Welcome to Pawprint Academy, your blueprint to
raising better dogs. My name is Ryan, and I'll
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the kind of leader your dog truly needs. We do
that with our three pillar method of trust, obey,
and perform. Together, we'll show you how these
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I've got it. All right. Episode 24, digging and
yard destruction. Why dogs do it and how to stop
it. Today is going to be down and dirty quick.
Save the grass. Save the grass. Save the grass.
It's just the right season. So we're in eastern
North Carolina. And it's just the right season
for all of the grass to be super vulnerable.
Right, I mean it kind of always is over here
with the amount of sand in the soil. Right, yeah,
the grass never really grows that well. Not very
good. But regardless, we've got to save the grass.
Yep. So tonight is about digging. And there are
about a thousand things going on here. But we
are going to make it work tonight. episode 24
um we are cruising right along we are like halfway
through our one year almost halfway through i
guess we got like two more episodes like our
um our year -long um i guess schedule oh right
of trying to hit 52 podcast in a year yep yeah
we're almost there halfway there i was like what
24 26 right you know we're like a couple short
um right and speaking of math great segue um
we are sitting for our statistics for the evening
uh we just crossed 600 downloads nice we're at
601 where's the clap little Right. I don't know
which one it is. Is it this one? Nope, that's
not it. That's the wrong one. No, that's the
laugh. There it is. 601. I'm really bad at this.
I'm so sorry. Right. Well, they should have them
labeled, to be honest with you. If it's colors,
it doesn't really make sense. I'm sure that if
I had an extra, who knows how much money it was.
Oh, that's a good idea. Anywho. Right. I'm sure
that there's like a more advanced version that
has like labels and stuff on it. But I just have
a regular soundboard, whatever that is. Right.
Okay. 169 downloads in the last 30 days. Nice.
Wow. So we're going up. Yeah. We're ramping up.
We're up from the original six listeners. And
now we have... Apparently, I guess those six
listeners have been busy. So right. We like flew
through the single and double digits. Right.
So let's get into it. Digging is not. Here's
this one. This one's good. This one aligns with
the potty training one. Digging is not a spite
behavior. I hear all the time with. owners it's
like oh well they peed because they were upset
at me because i you know left them in their crate
right didn't let them or something or else um
so spite's not a behavior that the dogs are gonna
um you know a primary characteristics uh characteristic
of canines that is a human type emotion and process
so That's not what's happening. It's a functional
behavior. Digging is a functional behavior. And
it can meet needs that the dog has. It can be
relief of stress. It can be entertainment. The
dog is like, I'm bored. This is fun. It can be
prey drive. The dog could smell something underneath
the dirt. It could be an animal. Dogs hunt for
digging types of animals, rabbits and moles and
insects. Right now in eastern North Carolina,
we're dealing with worms. And so you may notice
that your dog is really in tune with the ground
when they go out. Our dogs certainly are. And
in our specific yard, it is worms. So you see
those with the, what is it called? The worm casings,
I think is what it's called. I have no idea.
I don't know anything about worms except that
they're gross. It's like the little, the little
like tiny little balls of dirt that like accumulate
on the outside of the ground. The tunnels. Yeah,
from the tunnels. And so. I learned today, actually,
that that's not a bad thing for the soil. It's
actually really good for the soil. Right, and
our dogs just like to eat it. But what's bad
for the soil is our dogs. Yeah, once a year we're
like, why are they eating dirt? Right. They're
trying to get the worms. That's what they're
trying to do. It can be prey drive. It can be
temperature regulation. They can be trying to
get to the cooler earth. They feel it on their
paw pads and on their nose when they put their
face down there. So they could be looking for
a cooler environment, especially as it gets warmer.
And then it can also just be stress reduction
because they're just like, this is a self -gratifying
behavior. Yeah. And any type of self -gratifying
behavior automatically relieves stress because
it gives them something to do. So dogs dig. Additionally,
dogs dig because it works. Right. When a dog
digs the first time, they're like, oh, that was
pretty cool. Like this. Look what I did. And
if you've ever seen a dog when they have like
dug a really big hole. they're so proud of it
yeah they're like look i almost got to china
right you see it look at it look at it um and
so when they do that they they uh right it's
something that is rewarding to the dog and they're
like yeah i did that so stopping the digging
requires removing the payoff right we've got
to like separate the dog from that payoff moment
where they're like, yeah, I'm super excited and
stoked about this. And we've got to meet their
underlying needs so that we have the ability
to actually teach an alternative rather than
constantly chase their self -gratification. Yeah.
There are some dogs that are just relentless
with it sometimes. And I know if it's one or
two holes right it's like ah man that's inconvenient
but when you have a digger like a true digger
it can get out of hand quick right for sure yeah
um right because that it just it it just expands
it goes crazy um so digging always serves a purpose
for the dog though um dogs don't do anything
and and i before i even go down that road i was
gonna finish my sentence dogs don't do anything
that's not rewarding in one frame or another
dogs don't do useless activities they don't see
the point and they're very logical they're like
that's not gonna pay off so i'm not gonna do
it um but before i go down that road the theme
you're gonna notice that there's a lot of points
on this um this being like our fourth i think
I think this is like our fourth episode of the
series about like common issues, common problems
that owners have. We talked about counter surfing
and we've talked about barking, like nuisance
barking. We've talked about a couple of these
different behaviors. Now I'm trying to rack my
brain on what last week was. Wasn't it counter
-surfing? Counter -surfing. No, it was separation
anxiety. Oh, that's right. Separation anxiety,
chewing and destructive behavior, excessive barking,
and then counter -surfing and food stealing.
