Lucky Dog Training Videos - Correcting Behavior

First of all, it’s very normal for dogs to dig holes.  They are burrowing animals.  However, you can train your dog away from it.  Here are some tips and ideas that work for others.    1.         Training.  Your dog needs to see you as the pack leader – the one in charge who gives praise and dishes punishment when necessary.  Start by training them to sit, shake, lay down, and stay.  When they dig a hole, give a harsh, low voice “no”.  Put them in a crate for an hour and ignore them.  Increase the “time out” if it happens again.  Even if you don’t see her in the act, always follow through with corrections.  Example scenario:  You just got home from running errands and you notice a new hole, but you have no idea when it happened.  Take your dog to the hole and show them, put their face near the hole.  Give them a harsh “no” in a low deep voice, then crate them.  Dogs are very smart, they will recall what they did, even if it was days ago.      

2.         Exercise.  A tired dog won’t dig.  The rule of thumb is 5 minutes per month in age up to a max of 45 minutes twice a day.  Be careful not to do exercise that is too hard on their joints.  If you don’t have a lot of time, try taking your dog out for a bike ride with her on a leash.  This will give you less exertion while keeping the dog at a jog or run.  Most dogs will be tired out after 5-10 minutes of jogging.  Be aware that dogs need to build up to levels of exercise so don’t overdo it and always bring a bottle of water.    

3.         Stop the boredom.  Dogs get bored.  Play with your dog and give them toys to play with.  Try throwing the ball to them to play fetch for at least 10 minutes a day.  Labs will almost always naturally fetch but don’t always bring it back.  When they finally do bring it back for the first time, give her several seconds of petting and praise as a reward and you will see that she will start to retrieve it more often.  Change out their toys every day, rotating the old ones out and new ones in so that every day they have 3-4 “new” items to play with.  Try to keep the rotation to no less than 5 days that pass between playing with old toys.    

4.         Put an orange or lemon peel to their nose, if they back away, they probably don’t like it.  Bury the orange or lemon peels in the holes they’ve dug.  If this doesn’t work, bury their own poop in the areas they’ve dug.  (Not my favorite choice, but if you have a constant digger, this tends to work).    

5.         Remote control shock collar.  When you see your dog digging, shock them.  Or, if you come home to a newly dug spot, even if it’s days old.  Bring them to the hole, put their face near it, say “no!” and shock them.  Start with low shocks for the first time, then increase the shock duration and level with 2nd, 3rd offenses.  Eventually, you will get to a point where it’s no longer worth it to the dog to dig.  This might sound harsh but it works and it becomes the dog's choice to repeat offend. 

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