Digging Doggies!

Dogs Don’t See Your Problem

Dogs consider digging to be a perfectly normal and natural doggy activity. In fact, terriers consider digging to be their very reason for being. It would therefore be fruitless to try to stop your dog from digging altogether. Prevention and treatment of misplaced digging focus on management and education: preventing your dog from digging in inappropriate areas and redirecting your dog's natural digging-desire to a suitable area.



Prevent Digging in Your Absence
When you are away from home, keep your dog indoors. When you are at home, try your best to accompany your dog outdoors to supervise and teach garden rules.Housesoiling, destructive chewing, and hyperactivity are the most common reasons why dogs are relegated to unsupervised, solitary confinement in the garden, where they predictably learn to bark, dig, and escape, and become over-excited whenever let indoors.


Digging for Freedom or Boredom 

Some dogs dig to escape because they cannot bear the boredom and anxiety of solitary confinement in the garden. Escaping is exceedingly dangerous for your dog's health. So if you decide to leave your dog in the garden, make the garden more interesting and be sure to fix the fence. Also make sure your dog has a cool resting place in the summer and warmth in the winter. Teach your dog to dissipate digging energy with other activities. Make sure your dog is well exercised (psychologically as well as physically) and entertained, and thus has no need to dig to escape from the garden. Teach recreational diggers to become recreational chewers. If your dog is busying himself with a chewtoy, he has little time to dig. Consequently, chewtoys stuffed with breakfast kibble are the best objects to leave indoors, or to bury in your dog’s digging pit. You must teach your dog how to entertain himself outdoors. This means your dog needs chewtoys outside, too.

Redirect Digging to a Digging Pit
Since you consider your dog’s choice of digging locations to be inappropriate, choose a location to your liking and teach your dog to dig there. Build your dog a digging pit (much like a child’s sandbox) in a suitable corner of the garden.Bury a meaty bone in your dog's digging pit. Your little doggie will be utterly delighted when she finds a huge meaty bone. Now, this single simple procedure may not totally prevent holes in other areas of the garden, but your dog will now be much more inclined to dig in her digging pit. Every morning, fill several chewtoys with your dog’s breakfast kibble and bury them in her digging pit. Your dog will discover that the digging pit is a virtual treasure trove where she can find toys for sustenance and entertainment.

Garden Rules
Once the dog's digging activities have been redirected to a suitable location in your garden, you might consider protecting other parts of the garden. Lay down chicken wire or chain-link fencing over the lawn and flower beds, add plenty of topsoil, and reseed.
Use boundary fences to partition the garden into doggy and non-doggy zones. The fences are not meant to be dog proof; rather, they are used as training aids to clearly demarcate lawn and garden boundaries to help you teach the rules. Always try to accompany your dog when he goes outside, especially during puppyhood or the first few months an older dog is at home. Remember, an owner in the garden is worth two in front of the television! It is not fair to keep garden rules a secret from your dog and then get angry with the dog for breaking rules he didn’t even know existed. Encourage and praise your dog for walking on paths and for lying down in dog zones. Tie a number of stuffed chewtoys to ground stakes or hang them from tree branches in dog zones to encourage your dog to want to spend time in those areas. Discourage your dog from entering non-doggy zones.

To learn more, read Doctor Dunbar's Good Little Dog Book and our Digging booklet, available on-line from www.amazon.com.  Reprinted by www.dogstardaily.com with permission of Dr. Ian Dunbar and James & Kenneth Publishers, behavior blueprint by Dr. Ian Dunbar

Managing Your Reactive Dog

The Importance of Management

Anyone that claims or even subtly implies that he/she can get your dog "fixed" or "cured" of its aggression is trying to sell you on his services.

It is much more realistic to start with the idea that you may not be able to cure his aggression, but with proper treatment and training you may be able to control your dog's aggressive tendencies, and reduce the behaviour. This means that managing your dogs behaviour in order to prevent any possible "incidents" is essential.

Apply the management and safety planning according to what your dog reacts to.

Avoid what sets your dog off

If your dog growls when you pet him on top of his head, don't pet him on top of his head!! If your dog growls at others, keep him away from others.

Desensitization and other techniques may be needed for many aggressive problems, but you need to know exactly how to do this for your particular dog. Until then, there is no point is setting your dog off. That goes for any of your dog’s aggression problems. The more your dog lunges at your neighbour’s dog, the more you strengthen and encourage that response, and the more difficult it will be to undo that reaction. You must try to prevent all aggressive outbursts or situations completely.

