How can I stop my German Shepherd from digging under my fence?

Question

My 7 month old German Shepherd has recently begun digging out under my fence. I have aproxximately 600 feet of backyard and am afraid she will get hurt or taken. She gets plenty of attention throughout the day with my two sons and also has plenty of toys. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You might need to put a 3-4" strip of metal edging around the yard. Dig a little trench, then drop the edging in the trench. Even if she digs, she won't be able to get under the fence and will stop digging when she realizes she isn't making any progress.

Answer 2

1. You can bury some of her poop a few inches deep which will deter her.

2. You can bury chicken wire under the fence, which will not feel good to dig on, and will deter her.

3. You can go to Home Depot (or similar place) and buy wire to put up an electric fence. (We had to do this with very stubborn beagles)

4. Make sure she is spayed so she doesn't look for a mate, or be as tempted to get out.

5. Set up a "digging area" and bury toys/treats/bones there and encourage her to dig in that area ONLY!!

Good luck!
http://www.libertydogtraining.com

Answer 3

If your looking for an inexpensive solution, you may be out of luck. You can either try a physical barrier like placing chicken wire just under the surface of the dirt (digging will hurt when he scrapes across it) or even an invisible fence system or a mild electric line ran about 4 inches off of the ground and about 6 inches away from the fence.

Answer 4

i had a pit bull that did this also i buried cinder blocks along the fence line inside the fence about 3 inches below the surface planted new grass and when he went to dig down under the fence again he hit block and couldn't go no further try that once it took him a couple of digs but he finally got a clue and quit or an invisible fence outlining the property so that the collar goes off at 3 ft before the fence

Answer 5

I would suggest either putting up a shock system around the fence. I hate those shock systems but, that's prob. the best thing to do. Also you could get little stake things and hammer them into the ground all around the fence. So when the dog goes to dig these poles will be in his way. I would go with the shock system though Good Luck:)

Answer 6

Mine did the same. Honestly, it's an age thing for the dog. Once my Shep grew to about a year and a half, she stopped. She's only had a few relapses.
During the next few months, keep an eye on your dog. When she is outside, try to have someone with her. In case this is imposible try:
You know those sprays peopel use to keep dogs from using the restroom on their yards? Spray a little around the fense area to ward her away. It's inexpensive. With time she'll learn her boundries. But like I said once she's over a year, she should calm down.

Answer 7

There are heaps of options available to you. Some of these are:

1. Chicken mesh underground around the perimeter of the fence which has already been suggested to you.

2. I know it sounds strange, but one way that is recommended by animal behaviour experts is to blow up balloons, bury them around the perimeter of the fence and when the dog digs, they will pop, scare the bejesus out of your puppy and your puppy won't go near the fences again. I've heard this is extremely effective although I've never had to try it myself.

3. Grow animal deterring plants around the perimeter. This can range from plants that offend your dog's sense of smell like citronella plants, to plants that are spikey like cactus plants. Just be careful not to get those really juicy yummy cactus plants - my big dog just eats cactus plants really carefully and avoids the spines so the spines can't be too sparse.

4. Spraying some of those commercially available dog repellant sprays but they don't work long term and the rain will wash the scent away. They usually contain citronella or eucalyptus or camphor or all three or two of the three etc.

Electronic punishment collars that shock the dog are not cool. You can get a collar that emits a high pitched sound but shock collars are just cruel.

You can also give her something else to keep her interested like big bones - only problem is that she might decide to save em for later and bury them which will only divert the digging problem to another location! I'm a big advocate of kong toys which are practically indestructible. A little smear of peanut butter way inside the kong will keep em occupied for a while. Also stuffing them with large liver treats or similar that takes them a while to get them out (not stuffing them full, just putting in a big piece). There are also treat balls - you put treats inside them and the dog will need to roll the balls around in order to get the food out. You can just use kibble for this, no need for actual treats.

There are another jillion ways to keep your doggy occupied but I'm sure you get the gist. Good luck with digger!! :)

Answer 8

We used to have a Brittany Spaniel who would dig under the fence also. I started putting pepper and red pepper wherever he dug and he eventually stopped. After that we put barbed wire at the bottom of the chain-link fence and that worked great too, because our neighbor's dogs would dig into ours and they stopped also.

Answer 9

Try sprinkling red Cayenne pepper all around your fence perimeter. This is normally used to keep deer, squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats, etc... out of gardens. The pepper offends their senses, and they will stay clear of it. You will have to use quite a bit spread out about a foot or so out from the fence, but it's probably a lot cheaper than purchasing an electric invisible fence to go around the fence you have. I hope this works for you. Good luck.

Answer 10

Tie her up while she is alone in the yard. Just make sure that she can't get hurt. If she does it while you're out there then scold her. By that I mean a loud, harsh voice. Maybe you can fill a soda can with small rocks. Be quiet and throw it close to her. It will certainly startle her. Do it every time she does it and she will stop after a few times. Mine did.
And by the way... I never did hit her with the can.