Counter -surfing one is so clear in my head still
for some reason. Right, it's a big one. Those
things aside, those behaviors, all are going
to involve a little bit of management because
management is going to be one, the number one
way that we address any type of behavior we don't
want in the humane hierarchy, which is just like
the most ethical way that we can, we can treat
the dogs. We want to handle health behaviors
first, then we want to use management, then we
want to use positive reinforcement, and then
we go through the rest of the hierarchy. But
those things are always going to be the best
things to use first because there's no reason
to use more force than necessary. There's no
reason to use techniques that are more aversive
to the dog if those aren't necessary. We should
always try to just manage their experience in
the world. be kind of heads up be an athlete
about it right we we should be that leader in
the home and create a situation where they maybe
they don't have the same um things available
to them and thus they choose a different choice
that should always be the most ethical and the
highest value like choice for us um and you'll
notice that some of the things that we're going
to talk about tonight are going to sound very
similar to our barking episode and our counter
-surfing episode and all of those things. Because
a lot of times you use the same things. That's
where we're going. It's a secret. It's a secret,
but the same concept applies. All right, so we're
going to frame the issues first, and then we'll
open it up for anybody who wants to... Oops,
just kicked a whiteboard. And then we'll open
it up for anybody who wants to jump in or has
something to share. And then we'll move forward.
So digging is often driven by boredom and excess
energy. A lot of times the dog's just got nothing
else to do. And they're running around in the
backyard. More often than not, we find people
with the larger yards end up with more digging
than the smaller yards. And that usually is a
product of just supervision and access rather
than, you know, you've got more exciting things
to dig. It's more just, Oh, well the dog can
go all the way to the back of this yard and they
don't really feel like you're there. They don't
feel like there's, you know, someone watching
them or whatever. And then they're like, I'm
going to, I'm going to try this, try this. And,
and then if it works, Then they continue. Some
dogs dig to cool down or create some comfort
for themselves. So if they're outside for a very
long period of time, one, it's that same concept.
They're bored. They don't have anything to do.
They're looking for stuff to do. They're hot.
they're like i'm gonna start doing this oh wow
it's cooler under this you know this first layer
of grass and then they're digging and they're
digging and they're like oh wow it's nice and
cold down here this is cool and then it starts
to be a comfort issue and they're like oh this
is this is pretty neat i can put my face down
here and it's cooler yeah my dad has a great
dane that does that and she Like, we'll do it
under, like, the kids' play set or under, like,
back behind bushes. In, like, shaded and darker
areas. Yeah, in the shaded areas. Because she's
like, oh, this dirt is cool. But then also she
does it out of boredom because she'll go in the
middle of the yard and just dig a crater. Like,
a crater. Like, if you put your leg in it, it's,
like, up to your knee. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, she
just digs craters. Right. It's crazy. It's become
something that's been. He doesn't listen to me.
It's become something that's fun. Yeah. Or it's
rewarding through one or another. Another thing
that can come up is prey drive, prey drive triggers.
So digging when animals are present underground
is something that's real hard to turn off. Right,
because it's really common in like hound breeds
and like stripper breeds. Right, the dogs smell
something or they hear something or worse, they
see something. Right. They see something move.
Right. And then it goes under the ground and
they're like, oh, I'm going to get this. The.
Before I go on. Right. Well, also with the prey
drive thing, they I keep keeps saying that it's
bothering me. I keep going. Oh. And I'm trying
to think and I'm looking at you and then. Getting
lost on the page. Yeah, I get lost on the page.
So with the prey drive triggers, sometimes when
a dog first digs under a fence, it's related
to an animal or an insect or something that went
under that fence. A lot of times that's the first.
way that they like put all of that together yep
then they realized oh i can dig under this fence
and then they continue right huskies are really
known for that they're like escape artists and
australian shepherds yeah and australian shepherds
yeah but yeah i mean there's like things that
we don't even think about right lizards is a
really big one yes sometimes we'll hear our dogs
and they're like going crazy for a second we're
like what is happening and then we like see stuff
and it's like well there's nothing there right
it's because it's probably a lizard or a frog
or something like that that's like causing a
ruckus. Even little snakes. Yeah. Or like those
salamander things. I guess that's a lizard. Yeah,
sure. Yeah, I don't know. But those things are
weird. We're into dogs. We don't do the lizard
stuff. Yeah, I don't do reptiles. We don't do
reptiles. The next thing, stress and frustration
can also lead to repetitive digging. When a dog
is stressed and they find that This is a repetitive
behavior that is similar to if you're in a meeting
and you're kind of stressed at work and you're
just tapping a pen or you're clicking a pen and
you just find that that movement or you're tapping
your foot. Yeah. Right. This is that repetitive
behavior that oftentimes presents because you're
stressed. Yeah. and we do it but then our dogs
do it and we're like ah they just don't relate
the the amount of effort that you're gonna have
to put in to regrow the grass they don't get
it yeah and it's for us it becomes like autonomous
right it's like we don't even notice we're doing
it sometimes and then somebody's like hey can
you stop doing that and you're like oh i didn't
even realize i was doing it oh sorry yeah and
that's the same way with dogs it's like dogs
get into it and they just it becomes such a strong
built like pattern Because we always say dogs
are pattern based. Like it becomes just this
thing that they're just like, I go outside, I
dig. I go outside, I dig. And anything that they
rehearse over and over to build that pattern,
then it becomes a habit. Yep. And it might not
become a habit because it was so rewarding. It
can also just become a habit because that's just
what they do. Yeah. It wasn't negative. It was
neutral. Right, especially if there's no other
activities in the backyard, right? Because, I
mean, I've never seen a dog just randomly stop
on a walk to dig, you know? Typically not. Yeah,
typically it's just in the backyard that you
see people have a problem. Right, because they
have so much more access to other things that
can draw their attention on a walk. Yeah, exactly.
