I need to figure out an acceptable way for my dog to dig indoors?

Question

My dog despirately wants to dig to hide her cookies indoors. She is way too small for this to be destructive, and never does any damage, but I want to figure out a mechanism for her to acceptably dig indoors so she can hide her treats and feel secure that no unscrupulous human will steal them. Basically, what I envision is a box with some diggable substance - I've tried paper but it gets EVERYWHERE and she doesn't seem to like the surface. I don't want to use dirt or cat litter for obvious reasons. I can't have her dig outside because I live in an apartment in Manhattan. It's not as if it's a destructive behavior I'm trying to fix, I really just want her to be happy, so I'm trying to invent something for her to use to hide her things. Does anyone have any ideas or have you constructed something similar? Any suggestions will be much appreciated (and fun to try!). So far her favorite place to try to dig is the sofa - which I do not permit - but I guess she likes soft things?

Answer 1

If you have a balcony get a fair size box about a foot to a foot and a half and fill it with the contents of several bean bags.

Answer 2

I used to have the same problem, and what I did was I found a nice out of the way spot and just put a bunch of old run-down blankets down that nobody uses anymore. And my dog loved scratching at the blankets and then hiding her treats in them now. So it all worked out fine that way. So a couple of old blankets or towels or something, and then just train her to put her stuff there and nobody will touch it and she'll be pleased with it.

Answer 3

lol too cute.... mine did that for the longest time,,, i used to have a blanket that was hers and let her bury her cookies in that... she loved it. she also used to put them under her bed..... strange little dog...... but,,,, mine used to do it to the point where she would rub raw spots on the top of her nose,,, and they were extremely painful. just keep an eye out on the baby, make sure that her nose is okay. try putting a litter box in the corner, and just putting a very thin blanket in there (the fleece throws work great, cuz they're soft, won't hurt her as bad if she does rub sore spots on her nose). it will give her plenty of folds to hide the cookies in, and nothing to clean up. plus, when you have to finally throw them all away on a weekly basis because they're stale and she wont eat them, all you have to do is pick up the blanket, and dump the litter box in the trash.

good luck, and have fun with your baby!!

Answer 4

How about some thin blanket or towels? Or just some fabric? I have a fleece dog blanket on a dog bed for my Great Pyrenees. She always likes to do some rearranging before she settles in. It's so good that you accommodate her wishes rather than tell her she's "bad" for wanting that sort of activity. It can be hard to have a dog in the city !

Answer 5

try a box full of poly fill (stuffing) and see if she approves....most sofas use poly fil as the stuffing for the pillows est. and it will probably make some mess...but should be fairly easy to pick up...no matter what you use she will spread it around..since she is burring treasures after all... lol well good luck i have 4 dogs and sometime wish i had Cesar next door to ask for advise=)

Answer 6

Use a "digging" box like they use for ferrets.
Fill a large box with shredded paper from your paper shredder,
small plastic balls, or instant rice (mondo bag from Costco).

Answer 7

this is a TOUGH one! what about a beanbag chair? one that has soft fabric as opposed to that vinyl stuff. my shih tzu loves bathrugs. they're soft to lay on and she likes to dig at them too, so that could be another option.

probably a lot of people on here are going to tell you that you should be breaking that behavior--don't listen to them. i totally understand! hope i helped!

Answer 8

Move into a shack with a dirt floor. You're doggy will happily dig away. Problem solved!