Use Astro Turf????????????

UPDATE ON MY DIGGER


After fencing a small grassy section for my furkids I find I am better to control his digging. We've had a few discussions and so far so good. I started walking out with him and standing close to see if he'll dig. He hasn't yet and I tell him what a good boy he is and tell him "lets go get a treat". Hope this continues. Currently in the process of redoing the rest of the lawn with fill dirt and seeds.

Thanks to all for suggestions and comments.

DonNH wrote:


So what brand of collar did you get? I'm looking to cure my guy of chasing cars and the neighbors' chickens.

Jimmy's doesn't have a name! (I just looked) It has a "beep" button; and an adjustable correction level: he's a really "soft" dog and doesn't have any particularly bad habits, so I usually have it set very low.

Jack the Cattle Dog has that "breed drive" and was also a chronic runaway, car-chaser, lawn-mower-attacker, etc when I first rescued him. His collar is a TriTronics; and the level of correction is adjusted with the prongs. It has a 1/2 mile range; and packs a wallop. It has been my experience that one perfectly-timed correction will stop a bad behavior forever.

The key to stopping car/chicken chasing is to make the dog think the car/chicken hurt him - just as he goes to chase, you push the button. If you have the correction set high - it WILL stop them dead in their tracks. That's when you nonchalantly step out and call the dog over, like you have no idea what just happened. Maybe even praise them for "leave the chicken".

Both of the units I have, were chosen for their range and battery usage - some units use special batteries that are unique to the unit. Mine use batteries available anywhere.

I'm putting on my flame-resistant undies because a lot of people think these shock collars are cruel. (And they ARE in the wrong hands) My reply is that it isn't near as cruel as having your dog hit by a car.....

Deb and Ed M wrote:



The good collars have adjustable settings - from just a beep or vibration;

Fortunately, a few mornings wearing the buzz collar nipped THAT one in the bud quickly.

So what brand of collar did you get? I'm looking to cure my guy of chasing cars and the neighbors' chickens.

The scraping thing is a display of DOMINANCE - the dog (male/female/neutered/any size or breed) is trying to spread its scent and mark its territory against all invaders (or inviting a member of the opposite sex to come visit). My daughter's Golden does this when visiting my house - he's too laid back to actually engage Jack in battle - but the scrape-a-thon would go on and on if I didn't put an end to it.

Yes, it's "dogs being dogs" - but so is barking/biting/digging/rolling in carrion, etc. We generally don't let our dogs do THOSE things, so I don't see what's wrong with stopping the scraping, too. And it's not hard to recognize the whole-body message of an impending scrape: head up, aggressive stance with back feet extended.... a well-timed "NO!" can stop the whole process before it begins (assuming YOU are the most dominant in the house and that's why NOT being able to stop it is the equivalent of a doggy-middle-finger directed your way)

My dogs have a designated poo area. It's just dirt covered with straw, which for some reason they love to relieve themselves on. First time I put some straw I wanted to get rid of on a pathway to keep the dust down, all my dogs ran out and started peeing and pooping on it. I'd never seen anything like it.
I take them out first thing and the little ones are on leash until they produce. First they pee, and then they poop and they each get off the leash as they start going.

They've learned that in order to get off lead to run around the yard they must "produce." The big dogs are under voice control until they do likewise, BTW. (Five dogs on leash is more than I can manage first thing in my day.) So everyone is pretty motivated to get the job done, so to speak.

Now... I feed my dogs one meal a day and one snack, and they get raw food and cooked veggie glop that creates small stools once a day. So... it may be a little more difficult for you. But if you won't want your lawn destroyed or to get into a whole deal tearing things up and trying to patch your lawn with astro-turf (or replace it, which BTW is expensive), then I'd suggest you look at some way to have them do their duty somewhere else and/or under supervision. An ex-pen or a leash or a dog run.... whatever.

If you really want to do astro-turf, I guess you do. I do know it's hot and they have had trouble on soccer fields and similar places with shoes melting. So in a hot summer climate I would not want to use it with dogs. But you'll do your own research on that.

SGTJOE wrote:
Yep, he goes and does the back feet thing. Sometimes he'll get into a barking contest with a neighbor dog and do the kicking w/o going.