They're sniffing and they're looking. That's
the other one. But that's just fun. Yes. But
that also comes from the fact that when they're
stepping in the sand, their paws are going under
the sand. And so they're perceiving that and
they're like, oh, what else is under here? Right,
and it's way cooler underneath the top layer.
Correct. And that can precipitate a lot of those
things. Owners. um let's talk about why these
fixes fail so owners oftentimes we react to the
holes instead of changing the actual system and
that's in place so we see the holes and we're
like oh my gosh what are we doing we got to fix
this but what actually gets fixed because just
telling the dog no don't dig no don't dig that
doesn't solve the problem right Punishment after
digging doesn't teach anything. Nope, it's just
like the potty training. Yep. So when we allow
the dog, and allow is a strong word, because
most people are like, well, I'm not allowing
it. Well, unfortunately, if we're... If we are
becoming neutral to the situation that is then
becoming the whole, then we're allowing it. The
dog is not perceiving that you're not allowing
it. Because to them, everything is supposed to
be earned and we create that concept in the house.
But then when they go outside, then everything
that they're doing. They're kind of assuming
is acceptable. Right. And if you're not there
to tell them and they just get to go in the yard
on their own without you around and, and do it
over and over again, it's like, right. They,
I always tell people a dog doesn't know what
you don't tell them not to do. They only know
what to do and they create their own things.
And so if you don't say, Hey, don't do that.
I don't like that. Then they just think that
they're allowed to do it. And so it's definitely
being unsupervised in the yard that really just
like ingrains the fact that they can just do
it over and over and over and get away with it.
Because even if you are like thinking that you're
punishing the dog after the fact, the dog is
not seeing that as a punishment. They already
got away with it. It's just like counter surfing
because if they already ate the steak, they already
ate the steak. Like there's nothing we can do
to take that back. Yeah. The excess freedom is
going to also exemplify that or amplify that
is the right word. So the more freedom that we
give them, the less supervision we give them,
it increases their opportunities. Yeah, especially
when it comes to like puppies, right? We always
just like, cool, I know it might feel weird to
leash up your puppy into the backyard, but it's
going to save you a lot of stress. Puppies will
for sure get into things in a yard. And then
random exercise misses. So a random exercise,
what that means, I didn't finish my sentence.
Random exercise misses the root cause. The concept
of just, oh, well, they're digging here, so let's
go for a walk. Right. Or, hey, they're doing
this thing. It just started out of nowhere, so
now I'm going to increase their activity. Yeah.
We've got to be proactive about it, so we've
got to reverse that. By being proactive and working
them out. Throughout the day, but also but on
a schedule so that they kind of are at a kind
of a standard load of exercise and and effort
that will help to tax the system and decrease
that hormonal. you know, feel of, of stress and
anxiety and all of these other things that they
feel where they're like, I need to do something.
And I'm moving my hands wildly while I say this,
right? Cause I'm like, right. When you get that
like energy pent up and you're like, I just need
to do something. I just need to do something.
Well, that's the same concept. It's the same
concept. And we got to be proactive about that
because randomly increasing their exercise is
what misses that root cause. Yeah, for sure.
Because if you're not tying the exercises to
why they're digging, and like you said, just
taking them on a random walk, that's not matching
what they are showing you that they have a drive
for. And every dog is going to have that different
level, that different plateau where you have
to meet that in order to get a calm dog. So you
have to dial that in. ideally before these behavior
things pop up. Yeah. You gotta, that's one of
those things that like when they're puppies and
they're growing up, you gotta dial that in. Yeah,
for sure. Puppies are, uh, you gotta start early.
So, um, a, our Dutch shepherd versus our Frenchie.
Two totally different dogs, different drives,
different leg lengths and different endurance
levels. Same attitude. Same attitude. Nice. So
we need to, there are some dogs that are just
going to be that higher energy load and you've
got to tucker that out so that the dog feels
like they have an outlet to get that nervous
energy out, to get that pent up frustration out.
And to really like have that nice calm bass line.
Yeah. Yeah, he takes a lot of working out before
we get to do something. Right, and it's an everyday
thing. It's like that's just he has to get up.
