I have a 10 yr old border collie that digs up critters that live underground i.e. pocket gophers, moles and rabbit burrows. Does anyone know how I can get him to stop? I have had him since he was 1 1/2 yrs. I haven't had the problem at the other places I've lived but if the property has critters underneath he's gonna find them. He's digging up their tunnels and it's making a mess in my back yard. If there is a critter under there the dog goes nuts until he finds it. My other 2 dogs don't dig, they just wait until the border collie digs a big hole then they try to kill the thing. They have killed 2 so far in the last month. Any ideas? I live on 3 acres and the backyard/dog area is about 1/4 acre fenced. It's a big yard. I do have a training collar but don't really know how to use it. My brother gave it to me and I watched the video but didn't learn much. Or if it would stop the digging.

Please help
Thanks.

It sounds as if he is bored! Are there toys or things you can do with him to keep him active. He may also need to exercise more. Does he run around enough in the back yard? Go on walks? One thing that kept my dog busy for awhile was a toy called the 'Kong'. You fill it with treats and it usually takes them forever to get the treats out.

It just sounds like he needs to be exercised more. The collie is a very high energy working breed as you already know.

And if this dog doesn't run he has to have something more interesting than those varmits. And that is tough to replace.

I am not sure if a toy is going to fix it if he has other dogs to mess with. He is just going to have to be worked more of kenneled until he knows not to dig.

Catch him digging, let him know you are not pleased and kennel him for awhile were he cant dig and is no fun to be. After a couple days of hard time he will get the picture if you keep up on it.

Have you tried walking him more and playing with him? That might help.

He needs a job. You haven't provided him with one so he found one himself. The other ideas are good: let him know you aren't pleased, give him more to do and more attention.

Let us know how it goes.

Next time he/she digs a hole fill it up with water and hold his nose down in it until you see a couple of bubbles(from his nose and then release. )>you don't want to drown him! if he does it again.repeat the action making sure you hold him/her in it until you see a couple of air bubbles and quickly release.They usualy don't dig after that.Sounds a little cruel but its just to scare them from digging and works on most dogs.Otherwiswe ask your brother to show you how to use it or buy another one from jeffers pet.com or walmart etc.

Fill up the holes he digs with his own Poop... he wont dig in that spot again.. in time there wont be any place to dig... and good way to get rid of the poop...LOL
I did it and it works on a dog I had...
MizSaige

Border Collies get bored really easily. It just sounds like you need to give him something else to do with his time. That's an interesting idea with the poop though. LOL

As has been touched on before, he is a border collie and they need jobs. He seems to feel that fending your property from gophers and the like is his. See if you can find something more constructive to fit the bill for him. Mind you toys vs. live prey is pretty tough stuff. Good luck, let us know what does/doesn't work!

Well it's been many months now and he's still digging. One day he came in with a leg injury which I think was from digging. It was like a scrap about 5 inches above his paw. We bandaged it up but he would just rip it off. He would lick and lick and lick until it was worse. We bought an e-collar but he broke it. I taped it. He broke it. He was obsessed with licking his leg. I had to buy another e-collar. This went on for over 2 months. Finally I couldn't take it any more so I took him to the vet. The vet said that when they lick it releases endorphins which makes them feel better. She suggested putting him on behavorial drugs. I thought that was so funny. My dog on prozac! lol! Not really prozac but similar. It's supposed to make him stop thinking about his leg. Also, I think he's OCD so maybe the pills will help him stop thinking about digging. Ya never know. I've tried everything i.e. toys, walks, more exercise, poop in holes and scolding but he just keeps doing it. Maybe the pills will work. He's been on them 2 days now and I can already see that he's not trying to tear up the cone to get to his leg. They just might work. I'll let you know.

I like the filling the holes with his own poop idea! Hmmm I have a boxer that digs but I'm not sure if that would even deter her! But now I am going to give that a try!