Category: Top Dog

Context: We've had puppy for almost 2 weeks, he's about 4mo mixed breed (probably black lab + some hound). He's a stray rescue. We rent a town house with a small yard. He's never unsupervised when awake, including when he's in the yard.

The problem: There are two spots in our yard that he cannot resist digging in. They are pretty close together (1-2 feet apart) and one is directly along the line of our fence. Every time we are in the yard if he walks by one of those spots, he HAS to dig in it. It's starting to make potty training difficult, because if he's sniffing the perimeter (where he usually pees & poos), he will find his dig spot, and then he's distracted by digging and forgets to potty. I dont know what could possibly be under the ground. The deepest the hole he's made so far is about 6inches. I haven't seen him find anything from his digging (food, worms, rocks, nothing). He doesn't try to dig in other spots.

What i've tried: Simple redirection sometimes works to get him away from the spot, but he often returns when sniffing for a spot to pee. Standing on the spot and covering it with my feet is sometimes enough to prevent him digging – but is starting to teach him to dig and bite my shoes while i stand there. Burying his unbagged poop about 3-5 inches below the soil didn't help (he hasnt yet dig up the poo, but it's almost uncovered at this point). Putting a large trash bin over the spot resulted in him going at it from an angle and making the spot bigger.

Considerations: We've considered getting a sandbox for him to dig, but it feels like there's something with this spot that he wants, not like he has an instinct/need to be digging. We rent, so we can't fill the holes with cement or anything like that.

TLDR; my puppy is digging in one specific area of the yard, and I'm struggling 1. to stop him in the moment while he digs and 2. to making it less appealing to start digging. He is never unattended, but he gets so distracted by digging that it's getting difficult to use the yard for pottying or training.

I have a toy breed and I feel he has been really bored recently. Wanted to take him to a park or nursery sometime, would be interesting if someone else with a toy breed could accompany.

I live in south delhi so if anyone close by open to go once in a while, hmm.

Hi everyone! I've got a 14 year old lab mix that is losing her faculties — she can no longer go downstairs for walks, she wakes at night (doggy dementia or pain from arthritis).

During the day, she gets excited when I take my smaller dog for a walk, I've tried to carry her (85 lbs) down, assist her going down the stairs (with the towel trick), and coax her down, but she just can't make it. She can't even get down to the yard, so we have a porch potty on the deck for her.

HOW can I keep her mentally stimulated? I feel like an aging dog is similar to an aging human. If you don't use it, you lose it and I cannot bear a rapid deterioration. She's my buddy! The other day I must have been holding my coat coat like an animal because she ran up to me, was wagging her tail, looked so excited, and started sniffing the coat!? She loves other dogs so I was thinking about getting a larger breed puppy?

She doesn't play with toys anymore, unless it's the treat hiding toys/puzzles. She tries to play bitey-face with my other dog, but he is 15lbs and gets sick of the play easily. Thoughts?? Play suggestions?? I appreciate it

Hi everyone! My husband and I have 2 dogs currently, a male English mastiff and a female Scottish terrier. We are buying our first home within the next few months and are really wanting another mastiff, a female. We can afford the extra expenses. We have no kids. What do you guys think of the jump from owning 2 dogs to 3?

Does your dog turn his head when he hears an odd noise? Does your dog bury their food with your pants? This is the thread to ask why.

Please keep this thread to non-medical issues only.

We have two 14 week aussiedoodle/bernadoodle pups. When we got home at 8 weeks, they were litter box trained (which I didn't know was a thing with dogs) and they've done well. They have their crates inside a pen with food/water and the litter box. This Friday they get their 3rd round of shots and we want to transition from the litter box to outdoors. I've been tossing the litter/poo in the area specific to their toileting for weeks now in preparation.

What are my next steps here? Ultimately I want the litter box gone. We hung a bell on the back door and would like for them to be able to go and ring it when they need to go out. We had a lab that did it before, and these pups are smart, so I think they can do it. I just dont know what steps to take to get there.

Do I move the litter box outside to the patio and just leave them in their pen with the crates?
Do I do away with the litter box and keep them in their crates while we are away and work on training them to go to the spot I've been prepping? I dont want my ignorance to be a stumbling block to their success! Help!