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In my never ending quest to find and provide enrichment for our dogs a toy popped up that was a digging game. An $80 digging game that looked like it would not last one round with our dogs. It was also very similar to putting treats or kibble in with the packing paper in a box. Well, I decided to come up with a more permanent version of the digging game that did not cost $80 and would last longer. A trip to Tractor Supply for the two items needed, a 2 gallon horse watering dish and a painters tarp. You will need a pair of scissors as well. Many of our military members live in quarters that don't have yards for setting up a digging area for their digging loving dogs so this is a great alternative. #digging #DiggingForGold #diggingdogs #dogsdig #lovemyjob #bestjobever #29K9 #dogtrainingrocks #trainwithoutpain #cuenotcommand #notmagic #teachnotpunish #becausescience #sciencematters #fearfree #forcefree #reinforcementdrivesbehavior #nochoke #noprong #noshock #noforce #nofear #nopainrequired #dogtrainingrocks #cookiepusher #motivationmatters #paychecknotbribe #traineddogsforthewin #sniffmatters #bestjobever #puppies

Does your dog have a behavior that is driving you nuts? Perhaps they are getting into the garbage, counter surfing or jumping on people. Every time Fido does this unwarned behavior he is rewarded. Either by your attention or his prize off the counter or garbage can. To resolve the unwanted behavior we have to first identify what we would like them to do instead. Then we put in a management plan to prevent the dog from doing the unwanted behavior while we work on the new skill.

Management is the most important step because every time the dog does the unwanted behavior that bad habit is reinforced, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes the behavior is self rewarding.
which makes it much more likely to continue. If you push a dog away while they jump they are excited and rewarded by the attention. Counter surfing or getting in the garbage are self rewarding in that they usually find a prize.

After we make sure the behavior cannot continue we focus on teaching the new skill and getting it generalized to lots of different environments and situations. Station training for jumping, leave its for the garbage and counter surfing. We also want to add enrichment to keep their brains busy so they are less likely to get into trouble.

If you need help we are here. Email ronda@29K9.net.

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DIY Digging Game

Challenging Behavior

Ronda Warywoda

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