kitchen door
open so the dogs could come and go as they pleased while I did some
painting. (Helps to fumigate paint fumes too)
The two elkhounds spent most of the day playing/wrestling and generally
sniffing around. They spent time basking in the sun. Had I forced them
to
be with me, they would have been sitting on the floor with me. I feel
their unsupervised voluntary outside time was far more beneficial to them
than being forced to mommy sit while i tried to keep them out of the
paint.. JMO
You can teach an approved digging spot, but that means you need to be
out there and training. General obedience training is a good idea as
well.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:39:05 -0500, "les" wrote:

We got a Mixed Lab from the pound a couple months ago and
it has begun digging in the yard. It takes 15 minute breaks out
there so it's not a matter of long boring excursions (our fenced yard offers
plenty of entertainment besides...rabbits, squirels, etc.)
I've tried watching from a window to correct him immediately, but
of course it NEVER happens while I'm on duty.

What drives them to this behavior?
Any way to stop this besides babysitting him, which hasn't worked
yet?

Les


Our Lab/Golden Mix will dig occasionally. Sometimes, I think it is
due to needing more exercise. She doesn't seem to dig as much when we
are more active with her. Other times, she is digging up pecans
buried by the squirrels. Fortunately, they are shallow.

I stopped her from increasing the size of one deep (7") hole by
placing a bit of her poop in it.

Good Luck.

Don S

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:19:08 -0500, diddy
wrote:

I wrote:
I can't think of why I'd need my dogs
to be outside for 15 minutes without supervision, but one would get
really bored and bark to come in, the other would just hang out -
different dogs.

Diddy:
I can. It was a gorgeous day outside yesterday. I left the kitchen door
open so the dogs could come and go as they pleased while I did some
painting. (Helps to fumigate paint fumes too)
The two elkhounds spent most of the day playing/wrestling and generally
sniffing around. They spent time basking in the sun. Had I forced them to
be with me, they would have been sitting on the floor with me. I feel
their unsupervised voluntary outside time was far more beneficial to them
than being forced to mommy sit while i tried to keep them out of the
paint.. JMO


Am I speaking greek or something? What part of *I don't need* is not
understood? I'm not FORCING my dogs to be inside - if the door is
left wide open, Lucy would be inside anyway. Franklin in and out,
which is fine with me, or fine if he stays out as well. Not MY need.
That's all my statement said.

I don't do painting with fumes - bad for me as well as the dogs!



--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

Me again...the original poster of Q...........
The freedom of running around in the yard is wonderful to him. He plays
with his toys, and animals abound in the thickets. He never barks, so he's
not a nuisance. (in fact I wish he's bark once as a normal territorial dog)

My dog has done basic obedience, and I'm sad to say is not up to the same
par as my old beloved dog who mastered basic, advanced obedience,
obstacle course training, and protection work. I'm, needless to say, quite
disappointed by my new one-year old who has a completely new set of
bad behaviors I never had to deal with before. ( Yes, I know, some will say
this is normal behavior and any dog who doesn't act like this is ABnormal.)

But, I think a canine behaviorist can rationalize an alternative behavior.
The idea
of channeling him into a "sandbox" is along the lines of what I would
expect.
IMO, it probably makes sense, but I still wonder if rechanneling is as
healthy
as extinguishing the behavior. Afterall, I would still be encouraging
something I really
don't want him to do !! And that's assuming he understands one spot is okay,
and another is not. After working with him in classes, he doesn't seem as
sharp
as my previous dog. This makes me wonder if anything I do will make an
imprint
on him. I think some of his history I have to overcome is his abusive past.
(someone hacked his tail off.....a home-docking job ??)
I found him at a Humane Pound, and he was a stray. He had 3 types of
intestinal
worms, and was a skeleton. He has found a good loving home, but this digging
is
about to drive my wife nuts in regard to her garden.
So that's the scenario. I want to keep everyone happy and sane.
I'm still trolling for ideas. Thanks.

Dr. B.