Love to hear from the experts on this. Maybe I'm just crazy but this donned on me while watching Duggan and his habits over the last 7 months, along with people writing in about digging in the garden and scratching walls. My boy did it all. He'd walk the perimeter of our house smelling the base boards ocationally stopping to scratch certain spots. He'd frequent a favorite corner when he was in the basement. He'd dig certain spots in the driveway and garden and in the shrubs in front of the house. He'd also eat and lick and search for bugs in the sliding door track and in corners of the house where they frequented. This got me thinking, cause he has calmed down now and rarely digs at all anymore and doesn't scratch now. It all started when he learned to use his nose and was exploring everything with his mouth. He used to find cigarette butts I'd thrown in the trees and bring them to the back door. So what I'm asking is this, Is it possible he smelled bugs in the walls, worms in the garden etc. Was he hunting ? The corner in the basement he loved so much had a mouse living there we found later during renovation. The Shrubs he dug had a tunnel system for a squirrel built under the trees next to the foundation. The garden was rife with huge night crawlers and the areas I found him digging in the crushed rock driveway also held ands and spiders. Is it possible all the wall scratching and digging was just him hunting, trying learn about his new found scents. Am I daft and is this common knowledge already ??? I just see people asking why and how to stop but rarely, if ever, has anyone provided solid reasoning of why they do it. He's 8 months now and pretty much over it but I'm guilty of reinforcing the behaviour in the beginning because I was so paranoid about him becoming ill. Any thoughts? Ps. There were earwigs in the walls.
I went out with the dogs in the snow and that really helped me to see what they were interested in. It showed up animal footprints urine and just disturbed earth. Mostly wee though
Interesting! Though I would be happier if Lilly showed interest in seeing off the odd mice that appears blatently in our house
Cooper loves to dig up the compacted gravel in our back yard paths. It has to be the hardest digging around, and there can't be much under it. (they are 6+ inches deep). It is about the only place she digs.
Hmmm. Given Archie's newfound habit of digging clumps of dirt and grass up from under the snow and then eating them, I think you may be on to something! This is brand new for him. He'll be six months on Jan. 29.
I think you need to consult a paranormal exorcist, really. LOL, I bet he could hear the little critters's movements and that's what intrigued him. You should see cats, they do stuff like that all their lives. It's said when your cat stares fixedly at a spot on your wall for half an hour you'd better get your wiring checked, or call an exterminator of the bug or ghoul type, because there is SOMETHING there, you just can't see, smell or hear it.
Our cat brought alive mouse into the kitchen, before we could do anything Annie took it off Ted and ate it When I rang our vet he said she would be ok and not to worry.
Moo used to eat everything the cat would bring in mice birds koi carp and on one occasion a fillet of steak. My cat Colin had the idea that he was a lion, Moo loved him.
Wow you have a lot of guests in your house! I'm now eyeing the spot on the wall Molly licks very suspiciously!
We also have deer, fox, skunk, stray farm cats that aren't mine and raccoons. Lol. Puppy won't leave the steps at night unless I clear the area first. Lol
Bear our 10 month old kept digging in one spot, and eventually I gave up and decided he could just make it his digging spot. One day I noticed white plastic in the hole, and sure enough after cleaning some dirt out, he had been digging at the join where the old outside toilet (gone for 20 years was) that reminded me of my previous Labrador Storm (he would have been 14 last Friday, we miss him so much). I remember when he was about 6, he caught a mouse in our garage. He was very good at following commands, but when I asked him to drop it, I can still remember his look of confusion. He had swallowed it and had no idea how he was supposed to now follow that command. Possibly not his finest moment, but still a memory of our boy sorely missed.
Interesting... the skirting board that Snowie ripped off had borer beetle. But that might've made it soft enough to rip off.
