Last week at my local library branch, I taught a class about training dogs with rewards—Living Well with Your Best Friend. In the hour before the class started, I was available to answer attendees’ questions, and there were several good ones. This week, I’ll share one of the problems that dog owners asked about, along with one of the solutions that I suggested.
Dog Digs at A Rug Inside the House
The first question came from a senior gentleman whose dog had developed a very bad habit—not dangerous, fortunately, but certainly disruptive and destructive. The dog dug at a carpet inside the house. The dog’s owner admitted that it was probably too late to save the rug. The digging was a long-standing behavior that he and his wife had never been able to correct, and the rug was already ruined. He could yell at the dog, but the dog paid little attention. I asked what kind of dog it was.
Did you guess?
It was a terrier!
Terriers are “born to dig.” They are earth dogs, initially bred to pursue rodents down holes and to dispatch said rodents summarily. That’s right. For a terrier, digging is genetically hard-wired.
I asked if the dog had places he could dig outside. I was thinking of a “legal” digging pit, like the one I have in my back yard, filled with play sand. The dog’s owner laughed. He admitted that, in fact, his dog did have several favorite spots outside where he could and did dig. But that was not enough.
The rug inside the house was still the terrier’s favorite hole.
I ran down an initial checklist. Did they trim the dog’s nails? No, they did not, but they did take the dog to be groomed regularly and the groomer did clip the dog’s nails. The grooming visits were only every several months, though—not frequent enough to keep the nails short. I suggested that the owners might consider asking the groomer to show them how to clip the nails themselves. Or they could simply sign the dog up for a nail trimming with the groomer every week or two. Even using a dremel or emery board to take off the tips of the nails regularly could help reduce the amount of damage to the rug in question.
Trimming the dog’s nails might be part of the solution, but the real issue for the owners was their inability to redirect the dog’s behavior to stop his digging at the indoor rug. If the behavior could be stopped, the owners would consider replacing the ruined rug with a more sightly new floor covering. But nothing new could be installed until they were sure the dog wouldn’t ruin it, too.
I asked about the only other “solution” they had tried—yelling at the dog to stop. That may have worked briefly, at one time, but now the dog ignores them.
Being ignored by a dog often feels to us humans like being flipped off. We imagine the dog is telling us, “I don’t care what you want.”
I suggested that perhaps the dog—rather than being defiant, rather than refusing to “listen”—was instead saying, “I can’t resist the urge to dig!” It was obvious: to the dog, digging at that indoor carpet was far more rewarding than almost anything else in his life at the moment.
I asked a simple question. Does the terrier like treats?
The owner’s face lit up. Yes! The terrier does like treats!
I went through my basic advice on treats. In some situations, “low-value” treats like pieces of the dog’s regular kibble work well, especially if the dog is used to taking treats as rewards in training. In other situations, only “high-value” treats should be used.
This would be one of those situations.
Look at it this way. The dog is already being rewarded for digging the indoor rug—digging the indoor rug makes him feel good. He has a long history of feeling good when digging this rug. He may in fact be digging this rug because that behavior, for him, releases endorphins that make him more relaxed, less stressed . . . happy!
So his owners must be sure they have something to offer that, to their dog, will be even more rewarding to him than his digging behavior. We want no doubt in the dog’s mind that turning from his digging to eat one of these treats is the only choice he can make!
High-value treats in this case would be cooked chicken, turkey hotdogs, string cheese, peanut butter—in small pieces (or licks), so many can be offered—but definitely nothing the dog would even consider refusing. We want the dog’s only thought to be, “YES! I want THAT . . . NOW!”
▪ Prepare treats—irresistible treats. Then wait until the dog starts to dig at the rug.
▪ Ignore the behavior. Don’t yell.
▪ Get up quietly and return with treats.
▪ Grab a handful and hold them right next to the dog, who is still digging at the rug.
▪ Get the dog’s attention with pleasant meaningless talk.
▪ Give the dog a treat!
▪ Give the dog another treat!
▪ Praise the dog enthusiastically.
▪ Give the dog another treat!
What has happened? The dog has stopped digging at the rug. The dog is eating treats. The owner has a big smile on his face because he is outwitting his dog. The dog is happy, too!
Take the dog for a walk, throw his favorite toy for him to chase, play hide and seek in the house—do something pleasant together. Restock the high-value treats and remember to cut back on the dog’s regular food if necessary to keep him from overeating. Eventually, you will be back in the room with that rug, and the dog will again start digging at it. Get up quietly and return with the treats.
Repeat the process as often as necessary.
Experiment with backing away from the dog as you give him treats. A step at a time, add to the distance from which you “show him the treats” and have him come to you to be rewarded. Then try getting his attention from a seated position, maybe with you in a chair very close to the dog at first, then eventually with you in your favorite spot on the sofa, all the way across the room.
How will the owners know if this approach is working?
Watch the dog closely. Does he walk near the rug, then look up at you? Yes! That’s huge progress. That’s a sign it’s working!
What should you do? Give him a treat! He’s making a choice. He’s making the right choice! In his doggy mind, there is some decision-making going on. We can’t know for sure how his thoughts would print out, but we can guess it’s something like, “Rug? I could dig, but—TREATS!”
He’s choosing to look to you rather than to dig the rug, because looking to you has turned out to be more rewarding.
That’s a win for your dog and a win for you!
