NEED HELP - Digging Dog - What's Best Way To Stop?

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ocdart

ocdart

Inland Mopars Car Club
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Need some help getting our new Husky to stop digging. Our last Husky wasn't a 'digger' and neither is our Rhodesian Ridgeback.
We had to put down our prior Husky about six months ago and my wife missed her terribly. We adopted our current one a couple of months ago and all has been well until just recently when she (the Husky) must have discovered the joys of digging. Needless to say, the backyard flowers are disappearing at a rapid rate and my wife is getting very frustrated by it all.
So, how do we get both the Husky and the posies to happily coexist?
One of our friends suggested sprinkling cayenne pepper in the flower beds. Another said to put their poop in the holes they dig and fill them back in. What else you got that's worked for you
 
my dogs have liked the pepper. about the only thing that has worked for us is turds in ther hole.
 
My husky is now 11 and has NEVER stopped digging. We tried everything from pepper to poop. One thing i didnt try is the shock collar. I ended up putting up a fence so she can only tear up 1/3 of the yard.

She just loves dirt as seen in the pics

I will add though, She is the best dog ive ever owned other than the digging.

m_62c2522c34606980a0f1c9510670ea31.jpg
 
My Husky digs due to bordom. As long as she gets a little attention every day, exercise, maybe a stcik to chew on, no problem. If she gets the prisoner treatment of food and fresh water only, she will dig a hole. Cant say that I blame her either.
 
It sounds like he is just plain bored. You need to take him out and run him for a few miles. I have a black lab who used to eat the vinyl siding off my house when she got bored. She's 13 years old now and will still chew on any papers left lying around if I leave her alone too long.
 
MoparLvr said:
It sounds like he is just plain bored. You need to take him out and run him for a few miles.
Click to expand...

MoparLvr -
Both you and RedFish mentioned boredom as the possible reason for the digging. Believe me she gets plenty of attention and playtime from both my wife and I, and lots of additional canine interaction and activity with our Rhodesian Ridgeback. The two dogs are always playing with each other and chasing each other either around the yard or around the house.
My wife keeps claiming the Husky is "just a puppy" at about a year-and-a-half old. I know they need lots of activity since they're working dogs and born to run and pull. But just how long does the "puppy" stage last in Huskies anyway? Anybody know?
I know different breeds have different terms of "puppyness". Seems like our Ridgeback was born an 'old man'. We got him as a rescue at one year old and only had one shoe chewed up by him. Never any digging or other destructive behavior in the house.
 
Sorry I didn't mean to insinuate that you don't give him enough attention but merely that some dogs don't like to be alone...at all!! My shepherd is going through puppy stage right now so I feel your pain lol!! I have him in obedience training now (or is it the other way around) and I look around at the other dogs and wonder why mine seems to be the only one that doesn't listen. ( Or maybe it's me that doesn't listen).
 
MoparLvr, no offense taken, it's all good.
I just wanted to say the Husky is never alone. If either my wife or I are at home then there's an open door for the dogs to go in or out at their desire. If we're both not home then both dogs are outside - unless it's either stormy or too cold, then they're crated for their own good.
We tried the obedience school thing with our prior Husky. She was a 'dropout' with my wife after the first several weeks - never would do what was being taught. I took her the following weeks and she ended up getting the "most improved" award upon graduation.
She's a great dog in all other aspects, but I've never had a breed with so much 'hardheadedness'.
 
OCDart,
We adopted a 9 week old Husky last week. It's a male, and he likes to dig too. My kids don't play in their sandbox anymore, so I put the dog in there and let him dig to his hearts content! It seems that he gets it out of his system in the soft sand, and doesn't really go for the planting beds anymore. I mean, he will if I don't stop him, but I just direct him to the sandbox and let him go to town. The sand is clean too so no muddy paws coming in the house even if it's raining.
Might be worthwhile to build one. The one I made for the kids is 8ft by 4ft with 2X8 sides, and a plywood bottom. Filled it up several years ago and it's still doing fine even through the harsh New England winters.
Good Luck with your Husky!

George
 
OC,

Turds in the holes work for my dogs. :) It helps to rattle a can full of change everytime you catch them digging too.... Dogs hate that noise.
 
ocdart said:
Need some help getting our new Husky to stop digging. Our last Husky wasn't a 'digger' and neither is our Rhodesian Ridgeback.
We had to put down our prior Husky about six months ago and my wife missed her terribly. We adopted our current one a couple of months ago and all has been well until just recently when she (the Husky) must have discovered the joys of digging. Needless to say, the backyard flowers are disappearing at a rapid rate and my wife is getting very frustrated by it all.
So, how do we get both the Husky and the posies to happily coexist?
One of our friends suggested sprinkling cayenne pepper in the flower beds. Another said to put their poop in the holes they dig and fill them back in. What else you got that's worked for you
Click to expand...

What has seemed to work for me ocdart is do not cover them back up for a while and every time he walked buy the holes and started digging he dug I would scold him :happy10: A young pup or an older dog needs a scolding to know you do care for them, it's a sign of love to most animals 8) Just reach down and grab the skin around his neck and squeeze and say no NO!! Buddy dug these two holes in about 10 minutes at my front door, Know when we walk by them he sticks his nose in it and I say no NO!! and he walks buy them know, I like the change in a can that ramcharger brought up :read2:
Buddy had his nose down on the ground in the back yard where a mole line was and he started digging and I made a few steps toward him saying no NO!! and he quit, I think digging is a good form of fun and exercise they enjoy and chewing on roots
Show them who is the boss and after a while they will quit ocdart :cheers:
Buddy still want's to dig but when he starts digging he looks me strait in the eyes and quit's , But if I am not with him he will dig 8)

We walk by these holes every morning and it helps him know that it's a no no to dig. I took this picture 5 minutes ago for you

EASTER 2010 BUDDY 063.jpg
 
The poop works good. In extreme cases I have found scaring the hell out of them works too. I had a Rott that this worked on; Wait until she is happily digging her hole and has her head stuck in, sneak up behind the pooch and hold her in the hole. Do not get too "heavy handed" just hold her head in the hole longer than she likes. If she doesn't like being in the "hole" against her own will, she will stop! My Rott was a rescued abuse case and probably the most ill-mannered beast to ever exsist and it worked for her.
 

Joe -
Thanks for the tip on the empty can. I'd heard that one before and we actually did that yesterday. It seemed to work at first, but we'll see how it goes. I told my wife the Husky will probably grab the can and bury it! LOL.

Mike -
I fully believe what you said about setting the limits for your pets. I know they're like kids and actually want to have the limits set for them. However, even when my wife scolds the dog her tone of voice doesn't give the same information. The dogs don't know all the words, just the tone of your voice.

BTW, our prior Husky was named "Juneau". I always believed she thought "NO" was just part of her name!
 
somebody told me a mouse trap or 2 might work......my black and tan coonhound would set them off and then just shake them off of his foot, tried it with Red, the guy in my avitar, and he ate the traps....so I guess they did not work#-o#-o
 
i tried a shock collar. first time he took off running. second time, he just looked around and went right back to digging. bumped up the voltage a bit, and it just made him dig faster.
 
OC..I have a Husky. My family has raised Huskies. Huskies dig because their bred to dig there enclaves in the snow. best way to slow down the digging is to get another Husky.
Huskies are serious pack animals. If he is the only animal left alone he will suffer from seperation anxiety. If your Husky is male you will never get him to stop completely especially when he is over one year old. Male Husky's are serious Alpha males. You can never train them to completely to obey.
 
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