That's why we got a treadmill. He's got to get
up, and he's got to bite a couple of things,
and he's got to jump on the treadmill, and he's
got to run for a little bit. Right, for him,
yeah, he loves to just carry something in his
mouth. So the treadmill with like a bite pillow
is a really good combo for him, but he also needs
to play tug, and he also needs to walk slow on
that treadmill to slow down. his brain down but
yeah he takes it's like we have to create so
many activities it's like a daycare like worker
for like preschool kids it's like okay we're
gonna color and then we're gonna nap and then
we're gonna eat and we're gonna take a pie break
and we're gonna go outside right because otherwise
guess what we have to deal with in the backyard
digging yeah right yep he dug he he's a digger
for sure right he loves to dig but you know what
when he doesn't right he doesn't dig All the
time. Yeah. He digs very, very selectively. But
he digs when we don't give him an outlet. Yep.
He digs when we leave him outside for too long
on his own, unsupervised, when he's like, nah,
I'm going to get into something. I'm going to
go to China. I'm going to find something to do.
Right. And then once he has started that process
of digging. Yeah. Oh, then it's on. Right. And
he started early. Because then it's that repetitive
behavior. He's like, I'm just going to go. So
he started early. He started digging in his kennel
like first. Like that was what he first started
doing with that motion and the like repetitiveness.
Loves to try to dig out of his kennel. Right.
He is like, I'm going to get out of this metal
kennel that's the strongest one ever made. I'm
going to do it. Today's the day. Yeah. Never
got out of it. Also, every time you give him
a place bed, he digs on it. I just let him, you
know, have, well. Only if you give him a cushioned
one. He has a mesh one. He never really digs
on that one much. But you put him on a cushioned
one, he immediately starts digging. And he's
like, this is so fun. He just like, he loves
it because he's driven. And he's like, yeah,
it's the same as like running for him. Yeah,
got to do something. Yeah, got to do it. All
right. So I want to take a... quick break from
uh driving on so we've kind of framed the problem
we've talked about those things does anybody
have anything they want to add um or any group
discussion we want to open it up for some group
discussion anything that we didn't talk about
other reasons why maybe you've seen your dogs
dig or um or even do other type of repetitive
um, repetitive type behaviors in the house. I
will open it up here just for a minute. If anybody
wants to pipe up and, uh, and jump into the conversation.
Neighbor dogs. Hey Ryan. Hey. Hey. Um, you know,
our backyard, we have these short fences and
we have these two dogs in the back. So they're
coming up to the, you know, I used to dig when
she was younger, but she really doesn't dig at
all anymore. But if those dogs are out there
and they're at the fence, like they're about
to ram through the thing, then she'll go out
there and start digging at that. Is that basically
the same kind of thing you're talking about?
Yeah, so that could just be a stress response
or a reaction response to that, you know, those
dogs coming over. Is she trying to, is she like
going under the fences? She's like trying to
get out to them? No, they're coming out of it.
They're actually... They've actually gotten where
they're pulling off pieces of the boards. They're
that aggressive to her. But usually if I go out
there and I see they're out there, I'll get her
back inside so they can have their time outside
and she can have her time outside. If they happen
to be out there and she needs to go to the bathroom
and she makes a beeline over there, she's gotten
really good about, I'll just sit there and say,
Chenoa. I'll do the leave it like you guys taught
us. And I say, leave it. And she, she looks at
me and she's thinking like, but I want to. Right.
Yeah. Sometimes she, you know, and there's times
that she still walks over there, but for sure.
A lot of times she'll just, she will leave it
and just go and do her thing in our backyard
and not even deal with it. But if we, but it's
not a situation where we've gotten to the point
where we can leave her outside. She just walks
around and she'll even actually lay in the, now
that it's getting warmer. She'll just go out
there and lay in the grass and enjoy the sun.
But if they're out there, I can't leave her because,
you know, she's free. It's like you said, she's
free and no supervision. She's going to do what
she wants to do. Right. with the uh with because
of that stimulation over there so yeah that's
a tough one right you can only expect so much
of your dog in a situation where other dogs are
kind of like provoking them right it's like humans
if somebody is like hey hey hey hey hey eventually
you're gonna like snap right you're like get
out of my face get out of here go away so that
is a tough one um really i think you're i think
you're doing a great job of like if you're able
to stagger them like you're doing, I think that's
a really good idea. And if she's going out there
and behaving how she should when she's not being
provoked by those dogs, then I think she's making
great choices, but it sounds like those dogs
technically aren't. Right. They're wild. Yeah.
When they're pulling the wood off of the fence,
do you... My brain is like going on, what do
we do about that? There's a piece of board that
was out there, and there was one area that was
really bad. So when winter came along, I just
put all the pots for the plants. I had this loose
board that was just laying back there. I put
it over the area that was really bad. And just
put these pots in front of it. And that seemed
to be the trick. But now they found another area
of the fence. I only have so many pots I can
block it with. I was thinking, what if you could
staple some chicken wire or something over...
So that and they also they make this stuff now
that actually like stakes into the ground a little
bit. And it's actually built for dogs that dig
out of their fences. It kind of it goes into
the ground just a little bit, but it's kind of
like chicken wire. But it keeps it kind of anchored
into the ground. So it'll keep them from going
like just straight under it where like the fence
kind of posts go. And then it also covers some
of the area above the ground too. But yeah, I
think a lot of people use chicken wire or some
sort of like something besides wood, right? Wood
is a very easy thing for dogs. And it's also
like a lot of dogs love to chew on wood. So it's
really easy for them to kind of gravitate towards
that. So if you can do something like metal or
wire, that will probably help you guys out. There
is the area on the other side of the fence where
one neighbor, he has the small dogs, and they're
the yappy dogs that would bark all the time.