Well there you go! :B
That is NOT a digger!

I was not confronted with this until I got the MinPins. It IS a LITTLE DOG THING! Genetics at it's best.

When they have to go it's a big freakin ordeal.:R Most don't want to take the time out of their fast little lives to go and when they do they do it's a big production, the kicking dance with their back feet spinning and some do bark.

I'll sound like a broken record to you but here goes.:C

Ex-pen off to the side of your yard put whatever you want under or don't and offer that small patch of grass up to the yard gods.

Put him in the expen when he needs to go. Let him pee and poop and pee again and most likely there will be a third time.

When he is done doing all the peeing pooping kicking, pick him up out of the ex-pen and let him loose in your yard and you open a cold one and enjoy your back yard.

Feel for me. I have to go thru all that with multiple dogs, while at a dog show, waiting for all their evacuation production to get over with so I am not late for the ring. I miss my Great Danes, wake them up, they lift a leg, squat and were off to the ring on time.:B

Yep, he goes and does the back feet thing. Sometimes he'll get into a barking contest with a neighbor dog and do the kicking w/o going.

SGTJOE wrote:

I guess I'm guilty for allowing him to tear the yard up. I had thought about one of those remote operated shock collars, but those things really pack a wallop. Had one go off in my hand once.

The good collars have adjustable settings - from just a beep or vibration; to "stun". If your dog is laid back enough, a simple beep might distract him enough to limit him to a scrape or two, rather than the exaggerated "burnouts" I've seen many dogs do.

And I disagree that scraping is in the DNA - Jimmy is almost 5 yrs old, and JUST learned this "trick" from Jack - he only does it when the insane Brittany 2 doors down is barking her face off at my dogs. Fortunately, a few mornings wearing the buzz collar nipped THAT one in the bud quickly.

I agree with Rock on the genetics thing. We've never had a "kicker" dog until we got this little min pin. It's not a problem at home because we do have desert landscaping with pea gravel instead of grass in front, and brick patio all over the backyard. At the park, this girl kicks dirt up with all the vigor of a ticked off bull. Also, she has really hard, solid nails, which are even more effective. We pull her off, if it is lawn, but let her do her thing if she's pottied on mulch. To try to break her of the habit would no doubt make us all neurotic. I don't know if it's a min pin thing, but it's definitely a Darcy thing. We have learned not to stand behind her and not to let our other dog stand behind her, either. :R

SGTJOE wrote:

Deb and Ed M wrote:
Try wood chips - they smell more "earthy" - and if your studly guy tosses them into the grass, they're a lot easier on the mower blades.

And no offense - but if you can't stop him from scraping while he's on the leash (?) - then yes, your bundle of love IS going to destroy your lawn. Because he's CLEARLY the Alpha in your family.....

It's not that I can't stop him on the leash, it's that I choose not to jerk the leash on him. Actually he's pretty laid back and way different then my girl Shih Tzu. He is not afraid of thunder and loves to watch fireworks, especially at the KOA in Laughlin, NV. He will sit out with me at night and follow the rockets as they go up and when they burst he gets all excited and jumps around. My girl stays inside under a blanket. He is an odd ball.

Alpha, not really as he lets the female eat, drink and receive attention before him. Kinda like a husband and wife thing.

I guess I'm guilty for allowing him to tear the yard up. I had thought about one of those remote operated shock collars, but those things really pack a wallop. Had one go off in my hand once.

Don't even think of a shock collar! And do NOT feel guilty about this IMHO it is not your fault!

I am old and have been through quite a few dogs in my life and trained 4 times more than that. I've seen them all from the killer to the pee'er to the digger.

I'm hear to tell you digging is either in their genes at birth or not.

The only thing you can attack is the 'action' itself and it must be addressed 'during' the action and only during the action. That's how dogs brains work. THAT is where you have to be real creative.

If you want to entertain a few hours of your day to try and stop it I can show you 3 things that I found to work and have passed it on to others and they had success.

First of all though does he go and then kick his back feet when he is done?
or
Does he actually dig a hole and the moves over it to go into the hole?