Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 13:01:50 -0400, "tiny dancer"
wrote:

Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?

For the same reason they dig at flooring, bedding, walls, furniture,
grass, dirt, etc.

Because they can.

--
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"tiny dancer" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?

There are plenty of potentials, so more information would be
helpful, like the circumstances immediately before the digging,
or if the digging is a repeated behaviour.

I've seen dogs dig in the house looking to bury a treat,
preparing a spot to lie down, bringing up forgotten food crumbs,
pawing like a bull about to charge, as an invitation to play,
because it just feels good, because they hear something
somewhere, displacement aggression, boredom, and pain
sublimation.

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

Rocky wrote:

There are plenty of potentials, so more information would be
helpful, like the circumstances immediately before the digging,
or if the digging is a repeated behaviour.

Breed of dog?

My aunt's mini Dachshund digs at the carpet. It's not exactly
something unexpected, considering.

I've seen dogs dig in the house looking to bury a treat,
preparing a spot to lie down, bringing up forgotten food crumbs,
pawing like a bull about to charge, as an invitation to play,
because it just feels good, because they hear something
somewhere, displacement aggression, boredom, and pain
sublimation.

Yep.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

tiny dancer wrote:
Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?


With Cubbe, we first thought it was boredom or a random desire to dig.
We quickly learned that she only digs when she's sure she's heard
something in the basement, generally a mouse. She's never been wrong.


It's been the same with her licking her paws. It looks so much like a
compulsive behavior. Turns out that she only does it when she's
allergic and itching.


Every time we think the dog is crazy, it turns out that she has a
perfectly sensible reason for doing what she does, one that makes sense
to the humans too. We've been mad at her for tearing up carpet or
pawing at the walls. The next thing we know, we're thanking her for
alerting us to rodent problem.


--Lia

"Rocky" wrote in message
...
"tiny dancer" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?

There are plenty of potentials, so more information would be
helpful, like the circumstances immediately before the digging,
or if the digging is a repeated behaviour.


Merlin, my catahoula leopard dog, digs at the carpeting at bedtime. I see
he's managed to dig a hole in the carpet in my sewing room closet. Thank
goodness it's at least in the closet. It's a fairly large, walk-in closet.
It's not a small, non-walk-in. We're guessing he decided to go in there
because other places, when we hear him digging, we tell him *NO*. Since the
closet is in my sewing room, and only contains my sewing/craft type
supplies, I seldom closed the door to it.



I've seen dogs dig in the house looking to bury a treat,
preparing a spot to lie down, bringing up forgotten food crumbs,
pawing like a bull about to charge, as an invitation to play,
because it just feels good, because they hear something
somewhere, displacement aggression, boredom, and pain
sublimation.


Merlin has his own, large, dog bed, equipped with a couple flannel,
receiving size blankets. He usually prefers to sleep on the day bed in the
sewing room though. That has a large, fluffy quilt on it,, sort if a suede
texture to it, along with numerous pillows and one of his flannel blankets
again. I'm describing the size and texture of things, so you can get an
idea of his many options. He also sometimes sleeps on the leather sofa
downstairs in the great room. The only thing we ever hear him digging
though, is the carpet. And he never digs to *bury* a bone. My previous
dog, Murphy, used to do that in the house sometimes. After being told no,
she resorted to 'covering' it with something instead of digging.

Merlin has the run of the house at night time, so he has many options as to
textures and warmth or coolness to sleep on. Everything from the upstairs
carpets to hardwood floors or tile downstairs in additon to the various
furniture/beds he may choose.


td


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

"tiny dancer" wrote in message
.. .
Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?

Not a scientific answer, just our goofy Lab. FWIW, Atty digs at the
carpeting before a storm or if there's a football game on the TV. It
doesn't matter if my husband is yelling at the TV or not, as soon as the
football game comes on, she leaves the room, heads to the bedroom (or front
door) and starts digging. The first time she did it was late night during a
college playoff game. After many times of her digging at different spots,
we called the fire department (who she happily followed throughout the house
while they checked), thinking we had some type of gas leak, carbon monoxide
issue - she was fine outside, she wanted OUT of the house. We didn't
connect the dots until it happened a 2nd, and finally a 3rd time. Then we
realized the connection.

She's better than a barometer. About a half hour before I can hear any
thunder, I can count on her to alert me. The other summer I couldn't find
her. I searched, found her nesting in the blankets in the closet. Me, I'm
taking video of the weird rain. When I saw her, I thought I'd turn on the
scanner. Sure shooting, within a minute or so, reports of a microburst that
demolished a local store started coming in. One smart dog!

Can't wait for the fireworks this weekend. Bring on the nutricalm, but
that's a whole other issue that doesn't involve digging.

Sue and Atty

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
tiny dancer wrote:
Any idea why certain dogs dig at carpeting?


With Cubbe, we first thought it was boredom or a random desire to dig. We
quickly learned that she only digs when she's sure she's heard something
in the basement, generally a mouse. She's never been wrong.


It's been the same with her licking her paws. It looks so much like a
compulsive behavior. Turns out that she only does it when she's allergic
and itching.


Every time we think the dog is crazy, it turns out that she has a
perfectly sensible reason for doing what she does, one that makes sense to
the humans too. We've been mad at her for tearing up carpet or pawing at
the walls. The next thing we know, we're thanking her for alerting us to
rodent problem.


--Lia


We don't have a basement, and I don't think we have any rodents. I've never
seen any evidence of any, not ever in the pantry, where the occasional
couple nuggets of dog food has fallen on the floor in there. Sometimes, if
my back is sore, I don't always drag out the heavy container of dog food
immediately to sweep it up. I'll come back a day or two later and get it
then. It's still there, intact.

I know what you mean about the paw-licking. My murphy used to do that, she
too had a few allergies, mostly skin type, which is why we used only the
oatmeal based shampoos on her. I don't think either of my current dogs has
allergy problems, they've never really shown any evidence of any.

td

"tiny dancer" wrote in message
news:2f8bk.20147
snipped

I think it s a nesting response, like they are making a bed for themselves..

"pfoley" wrote in message
m...

"tiny dancer" wrote in message
news:2f8bk.20147
snipped

I think it s a nesting response, like they are making a bed for
themselves..



That's what I figured. I wondered if anybody had any suggestions of
anything I could add to his current arrangements to deter him. that's why I
posted all the stuff he already has to 'build his nest' so as to avoid more
holes in the carpet. ;-)


td