# Long, silly digging story...but seriously...HELP!!!



## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

I'm no expert on digging, but my first thought is that dogs dig because it's something to do. If it were me, I would only let her outside long enough to do her business and bring her back inside. Keep her on a leash if you have to.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Perhaps she needs a nice digging spot that's hers and hers alone to dig, and dig.

I would agree with Brandy's Mom. I don't think a young puppy needs too much time alone outside.

I think if she gets into the habit of digging now as a puppy...it maybe a harder issue to break when she's older. I always had Lucky on the leash in the backyard from the time of 10 months or so to try to control him eating things, but it gave me some time in helping him know what was a good thing to do and a bad no no. 

For instance I let him dig like crazy in the sandbox, but said "no" and pulled him away from digging holes in the yard. It got where he'd automatically run into the sandbox and dig like crazy. But when he started to dig elsewhere, he'd do it in a sneaky way, looking to see if I was catching him. So he DOES KNOW when he's being a bad doggie. And he usually digs when he is bored and has nothing else to do or chew.

The other day I put him on a cable in the front yard, and looked out the window to see him start digging and I rapped on the window yelling no....and he stopped. Of course he went out of the windows view and dug a nice little hole......


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Some Goldens like to dig,that's their thing. Our Amber, we call her the dirt Goddess or dirt Queen, loves to dig a DEEP hole and then back her butt down in and sleep.When we first got her she would dig to chase after mice and moles.She would dig tunnels so deep that all 85 lbs of her would disappear underground.We thought of installing a subway.Sometimes she would be digging so hard that the mice would come flying out with the dirt.She would also dig for wasps and other bugs that live in the ground.
When I would mow the back acreage,sometimes the tunnels would collapse and the tractor wheel would drop in and I'd get stuck.Now mind you this is a 20hp John Deere with a 46" belly mower pulling a offset 44" mower.not light by any means.
I don't know what to say to help you,I built a sandbox for her and filled it with washed masonry sand.I made it 2 feet deep,that seems to help,sand is much easier to brush off her and vacuum up.
We always keep a few cheap towels by the back door she uses so we can clean her if she digs in the garden or lawn.
It just makes us love her a little more,I guess,
Shane


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Lucky's mom said:


> Perhaps she needs a nice digging spot that's hers and hers alone to dig, and dig.


This is exactly what I was gonna say. I read in one of my GR books that if you've got a golden that likes to dig, frame a nice 3 x 3 square in the corner of the yard. Then, when you catch them digging, you move them to where it's okay to dig.

I'm not sure how good that works....but it was a suggestion from a book.


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## Maggie's Dad (Dec 20, 2005)

*What about ...?*

As I posted before, a friend of mine said that the best thing to do is get the hose out and fill the hole with H20 and stick the Dogs muzzle in it. He said this advise was given to him by a dog trainer. It sounds cruel but he claims that it works. My friend had to do it twice before his dog got the message. After that master and pet lived happily ever after. No more digging. Has anyone ever tried this?


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## goldencity (May 26, 2005)

I' ve just had a good laugh at the picture of you out side in your pj's rounging up a filthy GR. Thanks! Its really cheered me up! 

You are not alone- digging seems to be something lots of Goldens really love to do. The breeder we got Millie from has a huge sand pit for her dogs and boy does she love to dig! I have had to put a wire fence round the front lawn to stop her ruining it. Now she has several digging spots in parts of the garden I cant see and dont mind about.

Perhaps if your dog had a sand pit or similar? You would have to be outside with her to make sure you put her in the sand when she started to dig. To make it more attrctive yoy could bury treats in it?
I think its going to be a matter of patience- catching her in the act and redirecting her to dig or play in an acceptable way 

BUT I dont think harsh punishments are the answer- pushing her head in a hole filled with water sounds horrible and all I think would happen is that the dog would think "I'm not going near her again, she'll push my nose in the water"....not what you want at all!


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Maggie's Dad said:


> As I posted before, a friend of mine said that the best thing to do is get the hose out and fill the hole with H20 and stick the Dogs muzzle in it. He said this advise was given to him by a dog trainer. It sounds cruel but he claims that it works. My friend had to do it twice before his dog got the message. After that master and pet lived happily ever after. No more digging. Has anyone ever tried this?


