Lawn and patio plants being up-rooted by the mut

Our year and a half old collie has taken to digging holes in the lawn and emptying our newly planted pots in the patio. A couple of times every week we wake to find the fruits of his latest nocturnal activities.

Have tried some of the products you shake/pour onto lawns and beds but makes no difference. He has bones and toys to play with if he wants and has the run of an entire acre of garden but chooses to dig the lawn and pots. In an acre garden I would almost welcome if he dug the 'correct' areas, ie large hidden areas of waste and weeds etc...

He is not burying anything in the holes, just digging. If he is bored we could get another dog but are afraid he will pick up the habit. Anyway we are away all day and he does no digging then, only at night/early in morning so it may not be boredom.

We love the dog but this cannot go on as there is at least an hour each weekend repairing his damage and the cost of replacement plants. At present he is tied all day and during night but this should not be allowed to continue either as I think it is cruel and anyway we have invested in an electronic barrier which works very well to keep him in the garden.

What oh what will we do??

I have the same problem with a young puppy that has taken over my garden, and would love to find a friendly / non cruel solution.

There are logs of tips on the web. Here are some I found:

http://seefido.com/html/how_to_stop_or_keep_a_dog_from.htm
[broken link removed]

If you have no luck, you could try consulting a reputable dog trainer.
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Good luck!

Thanks Hotlips. Perhaps boredom is the problem afterall. I have not activly tryed to get him to dig in specific areas, so might hide toys and treats in an acceptable area to encourage digging there. Thought about getting a trainer in alright, mabey if digging area fails.

It sounds like boredom. It is not fair to leave any dog, particularly a young dog like yours, on his own all day - acre or not, what he craves most is interaction with other pack members, i.e. you and yours or else another dog. It sounds like this dog gets at best a couple of hours a day of your company, attention, and stimulation. This is just not enough.

It would probably be best to get him a companion.

I'd love a collie, love their personalities but I'd never get one cause they're too feckin' brainy! They say they have the intelligence on an 11 year old child so you can imagine how bored an 11 year old would get with nothing to do.

Am beginning to accept that he could be bored. But Sherman, most dogs will be alone from 11pm to 8am in any household, while owners are asleep and most dogs do not tear up lawns etc. Our dog is also alone from 9 to 5, I leave at 9 my wife returns at 5, and there has never been digging during the daytime, only at night. While we are at home he comes into the house, if he is dry, and gets lots of attention, walks, bike rides,talking to, play& fetch etc. We have no luck with having kids thus he has become the baby.

What i seem to need is some thing to occupy him at night rather than during the 'unfair' period in the day. Any dog cannot expect more than 12 - 16 hours interaction of whatever quality. Ours gets 6-7 of good quality. I dont think not being there is unfair to the dog. I accept it may be unfair to expect he will not find something to do (ie digging) and if that is the problem I will fix it as suggested if a digging area comes up short.

Moneygrower, some have good intelligence when directed at working sheep, this has been bred into them. I cannot accept that they are generally as intelligent as 11 year olds and ours failed to show any interest in working sheep for an experienced sheepdog trainer (and neighbouring farmer) and has failed to show more than average 'doggy' intelligence in any respect for us. We love him to bits but must describe him accurately for you.

failed to show more than average 'doggy' intelligence in any respect

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Digging is your dogs way of getting attention, albeit bad attention, from you and yr wife. If the electronic barrier keeps him in the garden, couldn't you 'fence off' certain areas to stop him digging. Changing the subject slightly - if you're so mad about your dog - why do you keep him outside at night?

I agree with Beaky. We cannot be with our dogs all day every day. That is an "ideal world". Our 2 dogs are alone until about 3 or 4pm, Monday to Friday. The rest of the time they get lots of attention and daily walks from us. I don't, and shouldn't have to feel guilty about having to leave them to themselves - after all, I do have to work. I believe they must better off now than before we got them, as they had been in an animal welfare temporary foster home. My dogs have destroyed my garden and chewed the fence and the garden furniture and the shed and eaten all my carefully planted shrubs and flowers but I wait in hope that they will grow out of their puppy stage eventually! We also suspect, (but have no proof) that they ate a lotto ticket for last night's draw that we left lying around but there was no winner anyway! Phew!

I'm sorry but I agree with Sherman - a single dog (note just the one) should NOT be left alone all day IMO. We would LOVE to get a dog, but the house is too small for two and I would never leave one alone all day.

Just because you "have to work" doesn't mean you "have" to leave a poor bored animal at home alone all day.

