Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Tricks to Keep Dogs from Digging

By Andyl Hannerl

When your dog barks ceaselessly, runs away, urinates in your house every day, or chews up your shoes or anything in sight, can cause an owner to be anxious. You can steer clear of these behaviors by training your dog properly and is done by starting training when your dog is still a puppy.

Proper training requires that the owner be consistent in the rewarding of good behavior and having consequences for poor behavior. Dogs love to have the attention of the owner, so ignoring the dog when it is behaving poorly and giving the dog attention when it is behaving properly is often all that is needed to change the dog's behavior. Another problem that dogs will sometimes participate in is digging.

Reasons and Answers

There are many reasons behind digging, which means in order to keep dogs from digging, owners need to examine the reasons behind the digging first. Dogs may dig just enjoy digging. Some dogs may be bored and need more activity and play in their lives. Others may be trying to escape the yard because they want to find a mate, not being fixed. Others may enjoy digging in fresh dirt or in dirt that has been freshly fertilized.

Some dogs just dig because it is a part of their nature and for some, they just like to find a place that is cool enough for them to lie on. And some dogs just like hiding their food in the dirt and they dig holes to do so.

The best way to keep dogs from digging is to make sure that they have adequate exercise and mental stimulation. Dogs like to learn new tricks and to experience new things. A bored dog is a destructive doge in most cases, so a dog that is well exercised and has new situations to experience is more likely to avoid destructive activity.

Do away with giving your dogs bones as this is something that will encourage it to dig and bury. Give him treats that will be readily consumable instead.

You can try hiding and burying balloons in the places where your dog usually digs so when he digs again, the balloon will pop which in return will scare your dog giving him a negative experience which in the process, will make him stop digging in that spot again.

Dogs that dig should not be left unsupervised in the yard. That way, if they go to dig, they can be sprayed by a hose or a squirt gun to surprise them and keep the dog from digging there again.

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