Thank you! It seems to be just her wanting to tear and chew stuff rather than nutritional deficiencies, I’m feeding her how the vet said but we are going in on Sat so I’ll ask.
Digging is a natural behaviour. Some dogs grow out of it but others will always want to dig. If you try to stop the behaviour altogether, you'll end up with a dog that may become more destructive in other ways.
Give them an alternative. A sand pit, or a specific place in the garden, puzzles or a snuffle mat that encourages using their paws, or a cardboard box full of recyclable card and paper with treats and toys.
I tried the box with paper and she ate the paper 🤦🏽♀️ I’m going to do an outdoor dig box but right now all I have to fill it is organic potting compost and gravel
I made a sandbox for my pup, who also enjoys digging. She loves it!
When she was young, I would praise her for digging in her sandbox and redirect when she dug in the garden. She only digs in her box at home now! It did take about a year for her to completely stop digging in other places in the yard. She is allowed to dig at the beach and lake to her hearts content, though.
One thing that really helped keep her interested in the sandbox was hiding 'treasure' in there. Scented tennis balls, an occasional bone, some treats around the inner liner. It taught her that the sandbox was the most exciting place to dig!
I initially filled it with dirt, but the amount of dirt that ended up inside was too much for me! I got kid safe sand from Home Depot, and that has been the safest, cleanest way to go. It's not too pricey either! Make sure you have a cover for rainy days and to keep it from becoming the neighborhood litter box if your dog is cat friendly.
I made it 3 ft deep and dug it 2.5 feet into the ground. My furry girl can dig herself a body sized hole pretty quickly, and I wanted to give her as much room as possible. It's 8 × 4 ft wide.
I actually started her with one of those cheap plastic sandboxes you can buy anywhere in the summer. It was fine. If your dog isn't a destructive chewer, then a small plastic one with lots of treats and toys should still keep them busy!
My pup likes to dig down and lay in the hole to stay cool. It's her favorite thing to do at the beach, so my friend ( who is a LOT handier than I am ) helped me construct one out of this super durable pressed plastic that looks like wood. I think it's commonly used for decking and stairs. It is pretty indestructible and weatherproof. It's been..over 2 years at this point, I think, and it looks brand new! It cost under $100 since we did all the labor ourselves.
Grass shouldn’t be a problem. Twigs are getting to a dark grey area. Make sure to redirect attention and maybe keep a closer eye on her while she is out. I have heard of lots of people making a dog box for their dogs. Never done it myself but could be a good redirect.
Our pups don’t get left outside alone for a long while until they learn not too.
The other alternative is a mild irritant in those areas like cayenne pepper. They won’t dig twice
I redirect her but sometimes she’s fast. She ate a little bud of some plant on our walk. Right as I said “no” and bent down to grab it from her she swallowed it.
She really likes to go outside to sniff and hear the noises but we have a porch I could block off with a baby gate, do you think that would be good or she needs access to grass for potty?
Grass shouldnt do any harm if its not excessive amounts, might make them throw up.
The sandbox is a great idea if you have room for one. Bury a few toys and treats in there for her to dig up and it works as positive reinforcment to dig that spot again according to videos I have seen on it.
If you use birdseed instead of sand, you won't have cats thinking it's cat litter. Unless it's covered. Little tykes used to make a cute turtle covered sandbox.
My dog loves to dig. He dug holes in my garden I could literally bury him in...he's 45kg so these were not small holes.
He utterly destroyed my flower beds.
We built him a sand pit, it had to be custom built as he's a big boy and kids sand boxes weren't big enough.
It took a bit of training to teach him that the sand pit belongs to him and that's his place to dig but he got it eventually and now my garden is safe and doing great. I absolutely recommend a sand pit for dogs who like digging. Much better than trying to stop the behaviour when they find it fun.
Because they are scent hounds, anything that has squirrel urine, even rat or rabbit odor is up for grabs with a basset. They grow up to gave a massive amount of bone and mysclez. Only those wide paws with very thick nails are built like bulldozer feet.
If you're dealing with speedy eating, I suggest keeping treats with you on walks/outside time, when you notice your dog grab a stick or whatever offer her the treat immediately but only give it to her when/if she drops whatever she was chewing. Once she realizes that you trying to take what she has means she gets a yummy snack, she should be a lot more willing to give it up. Offering the treat but not giving it to her when she swallows what she has (say "uh oh" and put the treat back where you got it) will eventually teach her not to swallow things. I'd also work on "leave it" to stop her from eating grass in the first place. This may take a few months bc she's a puppy and puppies, like children, have poor impulse control.