And she used to go over there quite a bit, but
he hasn't been leaving his dogs out. But I went
over there, I was getting her away from my nose.
They actually, the previous people that lived
here, they buried bricks. Ah, yep, I've seen
that. So I'm going to figure several things out
because I've got this one area. They're moving
in June. He's a military soldier. I was about
to say, I for sure have him expense that out.
Yeah, whatever you do. It's not often that you
have to deal with other dogs digging into your
yard. Right, that is different. Usually it's
your dog that has to. Technically, I guess it's
my fence, so they're damaging my fence. Exactly,
that's why I'm like, yeah, they sound like they
should be installing something for you. Own the
fence. Yeah. If you see, if she's only digging
when those dogs are coming over, it probably
is related to a, I need to do something about
this. And then, you know, it's kind of reactionary.
She wants to interact with them. I know she does.
And the problem is that these dogs, and I've
held her up there to see them. But they've actually
been at her, so they're aggressive. I think you
met the one, but now he's got another one over
there that's even worse than the other one. Gotcha.
Well, it sounds like you're doing the right type
of management where you're just not leaving her
unsupervised and you're giving her other outlets
in order to not stay out there in order to make
those bad decisions. So that definitely is the
right track to be on, especially when you can't
control. whether someone else is leaving their
dogs there. Right, and at least you have an end
date and an end in sight for hopefully you won't
get neighbors with dogs like that next. Yeah.
You just start throwing our business card over
the fence every time they start eating your wood.
I'm going to staple it. Staple it to the inside
of the fence. Yeah, there you go. I've actually
told them about you guys. I tell everybody, I'm
like, hey, here, this is the person you need
to contact. Awesome. Thanks, Cliff. We appreciate
that. Thanks for sharing. I appreciate you sharing
your experience. All right. Anybody else got
anything to share? And then we'll move forward
with some solutions here. All right. I shared
the only one I had, which is my dad's. Great
Dane that digs. But yeah, hers is definitely
for comfort and coolness. Yeah. Hey, Ryan. It's
Fatima. Hey. Hey. So with Bubba. Don't you rat
Bubba out. Yeah. The little rowdy one. He's like
when he goes outside. I didn't do nothing. He's
good. But one thing I'm having like trouble with.
Well, I've been using like the little yank on
the leash and no. And then like taking him somewhere
else. But whenever he goes outside, he literally
like puts his nose into the dirt and tries to
like follow the ants or whatever bug he could
see. That's that prey drive. I think one time
I had to literally like take a bug out of his
mouth because I was like, oh my God, what's going
on? And he was trying to eat it. So I have no
idea how to like stop him other than the little
like tug at the leash and saying no. Yeah, so
you're talking about when he's, like, on a walk
or when he's out in the back going potty? When
he's out on a walk, like, it could be outside
pottying. It could be, like, most of these days
because of his energy and me trying to get his
energy out, I would take him out on a run with
me. And he would, like, stop mid -run and then
see the grass or see a bug or something. And
then he would... run to the grass and just put
his nose in there and start like trying to dig.
And I'm like, I don't know what to do with you,
buddy. So my favorite, um, my favorite thing
to say to that is, and I try to always say it
as a joke, um, because the, um, because I always
want to support owners. Right. But I, I can't
help but ask. If you're in the middle of the
run, how can he physically, how can he stop,
right? Because you have quite a bit of weight
on him. He should not be able to stop you, right?
Sometimes he scares me because I'm like, oh,
shoot, he needs to go to the bathroom. So I'm
like, okay, I'll let you go because he's tugging
at it. And I'm like, okay, and then. Kind of
low key tricks me. Yeah, that sounds like it
sounds like that's exactly what I that's why
I joke about it, because it sounds like he is
tricking you to be like, actually, actually,
I need to do this. And then he's like. Just kidding.
So for starters, you can start off by making
sure that you give him a potty break before you
start that run so that then you know that he's
already gone and he won't have to go on the run.
So if he goes to stop, it's like, no, no, we
already went potty. Because that's another concept
of like if he's a male dog and it isn't going
to get fixed, right? At some point, he'll start
marking things and he'll stop every five seconds
if you allow him to. Right. And at that point,
it's like, well, this is mine and this is mine
and this is mine and this is mine. And he's not
even peeing. on it anymore he's just like well
i i think i am i feel like i am so i'd say give
him that potty break first that way you're confident
just like when you put him in a crate that he's
already gone and you don't have to stop for him
and then that's go ahead that's what he's been
doing recently like every time he goes outside
he quote -unquote peas but he's not peeing yeah
he's just marking every single area and then
he's getting to the right age that's what he's
gonna start doing boy dog he's like oh mom just
gonna pee everywhere and then sniff and kind
of like take every single bug i see there's like
yeah ants that were walking by and he was following
them so like the management strategy to this
um to answer your question and just answer it
matter of fact the management strategy to this
is to not allow him to stop you and so that and
that means that if you're still moving forward
that i know for a fact that bubba is what is
he like 30 pounds yeah maybe maybe that 35 pounds.
