QUESTION: "My 8 month old Husky, Riley, is digging up our whole backyard. We have a huge fenced in yard for him to run around in but when he’s out there alone all he does is dig, dig, dig. We are getting frustrated since he is ruining the landscaping. We need help!"

ANSWER: Digging is an extremely natural behavior for dogs and they never understand why we humans hate it so much! It is important to let dogs dig as it releases a lot of anxiety or frustration that they might be feeling.

The best thing to do for a digging dog is to give them a “safe spot” where digging is allowed. I recommend using a sandbox as dogs often enjoy digging in them. Bring your dog outside and bury a biscuit for them to undercover. Let them eat the biscuit as a reward. Continue to play this game with them for several weeks.

Your dog can never be left out unattended during this training as you need to catch him in the act of digging each time he chooses another location. When you see him digging, say “NO” and bring him to the safe digging area. Encourage digging and reward. Remember that anytime your dog digs in a non safe spot and you’re not paying attention, you lose 80% of all your previous digging training!

Along with this training, remember that digging is often a sign of boredom and that just because your yard is enormous it doesn’t mean your dogs will self exercise. Dogs are pack animals and they love to be with others. Keep your dog well exercised and give them lots of mind stimulating activities. Take your dogs dinner and throw it all around the back yard so that he has to work and find each piece of kibble. Throw some marrow bones out in the yard so your dog can chew his anxieties away instead of digging. Also, doing obedience training or teaching tricks will stimulate his mind as well.

Good luck!

QUESTION: "I recently adopted a Yorkshire Terrier mix from my local Humane Society. He is a 2 year old neutered male named Max. The previous owner turned Max into the shelter because she couldn't housetrain him. He is crate trained and never has accidents in his crate. He seems to not understand that he shouldn't go outside as sometimes I walk him and he waits until we come back in before going to the bathroom. How can I work on his housetraining to make him successful?"

ANSWER: Housetraining is a very common problem among toy breed dogs. It is great that Max is crate trained as that would have needed to be the first step. Since he is crate trained the process will go much smoother and faster. It is also important to feed Max 2x/day versus a free choice feeding schedule. This way you can monitor how much food and when Max is eating. It's o.k. if he skips a few meals while you are encouraging him to eat at a given time. Leave his bowl down for 20 minutes at each feeding and soon he will learn that that is the time to eat. Dogs won't intentionally starve themselves so he'll eat when he's hungry.

The only tools you will need for his housetraining are a 6 foot leash and a squirt bottle filled with water. Anytime Max is in the house with you he should be leashed to your side. If you can't watch him or when you are not home Max should be crated. To help with the crate time you will need to keep Max well exercised so he is tired and provide him with lots of occupiers like Kongs stuffed with cheese and peanut butter.

When you have Max outside and he DOES urinate/poop say "get busy" or another command while he is in the act of going. Feed him treats after each "get busy" incident. When you are inside and Max is tied to you take him out for bathroom breaks every hour or so. If you see him start to go inside squirt him with the bottle while saying "NO" and take him quickly outside. When he finishes outside, praise and give him a treat.

As Max gets more and more reliable about going outside you can give him more freedom. Increase bathroom breaks by hour intervals. The process, if consistent, should take about 3-4 weeks.

Good luck!

QUESTION: "My dog, Bella, always jumps up on people when they try to pet her. She isn't too bad with my family and me, but seems to get overexcited with strangers or friends of ours. She is really out of control and now people don't want to come to our house. How can I stop this horrible behavior?"

ANSWER: Jumping up on people is a very common behavior problem in dogs. It is fairly easy to fix if owners are consistent and thorough in their training.

Owners want to make sure that their dogs are getting a sufficient amount of exercise, meaning at least two thirty minute sessions each day. This means aerobic exercise, not just a simple leash walk. A tired dog is a well behaved dog so jumping would be less of a thrill.

Items owners will need during the training are high quality treats, a peanut butter cup (or some other type of spreadable food), a squirt bottle, and breath spray. The idea is to train Bella to sit for human greetings and to correct her with the spray if she "forgets" and jumps up on someone.

When a new human comes to the house, ask Bella to sit and feed her from the container of peanut butter. If she turns and jumps on a human, spray her with the breath spray or bottle and then, once she's sitting, reward with treats or the peanut butter. Ask all humans who interact with Bella to ask for sits and feed her treats when she is sitting. You must be 100% consistent when doing this training for if Bella jumps on someone and isn't corrected you lose 80% of all your previous training! Never let anyone pet Bella while she is jumping on them, even if they don't mind.

Good luck and I hope she makes improvements!