I have befriended a formerly stray dog who now mostly stays on our porch. We don’t have a fenced in yard. She digs holes next to our house and I want to stop this behavior. I’ve heard the tip about putting dog feces in the hole, but I don’t want to bring dog doo into my yard. Any common household products or techniques work to repel digging?
G’day
The dog poo trick works: you can fill the hole in and bury it: it will still prevent the dog from digging at that spot.
How old is the dog? Young dogs dig and there isn’t much you can do about it. Mature dogs only dig if they are bored. The best way to stop a dog from digging is to provide a counter-attraction. Some people recommend dog toys, but I think a view works best. My dog used to sit at my front fence watching the traffic through the wire. Now she sits or lies on the balcony watching the wildlife in the trees and on the riverbank and river–she seems endlessly fascinated.
Regards,
Agback
Cut off his legs.
The only way that we’ve found is to fill in the holes. One of our dogs is quite an excavator.
This is a middle-aged dog that is not bored and has the best view in the world. She can roam wherever she likes, has a pack of dogs to play with and can go up on the hill and see the harbor if she wants. I’m not sure she’s interested, though. She digs because it provides a nice cool place to lie down.
She only has three legs that work. I suppose I could cut off another one, but I have a feeling that would create a whole new set of problems.
Just a suggestion,
There are many kinds of neat products to help keep your doggie cool. Some are gel-filled pads that are good for dispersing heat, others are dog kennels with cool floors – good air flow and heat-dissipative materials. Either way, I’d recommend a good dog den with excellent ventilation and adequate shade.
Good luck – I tried all this with my dog, only to find out there were critters buried in all my flower beds. Boy howdy, that took me three years to figure out!
Digging is the worst vice. It’s really difficult to keep a dog from digging. Before you even try, it is important that you make sure the dog has a safe “den” to hid in, and a cool place to put its nose. That is, make sure the dog doesn’t dig to fill a need, aside from the deep-down dog need to dig.
Then, go to the library and get 20 books on dog training. Read all the suggestions for breaking the digging habit. Pick one method. Try it for six weeks. Pick another. Try it for six weeks. Continue until you find one that works or until you become accustomed to the new landscaping.
Tie it to a metal pole that is rising out of a very large flat area of concrete with the nearest dirt at least 20 feet away from the furthest length of the rope. And set up barbed wire… because it looks cool.
Hoo boy. Where I live, most of the people would give their eye teeth to have luxuries like those!
They’re just people in dog suits, after all.
cut his legs off.
nuff said
“Nikki (our dog) NO!”
“Noooo!”
“Stop it!”
“Garr!!” [chases dog]
After a couple of weeks, she got the hint and stopped it. You dog may be too old to teach though.
I’ve read dogs apparently hate the smell of citrus fruits. My dog certainly does. Try spreading orange/lemon/lime peels in the areas you don’t want dogs (and cats) to dig in. I’ve heard this really helps with cats, so it’s worth a shot for dogs too.
There’s also a plant that deters dogs (and cats).
And cayenne pepper spray will work to deter dogs. You can make a batch up in your kitchen with:
one whole garlic, crushed
1 hot onion, chopped
1 quart of hot water
2 teaspoons of crushed cayenne pepper (fresh)
2 tablespoons of hot sauce
The pet stores should also sell repellants. I strongly advise not to handle the dog’s feces unless he’s been dewormed. One parasite (hookworm ) can actually be contracted through your bare skin.
Good luck.
Dang, this sounds like it’d go great on top of some fried eggs!
My doggie still digs, but a little less. She has her favorite spots. When I went through the effort to repair these spots, I covered them with some cheap wire animal fencing, like they sell at the home stores. She hasn’t resumed digging in any of those spots yet, and I don’t see any new holes. The big question will be, am I going to have to keep all of these wire fences lying about all summer?
- Let dog dig hole (less work for you!)
- When dog is lying in hole, bury her.
- No more holes!
If I were you, I would capitalize on the hole digigng and plant some trees or bushes in the holes. I have always wanted to train my dogs to dog holes on command. So I could plant more trees.
Also, have been and still am a dog owner, I have noticed that females tend to dig more than males. I dunno why. I have always had Irish Wolfhounds and the males will dig a hole, a small one, but the females, dude, they dig a huge hole. Big enough to lie in and if you have seen an Irish Wolfhound, you know this is a big hole.