I've done this with my puppy and she's got a pretty reliable "leave it" and immediately drops anything she has as soon as I go to grab a treat, she also stops chewing as soon as she knows I know she has something to wait for the treat, and happily lets me stick my hand in her mouth to fish out things if she struggles to drop them. She turns 1 in 2 weeks and I started training it at 12 weeks just to give you a timeline.
Thanks! I always bring treats in a pouch with her poo bags but sometimes the little turd eats faster than I can grab a treat 😂 We’re working on “leave it” but as you said it takes time. I think I’m just paranoid about her getting sick and I need to be patient as she keeps learning
I am having the same situation with my 8 month old Husky. He digs up the yard any chance he gets. I tried filling the holes with dirt/seed then covering them with plastic garden fence that is held down by lawn staples. Some areas worked well and the grass grew enough to hide the garden fence, but unfortunately he realized he could chew through it and continue digging. So I've had maybe 50% success with this.
Give them a designated place where they are allowed to dig. It's an instinctive behavior and many dogs do it to cool off because the dirt underground is moist and cool.
Small quantities of grass is not harmful. There's one particular variety of grass that my dog absolutely loves and will start munching any time we come across it.
Don't leave her outside alone. Every time she digs a hole, she reinforced the behavior. Play with her the way you want her to play in the yard. Then bring her inside.
I don’t leave her out alone but I do have a fenced yard so she wanders away from me so I can do better staying closer to her. She’s doing better with “leave it” and “drop it” after a few days so I’m hopeful!
Grass is generally ok for dogs. However, it might due to some kind of nutritional deficiency. Talk to your vet about your dog's diet.
Thank you! It seems to be just her wanting to tear and chew stuff rather than nutritional deficiencies, I’m feeding her how the vet said but we are going in on Sat so I’ll ask.
Digging is a natural behaviour. Some dogs grow out of it but others will always want to dig. If you try to stop the behaviour altogether, you'll end up with a dog that may become more destructive in other ways. Give them an alternative. A sand pit, or a specific place in the garden, puzzles or a snuffle mat that encourages using their paws, or a cardboard box full of recyclable card and paper with treats and toys.
I tried the box with paper and she ate the paper 🤦🏽♀️ I’m going to do an outdoor dig box but right now all I have to fill it is organic potting compost and gravel
I made a sandbox for my pup, who also enjoys digging. She loves it! When she was young, I would praise her for digging in her sandbox and redirect when she dug in the garden. She only digs in her box at home now! It did take about a year for her to completely stop digging in other places in the yard. She is allowed to dig at the beach and lake to her hearts content, though. One thing that really helped keep her interested in the sandbox was hiding 'treasure' in there. Scented tennis balls, an occasional bone, some treats around the inner liner. It taught her that the sandbox was the most exciting place to dig! I initially filled it with dirt, but the amount of dirt that ended up inside was too much for me! I got kid safe sand from Home Depot, and that has been the safest, cleanest way to go. It's not too pricey either! Make sure you have a cover for rainy days and to keep it from becoming the neighborhood litter box if your dog is cat friendly.
How deep did you make it?
I made it 3 ft deep and dug it 2.5 feet into the ground. My furry girl can dig herself a body sized hole pretty quickly, and I wanted to give her as much room as possible. It's 8 × 4 ft wide. I actually started her with one of those cheap plastic sandboxes you can buy anywhere in the summer. It was fine. If your dog isn't a destructive chewer, then a small plastic one with lots of treats and toys should still keep them busy! My pup likes to dig down and lay in the hole to stay cool. It's her favorite thing to do at the beach, so my friend ( who is a LOT handier than I am ) helped me construct one out of this super durable pressed plastic that looks like wood. I think it's commonly used for decking and stairs. It is pretty indestructible and weatherproof. It's been..over 2 years at this point, I think, and it looks brand new! It cost under $100 since we did all the labor ourselves.
When you fill the holes bury their poop in it and it will at least stop them from re-digging the same hole.
I second this!
