How to teach a dog to stop digging holes
- Thread starter Michael
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Boxers are great dogs and I have experience with some good pitbuls.
ryanhamre
Puritan Board Freshman
A mine.
If you're able to catch it in the act... kinda sneaky like, you can use an airsoft gun. This is how we trained our dog to get off the couch. She would get on the couch at night, and this was off limits, so I set alarms throughout the night on my watch, then sneak out of our room, use a flash light in short bursts... and like a ninja, shoot her in the side.
It stings, but doesn't do anything bad, she might not have even known it was me, she just learned that if she got on the couch there was an unpleasant sting from the sky.
If you're able to catch it in the act... kinda sneaky like, you can use an airsoft gun. This is how we trained our dog to get off the couch. She would get on the couch at night, and this was off limits, so I set alarms throughout the night on my watch, then sneak out of our room, use a flash light in short bursts... and like a ninja, shoot her in the side.
It stings, but doesn't do anything bad, she might not have even known it was me, she just learned that if she got on the couch there was an unpleasant sting from the sky.
Reformed Thomist
Puritan Board Sophomore
Bury the bodies somewhere else.
Notthemama1984
Puritan Board Post-Graduate
Suggestions? We're running out of backyard around here.
Dealing with a 2 yr old 60lb hound/pit/boxer mix. His name is Max and he's turning our property into Thunderdome.
Yelnats has a good philosophy. Take a bad dog, make him dig holes in the hot sun all day, it turns into a good dog.
I'm afraid it probably is. like trying to train a cat not to scratch the furniture.
Do you have to leave him out there on his own to wreak havoc?
Yes. He is inside for the most part when we are home but has to go out when we are at work or just out in general.
Weston Stoler
Puritan Board Sophomore
For we have put off the new dog all things have become new!
SolaScriptura
Puritanboard Brimstone
It may not change his behavior, but beating him with a golf club would sure make you feel better.
moral necessity
Puritan Board Junior
Begin watching Cesar Milan and taking your dog for long walks using his techniques. He needs to burn off the energy, and he's doing it by digging holes in your yard. Maybe he's bored.
That would be where I would start...
Blessings!
That would be where I would start...
Blessings!
Elizabeth
Puritan Board Sophomore
Get a dog kennel and keep him in it when you are not there to supervise him. Immediate punishment if he starts to dig while you're supervising him.
That's a tough habit to break unless you remove the opportunity. Long walks are a good idea, for sure. Exhaust him.
That's a tough habit to break unless you remove the opportunity. Long walks are a good idea, for sure. Exhaust him.
but3leftsdo
Puritan Board Freshman
Don't re-elect them next year.
It's not completely hopeless, but if you do want to break an established habit, it's going to require work. The kennel idea is excellent, as is the idea that he needs walks.
I used to train border collies and other dogs. The best training is to work with them in their formative years. But that doesn't seem to have happened. Training to break habits takes longer:
First, remove opportunities to sin when you are not present (as in using a kennel)
Second, be absolutely consistent when you are training.
Being absolutely consistent means rebuke immediately during each transgression (preferably as soon as you can tell he gets the idea) --not minutes later, and certainly not hours later. If you miss this, resolve to be consistent in the future. A dog does not abstract, so pointing at a hole and then punishing him would probably teach him nothing more than that when you point your finger he's going to get unpleasantness. He won't make the connection that digging is bad.
Dogs usually do seek to please their masters, but you have to let him know what pleases you and what doesn't at the moment he is thinking of doing something.
As for punishment, I've found that taking a stick and wacking the ground next to him and shouting "NO!" immediately after he indicates he is going to do the prohibited behavior, but before he actually starts, works very well.
You will probably have to spend at least several hours a day for a couple of weeks letting him out of the kennel. You will have to stand or sit quietly, waiting for him to get bored and want to start digging. When that point occurs, lay in wait, muscles tense but not getting his attention, and as soon as he starts eyeing a place to dig, wack your stick and yell "NO!"
Then sit back down and wait for the next time. . . .
I don't think you will have any success without a fair amount of diligence here.
I used to train border collies and other dogs. The best training is to work with them in their formative years. But that doesn't seem to have happened. Training to break habits takes longer:
First, remove opportunities to sin when you are not present (as in using a kennel)
Second, be absolutely consistent when you are training.
Being absolutely consistent means rebuke immediately during each transgression (preferably as soon as you can tell he gets the idea) --not minutes later, and certainly not hours later. If you miss this, resolve to be consistent in the future. A dog does not abstract, so pointing at a hole and then punishing him would probably teach him nothing more than that when you point your finger he's going to get unpleasantness. He won't make the connection that digging is bad.
Dogs usually do seek to please their masters, but you have to let him know what pleases you and what doesn't at the moment he is thinking of doing something.
As for punishment, I've found that taking a stick and wacking the ground next to him and shouting "NO!" immediately after he indicates he is going to do the prohibited behavior, but before he actually starts, works very well.
You will probably have to spend at least several hours a day for a couple of weeks letting him out of the kennel. You will have to stand or sit quietly, waiting for him to get bored and want to start digging. When that point occurs, lay in wait, muscles tense but not getting his attention, and as soon as he starts eyeing a place to dig, wack your stick and yell "NO!"
Then sit back down and wait for the next time. . . .
I don't think you will have any success without a fair amount of diligence here.
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
Or maybe there are moles or armadillos burrowing around that he's trying to catch.
puritanpilgrim
Puritan Board Junior
Raymond is right. You could break the habit in a week or two, but it will take work on your part. The dog has to begin associating digging with getting in trouble. Once the dog does this the dog will normally stop. By the way, there are how to video on almost every problem of dog behavior.[video]http://www.ehow.com/video_2265043_dog-digging-using-mutt-method.html[/video]
LawrenceU
Puritan Board Doctor
I train dogs. I have done so since high school. Vic is right dogs don't think in abstract forms. Digging is one of the most difficult behaviours to replace in a dog. That wording is intentional. Changing a dog's behaviour is not about making him stop doing something. It is about getting him do so something else. Digging is instinctive and in some dogs it cannot be stopped, but can be limited. (BTW, cutting a dog's nails back can kill a dog via infection. I saw someone do that with a top line Chessie a few years ago.)
Buy the book, Don't Shoot the Dog or get it from the library. It is a great book on behaviour modification. That is what dog training is, behaviour modification. If I have time later today I'll come back and post some strategies.
That breed mix has two strong diggers in it. That and the fact that it has been ridiculously hot and he may be trying to cool off will make it tough to stop him completely. Also, think about one thing: is he digging FOR something? It could be moles, grubs, oyster shells, just about anything that is down there in the dirt.
Buy the book, Don't Shoot the Dog or get it from the library. It is a great book on behaviour modification. That is what dog training is, behaviour modification. If I have time later today I'll come back and post some strategies.
That breed mix has two strong diggers in it. That and the fact that it has been ridiculously hot and he may be trying to cool off will make it tough to stop him completely. Also, think about one thing: is he digging FOR something? It could be moles, grubs, oyster shells, just about anything that is down there in the dirt.
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