How do I get my 7 month old golden retriever to stop digging. He is so well behaved in every other way but this little lad is determined to dig down to Oz. If I am in the garden I can distract him with throwing his ball or playing tug etc but I can’t always be in the garden and I hate to have the doors closed in the nice weather so he can’t wander in and out. He is walked on the road once a day, has an off lead run every day, played with, has puzzle toys to keep his brain ticking over . I just don’t know what else I can do. I never expected to have a fabulously lawn/garden with a dog but I am getting fed up with the massive holes in the lawn. HELP
Hi sounds like you are entertaining him lots and doing all the right things. Maybe just before he digs give him a treat and distract and treat again. I know you can’t do this all the time but it could be a start.
Keir is a GR/Flatcoat and has digging tendencies at that age. I just distracted him with treats, toys and games every single time he went to dig. It worked, he hasn’t dug for a couple of months (He’s eleven months old now). Twiglet was also a digger but not so easily distracted so I made a corner of the garden into a sandpit digging place for her, not letting her dog anywhere else. That worked too.
I know of people who built nice sand boxes for their diggers then just redirected them to that as their designated digging spot. You can hide treats in the sand ( or dirt ) to keep them going back there instead of destroying your garden. It saves a lot of time and stress and keeps you all happy. Over time it may or may not diminish, if so then just remove the box.
Back when our black lab was about 6 months old and was digging, we were told by a dog specialist to bury dog poop in the hole and they will stop, well it worked and he is 11 now and has hasn't dug again.