Okay. All right. So you for sure. In order for
a 35 pound dog to stop you, we have to basically
allow them to stop us. Right. Yeah. And so because
as as an adult male or female, we should be able
to just drive forward. And so what it ends up
being is that. Like you said, he tricks you.
You're like, oh, well, I need to let him do this.
Well, I would say that you probably don't, especially
if you're letting him go ahead of time before
that run. I would just not don't let him stop.
You don't let him pancake out and start sniffing.
And that way you don't have to turn off the prey
drive once it starts. Okay. And then for, like,
instances where you're just letting him go potty
and you're not on a run, right? He's on his own
time. You're in our training. and I think you've
got it coming up in your next lesson, leave it
is going to be a good one for items like that.
If he goes to like pull at something or things
that he's not allowed to have, that's where we
introduce that command. Just like Cliff was talking
about with Chenoa, where you can tell them to
leave it and then you can reward them yourself
for leaving objects alone. Yep. Okay. That makes
sense. I'll do that with him. Perfect. Awesome.
Thank you. Yeah, thanks for the input. I appreciate
you jumping in there. All right, so now let's
talk about how to stop the digging and how to
protect your yard. Because that is... paramount
importance right don't ask us about what types
of grass first off first of all we having four
dogs we have 27 blends of grass very little grass
in the backyard but we're trying we're trying
hard okay so control number one control the rehear
we need to control the rehearsal of these behaviors
and so let's talk about how we do that one we
supervise one we supervise all Yard time. This
is identical to all of these other bad behavior
type things that we've talked about in previous
weeks. We have to supervise. If you aren't there
and you're not watching, you can affect a change.
And that's just the unfortunate reality. I totally
empathize with the concept that, hey, things
are busy. You can't watch your dog all the time.
Yep. I understand. But if you can't watch your
dog, you also can't really keep them from digging
in a fair and ethical way. We've got to interrupt
the digging as it's happening and prevent it
with supervision. Number two. We can provide
replacement behaviors outdoors. And here's where
we start to get into how we can actually prevent
it, whether you're watching it or not. We can
reward and provide replacement behaviors. By
giving your dog something else to do outside,
you create another something for the dog to do
instead. And so instead of them... being bored
out of their minds um there are these things
uh called jolly balls um they're kind of like
these big plastic weighted balls that a dog can
like push around and they can't really bite so
they can't like get their mouth around it because
it's it's like 12 inches around or 12 inches
in diameter and there's some with handles and
a bunch of different things but there's um something
that you can get your dog to allow them to interact
with something to be less bored. Yeah. Right.
That's what we're talking about here. Did you
get through the legal digging outlet? Did you
give an example of one? No, no, we haven't. We
haven't done that yet. Okay, go ahead. That's
the next. Oh, go for it. Yeah. All right. So
the next, the next one is create a legal, a legal,
you did create. An allowed digging outlet. A
legal one. Right. It's illegal. It's illegal
over here. It's illegal over here. It makes sense
to me. Right. So create a area for your dog to
be able to dig. Now, this is controversial. Legal.
Illegal. Right. Because some people are like,
well, I don't want my dog to dig anywhere. Okay.
I got it. But if you've got a terrier. Right.
A dog who was literally bred and selected for
their digging abilities and then bred over generations
to improve those digging and sniffing and seeking
out abilities, that prey drive. Well, you might
not witness. They're for sure going to do it
to your couch because I've seen that a million
times. It's important to talk about this, though,
that the dog that you have directly influences
how you're going to approach this. If you've
got a dog that by their nature is bred to dig,
you are going to have to take a different approach
than someone with a French Bulldog. Right. That's
like saying your bulldog like isn't like you
don't you don't want them to bite anything ever.
Right. It's like I don't I'm not I'm not sure
what you think that those fat jowls were made
for, but they were for sure made for biting.
Right. So they're going to bite bread and selected
for that. Yeah. So also legal digging. I'm so
excited. Only because nobody ever really thinks
of this one. It's such a genius one. And and
some dogs will like it and some dogs won't. It
depends on your dog. Lay it on us. The nail boards.
Have you ever seen those? Yes. It's literally
a slanted piece of sandpaper that trims your
dog's nails, grinds them as they dig. Some dogs
love it. Some dogs won't touch it. They're going
to be like, what? But it's a digging behavior.
It's that repetitive digging behavior. It solves
two problems for you at the same time. How would
you institute it, though? Right. I was going
to say, you might have to mark some dicking first.
Give them some legal digging area. Yeah, give
them some legal digging area to market so that
you can like put it on cue and shape it and things
like that. Right. So when you create a, I can't
stop saying it. I know. When you create a legal
digging area, you can also start teaching your
dog to dig there. Yeah. And how do we do that?
Well, you can put something in the ground that
they can dig up. Yeah. Put something that smells
good, right? Take like a bone or take a Kong
with some peanut butter or something that's yummy
smelling in it and put it just below the surface.
