How can I make him Stop - Page 2

It is a natural thing for a dog to dig to bury his food  , to attain a smell under ground or a mole he hears or he hears things underground you cannot ...it is a dog thing....to stop it..

never let him do it...put him in a big wire kennel outdoors when not supervising and playing and put him in side or in his crate when he is not being supervised.....he will still dig if you leave him loose in the yard or acreage....so you must curb it now or just let him dig his way to China  and they can do that in a matter of 5 minutes...

Or build him a concrete floored kennel outside with a small portion at the back filled with pea gravel for his poop ....

Put his poop in the hole and cover it up.  The next time he digs there he will not be pleasantly surprised to find such a treasure.

Blimey! this thread be turnin into a Classic on t' DB Aye, it be full of great advice AYE!!! aye Me had an incident once aye me bucko, who was 110yrs old and blind, be walkin' out in me aftyard where me dog digs. aye Wouldn't ye know it, he stepped into a hole, and me damn dogs just buried me bucko where he stepped RIP..... aye Me knows that dogs hate t' dig up anythin' stinky aye"
 

1/Restricted environment so can't dig
2/Supervised in an environment were can dig.Starting did giving dog non compatable for digging task such as obedience,ball fetch work.Feed dog here.Slowly give dog freedom but must watch like the hawk.
3/Odor Sprays for area
4/Remote collar
5/Chichen wire is best wire.
6/ 4x2 training if all else fail.

The Only Way Forward Is Einsatzkommando

Sometimes the dog just wins. My dog will dig for rocks compulsively until found. She then carries them for hours to the detriment  of her canines. {4 broken} They do this for many reasons and all are drive issues. Be thankful that the dog is not chasing its tail and inflicting much damage. You can always take a rock away but the tail is a bit more severe.

Sometimes the dog just wins. My dog will dig for rocks compulsively until found. She then carries them for hours to the detriment  of her canines. {4 broken} They do this for many reasons and all are drive issues. Be thankful that the dog is not chasing its tail and inflicting much damage. You can always take a rock away but the tail is a bit more severe.

Cute story with the chicken wire!  We had a dog that had to have surgery twice from digging up and eating the chicken wire that was laid to stop her from digging.  The second time it happened, the owners thought that they had dug up the remaining pieces apparently not!  After the second time, Cleo had to go out with a basket muzzle.  Lucky for us, Cleo has moved! 

He is a puppy.  I am assuming he has a good high drive?  If that is true, good luck, he is just like a toddler that needs to do something, anything to keep active.  He is not being a bad dog or a destructive dog on purpose, he just needs a J.O.B. but even then, it is not something that will stop overnight.  Kind of like potty training, it is a phase that you will have to grit your teeth and endure.  By supervising him and keeping him active in productive positive ways, that will help.  Remember what my good friend and trainer said

"A tired dog is a good dog"

Meanwhile, keep a shovel, bag of dirt and grass seed handy.  He will outgrow it eventually.

I have had a few "diggers" throughtout the years and presently have two excavators.  I have developed a somewhat bizarre, yet effective, method of stopping it.  It may take some time but it has always worked for me without fail.

Every time one of my dogs starts to dig a hole I put the a pile of dog poop in it. Preferfably their own. A healthy dog wants nothing to do with his own poop. I know it sounds gross but even with really persistent diggers I have been able to wean it out of them because every time they start a hole it ends up being offensive.

You have to have the ability to allow them to continue to dig for a while and that is tricky for a lot of people, I know. I've always lived on large parcels of land in a country environment and I could afford to wait it out.  But, if I had a nice yard with a nice landscaping I don't know that it would be practical.

I know it's a weird concept, but it really has always worked for me.

 I use 4 steps with clients to solve any behavior problem. 1. prevent the problem in the first place, 2. reward an alternative behavior, 3. effective correction, 4. consistency. 

In this case: 1. Prevent the problem. WHY is the dog digging and work to solve that. If he's digging to bury things, dont' give him anything to bury, if he's digging cause it's fun, make it not fun. If he's digging to find a cool place to lay down, provide a cool place to lay down. Use concrete dog run until problem solved and even then have it around in case the problem reverts. 

2. Reward the alternative response - contrary to popular belief, you are not teaching the dog to dig by giving him a place of his own to dig in. The dog already KNOWS how to dig, you're just teaching him where to do it and giving him an outlet for it. To say otherwise is like saying that rewarding a dog for going potty in the correct area will teach the dog to go potty everywhere! I give a dig pit and fill with toys, make it interesting. 

3. Effective correction - there are a million and one ways to correct a dog. You have to find the one effective for your dog. I have used cayenne pepper in the main holes with great success with one of my dogs, the other dog came back in with cayenne pepper all over and a happy grin on his face. so it really means finding what works best. You normally want to booby trap the holes. Whether that means working with an experienced trainer with an e-collar, or filling the holes with something that will make it uncomfortable to dig there just depends on the dog. I've used lava rocks, cayenne pepper, chicken wire/ or 1/2 inch wire mesh, anything to make the holes uncomfortable. If there's a main area you don't want him in I"ve even used a scarecrow (motion sensor that blasts water). I never liked the poop in the hole as many dogs actually love it, but different strokes for different folks. I've even clipped nails fairly short (note, NOT TOO short) so it's not comfortable to dig. The key is to make the dog think that the DIGGING corrected him, not you. If you do it, he just learns to not do it while you're watching. In the beginning I teach it by preventing it except when I can sit inside and watch to make sure the correction is effective. 

4. consistency- corrections have to be applied consistently all the time for at least a month. Hence the use of the prevention (dog run etc) while training it. Provide the other outlet and consequences for digging EVERY time until it's a habit to only dig in his area, and no place outside of it is fun.

My favorite mantra is "dogs only do what works". Why do dogs do anything? Because it works. If you want it to stop, you make it stop working. For instance, why does a dog pull on the leash? Because it works. THey get to go where they want to go. If you make it stop working or stop being comfortable, they stop. Why does a dog dig? because it works. They get SOMEthing good out of it. You've gotta get rid of the good and make it not so good.