Crates/kennels

Invest in a crate. If you don’t normally use one and feel guilty, reassure yourself that a crate is actually similar to a den, and dogs can eventually feel safe in there. Decorate it with blankets or whatever else will make you feel better about it. It is the ideal thing when you need a break from your dog or need to protect guests. However, it should not be used for more than a few hours at a time. Trainers who rely on excessive crating to "cure" aggression, could be relying on a psychological condition similar to "learned helplessness" or depression.

A crate ought to be a safe den for the dog. Ask guests to ignore the dog when the dog is in there. Otherwise, move your dog to room where children can’t open it. Put a sign on the door for adults. Don’t rely on a baby gate. Dogs have been known to jump them, or chew through them. The benefit of a crate is that you can have your dog in the same room with you. Note: excessive crating can cause more behavioural problems

Leads

If your dog is likely to bite you or anyone else who might have to deal with it at anytime, keep a lead on it, even in the house. See headcollars in combination with leads below. It’s possible to purchase lightweight cloth leads, and snip the handle so that it doesn’t catch on anything while your dog is allowed to roam free within your house. This will allow you grab the lead instead of its collar or its body if you need to pull your dog away from anything. It will allow you to avoid getting to close to those teeth. Note: Tethering of animals may expose them to increased stress and danger.

Muzzles, head collars and harnesses

If your dog is likely to bite, you should consider investing in a muzzle now. Don’t assume that your dog will behave appropriately with a muzzle, however. A muzzle will do nothing to prevent aggressive behaviour. A muzzle will only prevent a bite. You should also condition your dog to wear it so they feel comfortable wearing it.

A head collarmay be useful (ask your trainer). This is not a muzzle. Your dog can still breathe, drink, eat, even bite if not controlled, but it makes control easy, and it is easy to prevent a bite simply by pulling on the lead.

Harnesses will not prevent biting and if the dog is aggressive it could be dangerous reaching around the neck to fit the harness. However, it is good for dogs that pull or lunge and the no-pull front attach harnesses offer more of a humane control for dogs with short snouts, where head halters won't work or where the dog hates wearing a head collar.

 

Freedom (off lead activity)

Freedom is tricky. As humans we believe that our dogs should be free to roam as they please. We avoid using crates, leashes, etc. But ask yourself; are you avoiding the use of tools like those mentioned above because of guilt or laziness? If so, reconsider what kind of threat your dog poses to others. You will feel much worse if your decisions result in your dog causing enough harm to have it put down. Remember, if your dog is behaving aggressively, whatever is provoking the aggression is also stressful to your dog.

Sometimes dog-aggressive dogs benefit from having more exercise if they are the kind of breed that needs a lot and they are not getting enough. A dog aggressive dog does not need to make friends. If you want your dog to get running exercise, consider getting it a long lead, and taking it to an area where you will not meet other dogs, or walk your dog with a head collar and lead.

Similarly a dog that is aggressive towards people should not be free to growl or snap at people, even strangers. Don't take any chances. It’s far better to be cautious then to need to put your dog down because you thought it "might be okay".

• Invest in muzzles and/or head collars.
• Under no circumstances should you dog ever be given the opportunity to escape. If the door is going to be opened, always put your dog on a lead secured to something; put him in a crate or another room.
• Ensure strangers coming to the house will not have to confront your dog however accidentally.
• Make sure your garden fences and gates are well secured. If your dog escapes anyway, you will be held liable.
• Examine any open space your dog is allowed to run in, and make sure there is no danger of anyone or anything accidentally coming into this space. Don't assume that is you are there you can ask people not to come in. Sometimes they will not listen or believe your dog is a threat. If you are at all unsure, use a long lead, and a muzzle.
• Check your leads, collars, etc. will not break.
• Never ever leave a young child alone with any dog.
• Always keep your dog in another seperate area of your home when there are other people who may potentially get bitten.
• Use a locking mechanism or hook on the doors of rooms and crates, where people cannot accidentally invade your dog’s space.
• Children have been known to open the doors of dog crates even when asked not to, so it is best to keep your dog in an area where children are not tempted.
• Children may gain unauthorized access to a fenced area where your dog is kept. Never leave your dog outside without supervision.
• Get stuck in to training your dog so when your management accidentlaly fails (it probably will at some stage) your dog will be better equiped for the situation they may find themselves in.