The reason I wouldn't do that is because it SOUNDS overboard. I would imagine your friends dog needed to feel like he was drowning....thats to much for me to consider.
Plus, Lucky loves the water and I wouldn't want him to have any adversion to sticking his head in the water as he does now, due to something I did.
But no, I dont' have any idea if it works which is your original question. And I suppose there is a difference between thrusting a dogs head in and holding vs dipping a muzzle in for a brief second. I'm not sure what was necessary for this to work.
There was a story out where a man actually covered his dog in the hole he dug with a board and left him there. That man was cited for animal cruelty and his dog conficated..........


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Thank you so much for all the quick replies and advice. I never thought of using a sandpit. I guess I thought that the dog wouldn't be able to decipher a sandpit from a the ground by the shed. I stand corrected. Our GR's are much smarter. Now, as far as the potty time outside, I usually let her out and then watch her do her thing then call her back in. That's good. BUT NOW THE DOGGY DOOR. It is an awesome thing. But, it does have disadvantages having a puppy and an older dog that is dependant on the doggy door. I thought of closing it off so I can monitor Lola better. But, if I do that, Roxy is screwed. :doh: So, I've just been keeping a hawk- eye on her. She's a sneaky little thang. 

I am going to build a sandbox. No offense on the water in the hole thing. I think I will exhaust all of my efforts and resources before using, in my opinion, a more aggressive approach. All of the dogs that we have had, well, we just don't use force or raise a hand to them. I have to admit that I have swatted a little nose a time or two. But, all in all, we just use our words or try and change the situation or enviornment. Which leads us back to the task at hand. I'm thinking I may have to close up the doggy door temporarily to monitor the furry one. Roxy will just have to "work with it". If it were just me, I would let her dig till her heart is full. But, my husband...he won't have it. He cannot stand the holes in the yard. I think it's because he practices his golf swing out there and trips in the hole. I think it's hiarious. Him, not so much. 

Anyway, thanks again for the superb suggestions and thank you for letting me vent. 

PS. I love this forum. I am so glad I found it. All of you are so kind and helpful. I feel like a found a secret room full of treasures. Finding this board will help Lola & I so much. 

Crazy time of the year. If I don't talk to any of you before Sun. Lola and I say MERRY CHRISTMAS.:wavey: 
And be safe.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Iola's Mommy,
Shortly after I replied on your thread (Oh I so love to give advice), I cabled Lucky up in the backyard for a bit of fresh air. Of course, I couldn't put him by the sandbox...too many trees to get his cable twined up with.
I look out the back window to see him digging, half immersed in the ground by the fence (thank goodness the posts goes way, way into the ground).
Horrified, I run out and grab some poop and place it in the hole, telling him no, no.
I go back in, and a few minutes later I look to see him immersed in the ground in a new hole right beside the first one.
I run out there..."no, no" and more poop in the new hole.
Again, I leave him and look and sure enough, a new hole right beside the last one. So now I have three holes, two of which have poop.
So there you go.


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

So what, do you keep a stockpile of poop hanging around to fill these holes with? I can't imagine that's ... pleasant


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Dilligas said:


> So what, do you keep a stockpile of poop hanging around to fill these holes with? I can't imagine that's ... pleasant


The pooping area is the front yard and yes its been a couple of days since I've done my pooping cleaning duty. And I might add that the neighbors watched me run to the front, spade up some poop and run to the back. Twice. It was.....embarrassing.


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## Maggie's Dad (Dec 20, 2005)

*Same two ideas*

These are the same two ideas that I have been posting all along. On this thread I said that a dog trainer advised a friend of mine that when they caught the dog digging to immediately fill the hole with water from the hose and immerse the dogs head in it. I have never tried this but as I look out in my backyard at all the holes (tunnels) that Maggie has dug I think that I may be forced to try this. I really believe that Maggie is actually that rare strain of Golden that was bread for combat in Vietnam. The other tired piece of advice that I gave on other threads was to put Tabasco on electrical cords or leashes or anything that you do not want your pet chewing on. I am running out of unique ideas. What if you poured a Quart of Tabasco sauce down each hole that she dug? Of course for this I would suggest Frank's Red Hot Sauce. It is much cheaper and sold in economy sized 1/2 gallon bottles. However, even I would not jam the muzzle of my dog's nose in hot sauce. 