Aca, I keep him outside cause he is a dog. I let him in to give him attention, even when im making the dinner. I firmly believe he would be happier outside at night. what would he do if inside and got bored while we were all asleep. He couldnt dig... eh I dont like to think. He has average intelligence and that includes his capacity to look for attention. He has a bedded house (not a little kennel) to go into but chooses to sleep where ever his fancy takes him. Usually in the patio. Close to the flower pots. Which tend not to last too long. I could restrict his areas but want him to have the whole run

Finally he gets very good attention from my wife and I and I fail to see how you can judge the quality of our attention to our dog. Perhaps you refer to the length of time or the fact that I have him tied now while I decide what to do, which means lack of attention or lack of attendance, not bad attention. I must refute that.

Why should a dog not be left at home all day? Im at work all day(including now!!!) and im bored all day. If digging is to relieve boredom then he is no longer bored when he digs. Because we have to work does mean we have to leave the 'lucky to have loving owners, occupied digging at night' dog at home cause he cant come to work. I have taken on board the suggestions to give him a digging area, a restricted area and a play mate. I am looking for suggestions to stop him digging. So your suggestion is to get him a mate. I just get the impression that I am being cast as a cruel owner. I cannot accept this. I can accept a mate to solve my, note my, problem, not the dogs.

I have an 8 year old collie. Not sure about 11 year old kids but she is smarter than a lot of adults I know. Maybe I'm hanging out with the wrong people. Anyway, when we lived in Dublin she dug and dug and dug. Our garden looked like a minefield. Now we live in the country she barks at cows, tractors, even the wind but never digs. She can see for miles around and is a much happier dog. The simple answer is that your dog is bored. Get him a companion if you have that much space. He'll be happier and so will you.

Even if i didn't "have to work" Sherman, I still would not spend my whole day with my dogs. They do get the benefit of a lot of my time and attention when I am at home, but it would be unreasonable to expect anyone to devote their every waking moment to them.

Beaky - You're not a cruel owner - most people leave their dogs at home during the day. We leave ours from 8am till 6pm - with a quick call at lunch time - and I know I'm not cruel. Some people mistake dogs as little people and they're not I'm afraid - as much as we think they are sometimes! They are more than capable of being left on their own for short periods.

Our dog (11 mth old cocker spaniel), like yours, used to act up in the evenings. it's pure attention seeking. What we've done is given her lots of toys to play with (empty plastic bottles, bones, a teddy) and dot them around the place. Tell her she's great when she plays with them.
The only way to stop the dog digging is to catch him in the act. roll up some news paper and make some racket with it and say "NO" really firmly - keep doing it until he gets the message that the only attention he's getting for digging is bad - but the attention he gets for playing with his toys it good.
My best advise is walk, walk, walk! especially with dogs that are hanging about all day - we do a 2 mile walk in the mornings (6am) and a run in the park until she's nearly read to drop in the evenings! I've learned the hard way - if she's too tire to dig, tear, root etc - she won't do it!!!!

thanks berlin. we live on our farm, which is rented out and he never barks at anything but can see everything too. A barking dog can be a happy dog and a non barking dog can be happy too. Ours is happy but may be bored according to what people have being saying. Carto has two dogs, both of which destroy the lawn. I would hate to have two bored dogs in the countryside. Hence a mate will be my third option. I too was hoping he would loose the puppy type exuberance which may have caused digging but this seems not to have been the cause.

Sago, interesting, would love to catch him. Will get up in morning at 5am to see how things are. Its a sporadic thing though. Will try catching in the act and wearing him out a bit. My other options are..

1/ more toys and treats in an approved digging area,

2/ Professional trainer

3/ Mate

4/ Restricted area

Or combination of all!

-A person can be home all day and give their dog little or no attention.
-A dog can be home alone all day, but when its owner gets home it is given lots of attention and a good walk.
I know which owner I would rather have! Don't feel bad Beaky - it's the quality of the time you spend with your dog that counts, not the quantity.

Oh Im well over it thanks Carto. They may not have been actually suggesting cruelty anyway but were certently giving solutions for reasons different to mine. I wanted suggestions to solve a problem they may have wanted to solve the same problem and a percieved unfairness to my dog. Tnx for the support and advice.

beaky, just wondering, if you wear him out with lots of off-lead walks on Saturday and Sunday, does he still dig those nights?
When you are giving him attention in the evenings, are you doing some training which requires him to do some thinking?
A half hour of training where he has to work his brain hard can really wear him out, more than a half hour of just playing.
Border collies are usually very smart.

It breaks my heart to leave our dog on her own at all but that's life. She is alone for 4 hours each morning and afternoon and is a very well adjusted gentle dog.