Stop Golden Retriever From Digging

Unfortunately many Golden Retrievers love to dig-everywhere. Especially younger Goldens, they can be professional excavators. But there is hope and help available. Here are some tried and tested methods to stop your Golden Retriever from digging.

Golden Retrievers are very smart. That is one reason why you don't want to let your Golden see you or to be present when you are working in your garden. If he does, suddenly he wants to play follow the leader and dig right along side of you. If you can dig, he wonders why he can't.

But once a hole has been dug, the damage is already done, so there is no point in trying to punish your dog. He simply won't understand. Instead, what you can do is to fill the hole that he has dug back up. Only this time fill it with his own poop and put a layer of dirt over it. That should provide plenty of incentive to stop your Golden Retriever from digging.

Just as with a crate, your dog won't like to play, sleep or eat where he goes potty. It is a dog's way of house keeping. Using his own little landmines against him is just working with his natural instincts. Of course he will promptly go to a new location to start his next excavation project. That is when you start again with his poop. Eventually he will get tired of finding his own duty in the holes and stop digging.

An option to the "poopy" trap, is to try using ballons filled with water and covered in tissue paper. As he gets close to the ballon it pops and gives your Golden Retriever a reason to stop digging.

If your Golden digs in one general area frequently, at least often enough that your plants or grass don't have a chance to grow, then it might be time for something a little more drastic to stop Your Golden Retriever from digging.

Assuming the soil in this area is loose, what you can do is to remove the top two inches of soil in a fairly large area. Then lay a section of chicken wire fencing down on the ground in the area. Secure it in place with some landscaping stakes or even some short pieces of metal coat hangers bent in a "U" shape. Just push the open ends of the "U" shaped pieces straight down into the dirt but straddling the chicken wire. These pieces of wire help hold the chicken wire down when your pup starts to dig.

Once the wire is in place, cover it over with the dirt that you removed earlier. Smooth the dirt out and sit back to see what happens. The odds are that your Golden will start to dig and run into the chicken wire. It will immediately feel strange to him and cease to be fun. If he moves his excavating to a new location, you may have to move your's as well. Again, eventually he will get the message.

A dog's nails are by design, meant for digging. And digging is one way that a dog's nails would naturally be worn down. Without the wear and tear from digging, a dog's nails do grow longer just like your own. You can help out nature a bit by making sure that his nails are kept short as possible.

With shorter nails, your dog is not only going to have a harder time digging, but the digging isn't going to be as much fun because the softer tissue of his paws with be taking the brunt of the abuse.

Unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing, it would be better to have a groomer or your vet clip his nails as it is very easy to cut the nail to close and hurt him  and possibly create an infection.

Another option to stop your Golden Retriever from digging that could be tried, but it depends on your spotting him digging, is to catch him the act. When you do, make a loud noise to get his attention. The idea is to break his routine and get his mind off of what he is doing.

Leave him be and watch him to see what he does. If he starts to dig again, try the noise again. The trick with this is to not be predictable. If you make the same noise everytime, he will just block it out. You will want to use the noise in an irregular pattern to keep him on his paws. Eventually, he will hesitate because he won't know if this time that scary noise will go off or not.

If you have a hardened serial digger, it may be the better part of valor to concede a portion of your yard to him and call it a day. At that point, it would be in your best interest to build him a sand box that he can play in.

Again, you can use his natural instincts to dig in your favor by burying all sorts of cool stuff in the sand for him to find. That could be toys, chew bones, treats or whatever he likes best. That way when he does dig in "his" sandbox, it becomes a great game and lots of fun. Digging elsewhere isn't as much fun because there is no prize inside.

And finally, as with most every issue with Golden Retrievers, exercise, exercise, exercise. He is most likely bored and has a lot of energy that needs to be burned off. This may actually be the best alternative in the end and can be a lot of fun for both of you as Golden's love to play. Simply put, if he doesn't have the energy to dig, it still results in what you want which is to stop your Golden Retriever from digging.

Dog training doesn't have to be hard. But sometimes you need a little more help. You can discover that help by clicking on this link. It will take you to Secrets To Dog Training. It is a downloadable dog training course that is chock full of great ideas and tips you can use today to bring all of your dog problems to a screeching halt. Go there now!