[mrrp36a]

It has been a while since I posted here. Ruby is now 20 months old. My problem is she is digging my yard up. She started by digging where the moles were working and we actually thought it was a good thing. Now we don't have moles, but are yard resembles an exploded mine field. We have invisible fence around our 1 acre lot. Ruby has a dog door to our back porch and so has free reign. I won't change that, I would rather have my yard dug up. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any other way to 'conrol" her digging? Also, I have caught Ruby eating her own feces. Gross but true, any suggestions? We already try to pick it up daily.

Ruby's Dad

 

[Angie]

Hi you are not alone with this, Otto keeps digging the plants up and the gravel to get at the soil, my husband is getting stressed out with this as he has put a lot of hard work into the garden. We now have to supervise otto every time in the garden as he cant be trusted.

 

[Chesterpal]

Archie is a digger too. There are just a few spots he really seems to go after. We've filled them in but he just goes back to them....could there be something in the soil he wants?

 

[mrrp36a]

I have tried filling in the hole also to no avail. Someone told me to trim her nails short, but I am afraid to try this, I don't want to hurt Ruby. I think I'll look for some sort of spray for the areas I fil in.

 

[Shannon(Phantom-Star)]

One thing you might want to try is to make a small area, out of the way of what you can see. Make a square and put sand in there. Hide some bones in there or toys, and you might find that Ruby really will only dig in the sand.. My doodles only dig in the sand box, and never leave holes in the yard. Just an idea, but might work..

 

[mrrp36a]

Digging problem

Thanks, I'll try the sand box area

Russ

 

[Jac]

Hi Russ, usually the dogs outgrow the digging but I believe that Ruby would have already outgrown it if she was going to...sorry...but I think that she does it because she enjoys the hunt! If she has been digging this long without being stopped, you will have a challenge for sure...she has learned that it is great fun!

The feces eating is normal too...usually it means that they want the protein that is excreted...it is gross to humans but normal to dogs. Again, they usually outgrow it...but at her age, I am not sure if she will.

You can find lots of articles about how to stop digging...but I like this one!

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... C=0&A=1388

And here is some good info about dogs eating feces: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... C=0&A=1613

 

[Kylee's_Mom]

Digging

Kylee (who turned 3 in June) used to dig in the flower beds all the time. Since I am an avid gardener, this did NOT sit well with me. Luckily, the guy who installed our electric fencing told me that if she did start digging in the beds to move one of the white flags to that area. She would then think that was an "off-limits" area, (we only have the perimeter of our yard "fenced" not the flower beds). Well, I must say that 80% of the time it has worked. When I caught her in the act I would grab one of the flags, slap it on the ground where she was digging and sternly say, "this is a NO!". She would immediately back away, looking at the flag the whole time. It would keep her out of that area for weeks. This summer she didn't dig once, so I'm assuming she has outgrown it.

Now her annoying habit is to eat rabbit feces....yuk! When I mentioned it to the vet, he laughed and said, "Don't you know that is a delicacy for dogs!" He assured me that it wouldn't hurt her, but has kept her on her heart-worm meds year-round now. Still.... does anyone know how to curb this disgusting habit! Her breath smells so bad some days, that no one wants to go near her. I usually clean her beard really well and give her a breath-cleansing chew, but I don't know what else to do.