And then in, but only in that area. Another thing,
another trick here is that create a boundary
to this area. So it needs to have some sort of
visible boundary, whether it's like. a literal
like bordered flower bed or you've got some decorative
brick around it or a sandbox. All of those things
are options for legal digging areas. A sandbox,
a kid's sandbox is an excellent, excellent option
because you can put that on concrete. You can
put that on the back porch and it's like, no,
no, you can dig in here, but you can't dig in
the grass. That way it's even more. effective
because now the sand and the dirt have two different
feels to it and you're like no don't dig in the
grass here dig here and then you reward it this
is the same concept as teaching a dog that's
very bitey to bite a tug toy and not bite your
hand yeah right it's like no no that feels very
different when you bite me you bite a person
or a hand that feels very different than you
biting this plush like uh, tug toy. Yeah. And
hiding something of value is going to be super
easy because if you have a dog that digs already
90 % chance, you have a dog that takes their
items and buries their items because they wanted
to get up later. They're like, I'm going to save
that. And I, it's going to be so fun. I'm going
to wait, but I can't, it's going to be so fun.
I'm going to leave it here. I'm going to come
back. Um, the next thing that we can do is we
can increase their structured exercise. So, uh,
going for those, Before I go down that road,
a walk is not usually sufficient exercise for
a dog that needs more exercise. Right. It's not
a replacement exercise for digging. Correct.
it's still a starting point, right? When you
like even run a dog, you don't just immediately
go to running because a dog still needs to like
stretch out and like move its limbs and like
get everything moving before they can like pick
up the pace. So a walk isn't necessarily just
for the exercise. It's like a warmup. It's like
a preparation for other activities that can meet
that drive. Right. And where I'm going with this
is that, The exercise that we do is not just
physical in nature. It's mental. Right, we make
dogs do things on walks. Right, so when I say
increased structured exercise, I'm not just talking
about running your dog, getting their heart rate
up, like we think of exercise. We're also talking
about snuffle mats. We're also talking about
food hunting, like hunting for food in sniff
games. We're talking about scent work. We're
talking about bite work. We're talking about
things that challenge the dog mentally. The reason...
I want to frame it that way because most, I don't
want to pigeonhole everyone into most people,
but a lot of owners, when I talk to them about
exercise, they immediately think of, oh, I need
to go for two walks a day instead of one. That's
not what I'm saying. I'm saying exercise. And
that can be mental exercise. Just as much as
physical. The actual physical exercise of going
for a walk is good, but it is not a replacement
of mental stimulation. Right. And it can be as
intense as teaching your dog something new, right?
We teach basics to most people. but dogs can
do such cool tricks. Like I watched one of our
clients the other day, they did like the bang
with the like finger gun and their dog like fell
on their side. And I was like, Oh my God, I can
not. That's so cute. Right. And it's, those are
the things like, I don't even like get to teach
dogs. Right. Cause I'm so busy like teaching
all the basics, but you can work your dog through
those things. If you, if you know the basics
of how to teach your dog to sit that. we have
taught most of our clients anyways, you can take
those instances and move it into fun, like little
games. Our biggest thing is teaching that communication.
Yeah. So that then you can then apply it to everything.
Right. But it doesn't stop at like, sit down,
place, leave it, come here, do whatever. It's
like, cool. Pull out a finger gun and be like,
bang. And start teaching your dog to like roll
on its side. That's the cutest. Teach your dog
to roll over. Right. What happened to roll over?
I haven't seen that one in a long time. Right.
Well, right. Checkers does it by herself. That's
why I think of it. Cause like she naturally rolls
over and if we just clicked it a few times, she'd
have it in a heartbeat and it would be on command.
Right. But you can go on YouTube and you can
pull up a thousand different skills and games
and things that you can do with your dog. Right.
Or text us and message us or whatever. And we'll
give you some ideas. Teach your dog to jump off
of things. Right. To jump onto things. They love
to parkour. Yeah. To jump over things, to jump
over your finger in a slowly graduated, you know,
height. You can teach them to jump, to bounce
off of things, to like rebound off of, you know,
the. A tree or a wall. Teach them to go around
something. Yeah, that's a fun one. That one's
fun. I did get to do that one with an Aussie
one time, and it was like out and around, which
was just like teaching it to go one way around
a cone and then back the other way around the
cone. That was a good one. I loved that one.
Right, but those things are so cool because they're
all mentally stimulating. Yeah. I watched a video
of a pug the other day. You never see pugs doing
anything. This pug was like in the basement with
the guy, and there were like... I saw that one.
You're right. There were like tires set up and
he jumped over one and then through the other
two. And then he was doing the rebounds. Yeah.
He rebounded off the wall and then he was jumping
onto like a bench for like workout stuff. And
he just did like a whole relay like in the basement.
It's like, cool. You don't need specialized equipment.
Like if you grab a couple of cones from Walmart
and a broomstick and stick them through the holes
of those cones, you can make a little like, what
is it called? a little thing like an agility
um a jump my brain is done i don't know what
it's called there's a name for it i don't know
but yeah you can build a little jump that your
dog can like learn how to go over under or weave
around you know i've used like different little
bottles that i've set up a hurdle thank you gosh
that was never gonna come to me i wasn't even
on the tip of my tongue at all But you can use
everyday household items to teach your dog cool
new things. I love touch. That's my other favorite.
That's a fun one. Touch is a really great one.
It's so fun. I know we've gone way off the side
here. Sorry. Do you have any science lessons?