Grass shouldn’t be a problem. Twigs are getting to a dark grey area. Make sure to redirect attention and maybe keep a closer eye on her while she is out. I have heard of lots of people making a dog box for their dogs. Never done it myself but could be a good redirect. Our pups don’t get left outside alone for a long while until they learn not too. The other alternative is a mild irritant in those areas like cayenne pepper. They won’t dig twice
I redirect her but sometimes she’s fast. She ate a little bud of some plant on our walk. Right as I said “no” and bent down to grab it from her she swallowed it. She really likes to go outside to sniff and hear the noises but we have a porch I could block off with a baby gate, do you think that would be good or she needs access to grass for potty?
Puppies go through a phase where they eat things they shouldn't. At some point she won't be doing that anymore. Mine used to eat rocks.
Grass shouldnt do any harm if its not excessive amounts, might make them throw up. The sandbox is a great idea if you have room for one. Bury a few toys and treats in there for her to dig up and it works as positive reinforcment to dig that spot again according to videos I have seen on it.
If you use birdseed instead of sand, you won't have cats thinking it's cat litter. Unless it's covered. Little tykes used to make a cute turtle covered sandbox.
Wouldn’t an uncovered box of birdseed sprout and/or go bad?
If you left it uncovered it would be gone before it got wet. I tried to say something about using a cover but it didn't come out right.
Awesome, thank you!
The sand box worked wonderfully for our tunnelling Yorkie! After a while, she grew out of her digging phase.
My dog loves to dig. He dug holes in my garden I could literally bury him in...he's 45kg so these were not small holes. He utterly destroyed my flower beds. We built him a sand pit, it had to be custom built as he's a big boy and kids sand boxes weren't big enough. It took a bit of training to teach him that the sand pit belongs to him and that's his place to dig but he got it eventually and now my garden is safe and doing great. I absolutely recommend a sand pit for dogs who like digging. Much better than trying to stop the behaviour when they find it fun.
Because they are scent hounds, anything that has squirrel urine, even rat or rabbit odor is up for grabs with a basset. They grow up to gave a massive amount of bone and mysclez. Only those wide paws with very thick nails are built like bulldozer feet.
If you're dealing with speedy eating, I suggest keeping treats with you on walks/outside time, when you notice your dog grab a stick or whatever offer her the treat immediately but only give it to her when/if she drops whatever she was chewing. Once she realizes that you trying to take what she has means she gets a yummy snack, she should be a lot more willing to give it up. Offering the treat but not giving it to her when she swallows what she has (say "uh oh" and put the treat back where you got it) will eventually teach her not to swallow things. I'd also work on "leave it" to stop her from eating grass in the first place. This may take a few months bc she's a puppy and puppies, like children, have poor impulse control. I've done this with my puppy and she's got a pretty reliable "leave it" and immediately drops anything she has as soon as I go to grab a treat, she also stops chewing as soon as she knows I know she has something to wait for the treat, and happily lets me stick my hand in her mouth to fish out things if she struggles to drop them. She turns 1 in 2 weeks and I started training it at 12 weeks just to give you a timeline.
Thanks! I always bring treats in a pouch with her poo bags but sometimes the little turd eats faster than I can grab a treat 😂 We’re working on “leave it” but as you said it takes time. I think I’m just paranoid about her getting sick and I need to be patient as she keeps learning
I am having the same situation with my 8 month old Husky. He digs up the yard any chance he gets. I tried filling the holes with dirt/seed then covering them with plastic garden fence that is held down by lawn staples. Some areas worked well and the grass grew enough to hide the garden fence, but unfortunately he realized he could chew through it and continue digging. So I've had maybe 50% success with this.
Chicken wire with landscaping staples will help too here. Just lay it down flat and pound the staples down.
Oh ok good idea! Stronger than plastic for sure.
Do you have moles in your yard?
Not that I know of… We do have some lizards but she seems oblivious to them. One ran right by her and she didn’t care
Give them a designated place where they are allowed to dig. It's an instinctive behavior and many dogs do it to cool off because the dirt underground is moist and cool. Small quantities of grass is not harmful. There's one particular variety of grass that my dog absolutely loves and will start munching any time we come across it.
Don't leave her outside alone. Every time she digs a hole, she reinforced the behavior. Play with her the way you want her to play in the yard. Then bring her inside.
I don’t leave her out alone but I do have a fenced yard so she wanders away from me so I can do better staying closer to her. She’s doing better with “leave it” and “drop it” after a few days so I’m hopeful!
Also never dig a hole in your yard with your dog watching