I've posted about this before. Hoping someone might have new insight. Snowie digs in our sofas when he wants to go to sleep. If he's particularly tired he'll dig in a sleeping spot - Persian carpet - until either he's dug enough or I tell him to go down on his blankie. This poor carpet, amazing that it is still intact! He also digs when we go out. He is not an anxious dog although perhaps he wakes up after we've gone out and misses us so he digs to self-pacify??? We never leave him alone unless he's fed and walked, and he's always on his bed and relaxed when we leave him. Anyway, we barricade all rooms with sofas or armchairs. The cherry on the top was coming home to a torn mattress in our guest bedroom (forgot to close that door). SO annoying!!!!!!!!! Any advice to stop the digging, please?
I'm sorry I have no advice but can give heaps of sympathy and understanding of your frustration and expense of replacing the mattress. Homer is a digger/scratcher too. He'll dig a bit in his own bed to settle, usually goes to bed calmly but then will dig in the middle of the night. His favourite spot when he get access is also the bed in the spare room and will dig up the duvet into a nest and snuggle down. We used to have my mums handmade quilt on that bed but we've put that away eventually. But that's all OK - the problem we have is with the anxiety scratching at the carpet upstairs. Like Snowie he'll go to his own bed and settle down before we leave the house but within 5 minutes has gone upstairs to scratch. We set up a camera to see what he gets up to. We put up a baby gate which within three days he managed to push over, blocking him from scratching only appears to make him even more anxious. It's just weekday mornings. He'll settle fine if I've been home and go out for an hour or so during the day or go for a run on Saturday morning. Our only solution is to try and change our routine so he's not left alone in the morning. So no real solution at all.
I'm not sure I can give any advice, but isn't "digging" something they do to make themselves comfortable on their beds? I don't know if it can develop into self-pacifying, but I can see how it could. Would it be possible to prevent him having access to things that matter while you are out? Cass tries to dig the sofa when she gets on it, but I don't like that, she's only allowed on it if she doesn't do that. These days I only have to say " lie down or get off" and she does stop. She is only in the kitchen with her crate/bed when we are out. When I was a kid we had a lovely Ess, I remember him getting scolded for digging under the baytree in the garden in hot weather (for the UK) , but also my Dad telling me that he was trying to find the cooler earth to make himself comfortable.
Snowie also digs in the middle of the night. I think that is because he's hot. If he's outside with me he'll dig in the soil for a cool spot. He'd prefer to be cool inside but wants to stay with me if I'm outside gardening. If I'm inside he'll never dig outside; he'll simply come inside. I think his digging before sleep is something instinctive, to make a comfy bed. But the materials he had at his disposal are not sand and grass, but carpet and blanket. Which work okay - they get bunched up and he lies down. But it's the ripping of the sofas that is so annoying. Thankfully the mattress cover just has small holes; it's still fine. But I felt very, very annoyed when I saw it. I think we need a webcam for the left-alone at home digging. Thankfully Snowie doesn't try to get through the barriers - simply bar stools on their side to block the lounge. Easy to climb over if he wanted to!
Last weekend Cooper and I were sitting in a floorless tent in the snow. I put down a waterproof dog bed for her to lie on, and she insisted on digging in the bed, so she ended up at least partly on the snow. I don't remember Tilly doing this in the snow, but she may have been cold, and I don't think Cooper was at that point.
