We have a 5 month old lab that won't stop digging. How can we get her to stop digging in the yard? Also she likes to bite people instead of licking them. How can we discourage her from this behavior? Thank you

Sincerely,

Scott, Jerrielynn and Joshua

Can anyone advise :-)

Hi there,
My Lab/shepard mix completely tunnelled out the entire back yard of a house I was renting years ago. From 3 to 10 months old, he decided he liked to make "dens". :rolleyes: It was worse than having gophers or prairie dogs. It looked probably like the surface of the moon with all of the holes and tunnels :) The deepest one was 20 feet long. A friend crawled in to find out :rolleyes: Before we moved, I had to have a truck dump about a half ton of dirt to make the yard safe again :)

I stopped him from digging only by crating him in my absence. That worked quite well. I'd give him a break about halfway through my shift. So he'd sleep while I was working.

It wasn't from boredom, he really loved to dig. I would take him to the river shore beach about once a week where he could dig his heart out. He was happy and the new place remained intact. Because of circumstances beyond my control, he only lived 3 years--or so I believe. So I cannot say if he would have ever outgrown this.

You can try to stop it completely by making sure your dog has no chance to dig. Or allow her to dig, but control the action for place and time. For some reason, schnauzers have "digging fits" in my family. My parents supplied them with a 2X2 carpet remnant for their short frenzy. :D

As for the biting instead of licking --- imo hands/body parts are completely off limits to any mouthing by dog. If it occurs, firmly discourage it.
Saying "no" and isolating her usually will work in time. Or you can train her to keep a toy in her mouth instead of trying for humans :) Just a couple of ideas. :)

It's up to you how you want to try to deal with these two 'issues.'

hth and good luck,
toodles

BTW, on the licking/biting problem, don't confuse the dog by making it "ok" for play and then "not ok" at any other time. She's too young to differentiate. Perhaps when she gets older it will work out, but not while she's a puppy.
Labs are supposed to have 'soft mouths' so chewing on people and their hands is a no no. It's a natural instinct to start out by licking...so that could be a sign that she's about to use her teeth.
best wishes

Ok not sure how much truth is in this but when I told my breeder about the dogs digging he told to get some dog poo and but it where they have dug and cover the ground back up. When they go to dig this is suppose to put them off! Like I said dont now if this is true as I never tried it. Instead I have allocated certain spot by there runs where digging is allowed. Its just a small patch of hard soil and they can dig till there heart is content,They come in the house after looking like the coal man but thats dogs for you. Do you think your dogs are digging out of boredom or frustration.My bitch has just came into season ans shes turned from a loving sweet dog into a grumpy snappy git. She know digs like mad outside I put it down to being frustrated but when I give her a chew bone she leaves the digging and concentrates on the bone. As for the biting peoples hand quote siberian husky book ``Biting in the more mature dogs is something that should be prevented at all costs.Should it occur I would quickly let him know in no uncertain terms that biting will be tolerrated" If your dog does'nt respond to your corrections,then he needs time out on his own leave the dog in a seperate room and do not go to the dog for say half hour sounds cruel I know but sometimes they need to think why they are being punnished. Hope this helps

Hi Scott, don`t know if you can ever stop the instinct to dig but maybe you can train her to only dig in a certain part of your garden. Try stuffing marrow bones or kongs with tasty treats & then burying them in a a part of the garden where you will allow your dog to dig(don`t let her see you) & then let her go find, retrieve & keep her stuffed treat, that should give her some exercise & then a nice reward to keep her happy for a few hours. She may need a bit of help finding it at first. Can`t help with the biting tho other than to agree with Eog & say a loud NO every time she does it.
Christine2

I've only ever had one dog that dug and boy did he dig, the place looked like a WW1 battlefield. I was at work all day and he never did it much at weekends, no he wasn't left my parents were there and let him out. Discovered my Dad was letting him out and leaving him in the garden and the devil was finding work for idle paws. As I always waited with him and let him back in I didn't see it so went away then sneaked back caught him inthe act and told him off, he was enjoying it so had to be really fierce but praise and play when he stopped. After that he was fine as long as he wasn't left too long and as he grew up he never did it again. I feel a real good telling off is better than nagging at a dog or loosing your temper, not that anyone is in this case
Anne

How about teaching her to dig on command, and providing her with her very own sand pit?

I've been very lucky, only one or my Labs was a big digger. Mandy would always start digging around 55 days after coming in season, (making a nest for her puppies!) and would stop again about 65 days after. This was a regular thing and no amount of telling her that she was not expecting ever made a jot of difference!

Bethany was the digger! When Bethany started digging I started getting requests to hire her out the channel tunnel excavators! All I can say is to tell her every single time you see her digging. Summer is always easier when you are in the garden. In winter, when she has more time in the garden on her own are when the problems start. Bethany would get out of the habit of being good and as the winter drew on her holes would get more prolific until spring sprung and people were around again to inform her about the error of her ways!

Sorry to not be of much help but I'm afraid it is a Labrador thing and anyone who has kept a number of Labradors has had a digger! Anyone who constructs a kennel with a grass run is always recommended to bury the chain link fence at least two feet into the ground!

Regards, John