We didn't do any science lessons. I don't have
any science lessons. Just play fun games with
your dog. So play fun games with your dog. Teach
them new things. Touch is super fun. Yeah. teach
touch with either a targeting device which is
like a like a little ball on the end of a like
a microscopic stick is that what it's called
micro microscopic telescopic telescopic yeah
on a telescoping uh stick right you can another
really successful my brain is toast regardless
of that one we're gonna set that one to the side
the What we can do is we can teach a dog to touch
a post -it note. And then you can take that post
-it note and you can put it on everything. Yeah,
you can teach your dog to turn on a light. Right.
That's how you do it. We got one of those automatic
like treat feeders where we teach them like the
dog touches the button and the food dispenses
out of this little like thing on the other side
of the room. The dog's running back and forth
and then they're like, oh my gosh, I found this
magic button over here and it spits out food
way over here. So many dogs love that. And that's
like mental exercise and physical exercise at
the same time. It's like feed your dog breakfast
that way and tell me how tired they are when
they're done. Yeah, for sure. Those are all things
to bring this back to digging. All of those things
are things that we can increase their mental
stimulation and fulfillment in all these things
that reduce at least three of the main reasons
why a dog starts digging. We decrease boredom.
We decrease that. Let me go back to the very
first thing. Right. Not so much the prey drive,
but the stress reduction. Oh, okay. Right? Relief,
entertainment, stress reduction. All of those
things were things that we named on the very,
very beginning of this episode. The last thing
that we do is we reward their calm, good choices.
Because we've got to reward them when they're
making good choices. And that can be as simple
as them not digging. Yep. Right? Give them, like,
cool. I left you for 20 seconds out there and
you didn't dig? Awesome. Great job. Let me throw
a ball for you. Hey, awesome. Let me do this.
Let me do that. All of those things, we've got
to give them some enrichment. that came from
the fact that they were successful and they didn't
go off and invent their own activities. Yep.
All right. With that, let's open it up for any
additional questions, comments, concerns, anything
from anyone who is listening right now. I'll
give you just a minute and then we'll go right
into listener projects. Nothing. All right. And
listener project number one, structured yard
time reset. So we want to not leave the dog unsupervised.
Yeah, supervised yard time only. Supervised yard
time only. And we're going to set a time. So
cool. Set five days, six days, seven days, whatever
it is. We are not going to leave them unsupervised
for that amount of time. Set a goal for yourself
so that it's not like, oh, this is my new life.
I can never leave them in the backyard. No, it's
not forever. We just need to break down some
patterns. If you've got a chronic digger, you've
got to start with, cool, three days. For three
days, I am not going to leave them unsupervised.
The way that we change anything, this is where
we go back to all of these other previous podcast
episodes. The way we change any behavior is by
letting behaviors die out by not repeating them.
So we need to supervise them because there's
very, very few owners that ever contact me and
they're like, my dog digs incessantly. Every
time that I go in the backyard and watch them.
Yeah. That's not usually the call that I get.
So watch them and engage them and let those patterns
start to weaken naturally in the dog's brain.
Then we can affect a change. Additionally, if
your dog is a chronic digger, because it's not
impossible. It's like, yeah, they go outside,
they dig. They don't care whether I'm there or
not. Cool. Put them on a leash. You got to maintain
some accountability. Put them on a long line.
And then if they do dig, we're going to interrupt
it. Interrupt the digging calmly and redirect
them towards a behavior that you do want. Don't
just tell them, no, don't do that. No, don't
do that. Tell them, no, don't do that. And then
give them that redirection. Do this instead.
And then keep track. Keep track of your attempts.
Keep track of your progress. Actually write something
down and journal. When we get to May 1st and
we get to our launch date for the Pawprint Academy
app, I am super, super excited for people to
start using this. The app and the AI features
and all of the planning and the courses, it's
all built around a simple concept, which is logging
and journaling. If you journal and you keep track
of your dog and you just keep track of where
you are, you will make more progress. 100 % across
the board. But you've got to know where you are
in order to decide where to go. You cannot get
where you're going by looking in the rearview
mirror. All right, project number two, outdoor
default behavior. So let's choose a place down
or a check -in, right? Choose something that
you want your dog to do and then practice that
outside when the dog normally would be digging.
So put a place bed outside. Ask for a down. Ask
the dog to come check in with you. Play fetch.
Something, but do it reliably, consistently,
and replace the bad behavior with that new behavior.
Practice it daily. Practice it outside. Practice
it in replacement of that bad behavior, that
digging. reward that good behavior. Yep. That's
how we're going to make that change. All right.
That's what we got for you tonight. Thanks for
tuning in. Uh, if you are listening on, uh, Spotify
podcasts or, uh, what Amazon has their own thing.
If you're on the RSS feed, wherever you are,
if you're listening on Apple podcasts, give us
a rating. Let us know how we're doing. Leave
us a comment. Leave us a message. Send me an
email at ryan at topdogtrainingnc .com. Let me
know how I'm doing. Let me know what I can do
better. I am always, always, always striving
to get better. I got a thick skin, so if you
can't hear us or the sound's not leveled out
or something like that, hey, let me know because
I won't know if you don't tell me. Thanks for
tuning in. Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting
us. I hope that you have a great night. With
that, good night. Good night.