I was at a Christmas Eve party and I brought up Maggies two main problems. 1.) Bolting off in the front yard like a jail brake and 2.) digging in the yard. There were several current and former Golden owners in attendance. I found out that my dog's problem was not unique. My friend Mike and Audry even had to get rid of their Golden because of these two problems. They got a shock collar and that was not enough. They went to obiedience class and their golden was the star but she kept digging. I couldn't believe that my two loving friends would get rid of a sweet dog that they loved for digging in their yard. Mike corrected me and said that Dog was digging in their elderly neighbor's garden.

Maybe the hose trick is not so bad? That or do you like Tennis? You could build a tennis court - lets see Lola or Maggie dig through that! LOL


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Oh dear, a tennis court? I can barely motivate my husband to build a sandpit for her. On the hot sauce idea, my sister had said to put a lot of red pepper in the holes. I don't want to do it. 
To Diiligas... I always have a ton of poop on hand. No matter if I have just cleaned the yard of poop. If I go outside after 5 minutes of cleaning the yard, I have multiple piles of poo. Having two dogs has a lot to do with it. And, my Boston Terrier...well, that's one of her favorite things to do, is poop. At any given moment, if someone asked me to produce a stool sample immediately, my only question to them would be how much?


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

I can't believe that a dog trainer would say to fill the hole with water and push the dogs head into it.How would he feel if someone did that to him.As for the hot pepper,How would you feel if you went to sniff something and you got a nose full of hot pepper.A Goldens nose is very sensitive,what a cruel thing to do.As for the chewing,soaking the cord or whatever with hot sauce may just make it tastier. They sell stuff for that,Bitter Apple,etc. I've been using Stevia.It's 300 times sweeter than sugar,it's all natural and when used straight it's TOO sweet for the taste of a dog and they leave it alone.
If Maggie is digging under the fence or shed,you can hang wire hooked to a livestock transformer to shock her.This causes no permanent damage to the dogs nose or any mistrust from forcing her head under water.If the digging is getting out of hand,you can train her to stop.
As a LAST,I SAID LAST, resort, buy a Airsoft BB gun from Walmart.The BB's are plastic and DO NOT penetrate the skin.When she starts to dig,sting her butt with an Airsoft.For this to be effective you should be out of sight and the gun shot as quiet as possible and just shoot 1 bb at a time. If you do this everytime she starts to dig,she will stop fairly quickly.After a few days ,she will never dig again.
Airsoft is being used like Paintballs.It's a sport where people shoot at each other for fun.As long as you hit her rear end,you can't hurt her.
This sounds nasty,but it's still a hell of a lot more humane than the water or hot pepper torture.That kind of treatment went out with rubbing your puppys face in it's poop to teach it to poop outside.
Well that's my two cents,
Shane


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

I completely agree with you on the red pepper. As soon as my sister gave that suggestion, I quickly shot her down. I feel the same with the water. And, I'm sorry, I'm not sure that I would want to shoot my dog in the butt either. Call me weird, I'm just a big anti-gun anything. My son doesn't even have toy guns. So, that is out of the question, too. 
I think I'm going to try the sandbox idea. I want to do as much positive reinforcement as possible. She's just so precious. I can't imagine shooting her bottom. :uhoh: I remember as a little girl, when our female cocker spaniel would go into heat, my dad would shoo away male dogs with a bb gun. My sister and I would cry and when my dad would go back in the house we would run down the street looking for the male dogs to console them and their hurt behinds. Silly, I know. But, I guess that has just stuck with me. 
Surely we can come up with something. I'll let yall know how the sandpit works out.


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

I didn't like it either that's why I said as a LAST resort. I'd rather you sting her butt a few times than get rid of her.
I got my sand from the concrete business.The people with the big cement trucks.I went to their mixing plant with my 5 X 8 trailer and they gave me 1/2 yard (full Bobcat bucket) of washed sand for 8 dollars.I used 2 trailer loads for the sand box. Now Amber is not the only one using it.
Shane
This photo shows Amber in about half a load,she couldn't wait.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Now I personally (you're going to hate this Shane), think that air gun idea was fantastic. It had all the right elements for something like digging, which isn't a "bad" thing...meaning its not in the same element as aggression, yet it can be so destructive.

This is what I liked about it. It doesn't hurt the dog. It doesn't tramatize the dog. It simply teaches him that digging is not enjoyable and motivates him or her to do something else that IS enjoyable. And the owner isn't involved. Since this isn't a "respect" or "dominate\' issue...I think the owner shouldn't be involved.

The problem????? If you aren't an excellent shot...that could be a bad thing.


