digging holes

isitizzy

hi,
i was just wondering if you're shikoku or shiba or your dog is digging holes in your yard?
my shiba is crazy about digging holes, some are so deep that she is in with half her body.
does your dog does that as well? im just curious if it's something that is common for the hunting dogs? because my friend has a cream shiba, the same age as our tama, but he doesn't seem to dig holes. somethimes when they play together he just watches our shiba digging holes..

shishiinu

Welcome and I think almost every ne at one point had digging issues with their NK. I know my Kishus all digged their way out some way or another. My male ishu Taro is a full time digger and so I had to go to drastic measures by modifying the yard just to keep him in.

Saya

Saya enjoys digging I try to discourage her digging at dog parks and on the ground, but I let her dig on towels and on snow hills I make for her she loves it.. lol

Sangmort

Both my boys [ Dutch Shepherd & Shikoku ] love to dig. In fact, if we dig with our foot, it peaks their interest & they start digging right there lol ~

Edgewood

Well, I have 2 shikoku and one loves to dig, the other never digs. So you might get lucky with your shikoku puppy. I had Siberians previously and most of them liked to dig too. Just part of being a dog, I guess

Crispy

Not a Shiba or Shikoku but... my Mal learned how to dig by watching a Mal foster I had a while back... and unlike Motego (the foster), who dug for anxiety reasons, London's pretty sure digging is just the Best Thing EVER™ and he should do it rain, snow, sleet, or shine. Thankfully, he only did it in one area and when I put some chicken wire down on the ground, he stopped digging altogether. If we pick it up from that area though, he'll start digging again.

sukoshi_mom

If you have a NK who likes to dig, give them their own pile of dirt or redwood mulch and let them go at it. Sukoshi thought that the piles of dirt at the dog park (for landscaping) were her special play places. She would jump on top of them and try to excavate the area. Amusing to watch.

atlas

My shiba loves to dig. Especially in muddy puddles. When we first brought her home, we had a potty box for her with real dirt. She was completely potty trained, though, so she used it for sleeping and digging/throwing dirt all over my bathroom. At the park there is a sand volleyball court and if I let Mitsu play in it she will go CRAZY with digging, like sand is the best thing in the world. It's cute

isitizzy

thanks for the replies, its super to read all the stories!! it's strange my shiba only does it in our yard, when i take her for a walk she's not interested in the grass or anything. my yard is like the moon.. full of holes, some big, some small, my husband is always nagging about his beautiful flowers and yard. i think it's kind of amusing..i'm wondering if my shikoku puppy will do it.. im just very curious :-)

Heidi

Funny to hear about all these digging NK. I haven't had any problems with digging at all. In fact, I can't think of any of the dogs I've ever owned digging.

tjbart17

Koda dug a little bit and only at my parent's house. Two times of me telling him no and he stopped. Typical Kai reaction. They really don't want to go against your wishes.

Mei was a terrible digger at first, but then I found out that there was a mole infestation. Once she killed all of them she stopped digging.

jikjak

ghost is starting to dig quite a bit in the backyard now. anyone have any other tips on getting him to stop or is chicken wire the best/easiest solution?
id hate for him to get under the fence and into the neighbors yard.

Losech

Ehh, I don't have many good ideas since I'm facing the same problem with Conker. He digs in small bursts and I can't ever catch him in the act of doing it so I can't punish him. I normally just get a big ole' rock and bury it where the hole was so if the dog tries to dig there again (since all three do dig, but it's mainly Conker) they can't really because of the rock. But the rock doesn't always work...
One of my dogs, Juneau, remodeled our garden wall. You can read about that here:
http://losech.blogspot.com/2011/10/juneau-remodels-garden.html
There were some rocks and she completely unearthed them, and collapsed others. So I'd also like a better way of discouraging digging just in case the dogs decide to do this with the fences.

ayk

In AZ, we used to put dog poop into the holes and bury them. For the fence periphery, we used cinder blocks and logs staked into the ground until we got a block fence up. The block fence had a cement base that was about a foot below the ground.

CrimsonO2

My Shiba and my Shikoku dig, but there's one thing that my Shiba does that the Shikoku doesn't do, and that's push. That's right, in a sandy area, he will push the sand/dirt in pure excitement in short bursts.

Jesse

McYogi

I second the dog poop in the hole method. 100% success rate at our house. Good to have fussy dogs sometimes.

ShikokuSpirit

jikjak

wow thats a deep and big hole! lol
i better not let ghost see this :P

lindsayt

shibamistress

When I saw the digging thing, I thought of some of your videos, Lindsay! Loved Corina's vid too!

Mine go through phases with digging, but mostly don't dig nearly as much once they've reached adulthood. As pups, they were all digging fiends, though!

Oskar dug some rabbits out of a nest last fall, and it left a big hole, and I saw Bel hiding in it the other day, which was pretty funny. She was partially trying to get away from Oskar (who sometimes plays to rough with her and she gets tired of it) but she was also hiding there to pounce on him when he went by, so I guess that day the play was ok.

Since they've never tried to dig under a fence, and since I have a natural NM landscape (read: no landscape or lawn), I just let them dig.

BradA1878

We have holes all over our yard. Doesn't matter the breed, they all love to dig. It's when the Mastiffs and CO start digging when we worry - they can move a LOT of earth!

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Losech

@Brada1878 Oh gosh that's gotta be horrible! I can see it now... all of them digging at one time... Your yard would be a wreck.

I've just discovered about six holes that weren't present before we left for AZ and Conker can fit into them all. He didn't dig any of them (Juneau and Sasha must have been bored while we were gone) but I am sure he will make them suitable for a Shiba with many improvements.