But yes....I do like the sandbox idea better, and that would be my only choice since I've no target experience and husband is iffy. Besides...digging is fun. Why not control it and let them enjoy.


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Good point. Even if I wanted to go that route, it wouldn't work. I do not have good aiming skills. I think the sandpit choice is the best way right now. I can put poop in holes till the cows come home, but, my 6 yr. old son is out there encouraging her to dig up treasure as soon as I enter the house. The digging will continue. So, I guess I just need to figure something out that will make both me and Lola happy. (which now will be the sandpit).


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Jerry has been thinking about hiring Honey out to the army to dig fox holes for them. She is AWFUL,. I threated to have her toe nails pulled out. Of course I was just joking. But it is a real problem. She only digs along the back fence where there is a bunch of dogs that run up and down the fence barking and carrying on, and sometimes a cat. Doesn't dig along the sides or where it is along from the front of the house to side fences. We poured a trench of cement along the old back fence, but neighbors back there put up new fence about a foot inside their line, so the cement trench is a little over a foot from the bottom of the fence and she can dig. We put 16x16 stone steps there--and she can actually move them. We are not thinking about a fence to shock her. We are just running out of ideas.


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Well, Lola has stopped digging holes. But, she has now influenced bad behavior on to my 3 yr. old Boston Terrier. :uhoh: I know it's her because she comes trotting through the doggy door with a dirty muzzle and muddy paws.


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## krbshappy71 (Dec 30, 2005)

lola'smommy said:


> Well, Lola has stopped digging holes. But, she has now influenced bad behavior on to my 3 yr. old Boston Terrier. :uhoh: I know it's her because she comes trotting through the doggy door with a dirty muzzle and muddy paws.


How did she stop? What did you do to curb it? My puppy has started to dig (once again, a doggy door can be a wonderful and not-so wonderful thing) but not obsessively yet. We have rock in most of our yard, sod in the rest. She wont dig in the rock OF COURSE.  I'm considering a "shoot her with the hose" tactic but I don't want her to be afraid of water or dislike water.


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

krbshappy71 said:


> How did she stop? What did you do to curb it? My puppy has started to dig (once again, a doggy door can be a wonderful and not-so wonderful thing) but not obsessively yet. We have rock in most of our yard, sod in the rest. She wont dig in the rock OF COURSE.  I'm considering a "shoot her with the hose" tactic but I don't want her to be afraid of water or dislike water.


I put poo in the holes. I also try to do it when they aren't out in the yard seeing me do it. It doesn't work with my Boston. She's almost human. She looks at me as if to say, "Why are you putting my poo in that hole I dug? You know I'll just go dig another one. ANd, maybe bigger this time." 

I'm in the process of blue prints now for a sand pit.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

Maggie's Dad said:


> As I posted before, a friend of mine said that the best thing to do is get the hose out and fill the hole with H20 and stick the Dogs muzzle in it. He said this advise was given to him by a dog trainer. It sounds cruel but he claims that it works. My friend had to do it twice before his dog got the message. After that master and pet lived happily ever after. No more digging. Has anyone ever tried this?


I cannot imagine that the dog would ever connect that punishment with digging.. 
here is the deal.. IMHO.. first of all she needs to know that you do not want her to dig.. that is first.. 
once she knows that, then you can enforce your rule.. you cannot correct a dog for doing somthing that she did not know as against the rules.. 
How you enforce it is up to you. But likely if she knows it is wrong she will run away from you when you go to enforce it. So you can either invest in an ecollar or you can get creative as to how to do it at a distance... for instance.. use a walkie talkie and hang it from the shed... when she goes to dig, speak to her..kinda spooky to a dog... or hang a sack of tin cans and stuff out by the shed.. when she digs, cut the rope and let them fall.. right after you tell her no.... basically, she needs to learn that the world is a much better place when she minds.. even better than digging...


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Greg, how did you know I had a shed? What's going on?

Just kiddin'. No, I agree...the water in the hole with the muzzle is not something that I would even think to do. And, it goes against some of my ideals. The walkie talkie thing I like. Because it's a bit funny. Seeing the reaction. The whole thing. I might do that with my son's walkie talkies and see what happens.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

just use it for the correction.. don't entertain yourself with it.. otherwise, she will get used to it and not worry about it..


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## lola'smommy (Dec 19, 2005)

Well, I'm not going to be going, "Loola, I know what you are doing." everytime she goes outside. HA!! That's mean. Yes, I will only do it for correction. I promise.


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