There's a trick to teaching a dog not to dig. Have you heard the poop tactic before? This is a nugget of information that people with small, pocket size dogs probably don't need to know. It's crucial, however, when you own a horse dog.
Pocket dogs could dig and dig and dig and you'd have to fill a hole with a teaspoon. Giant breed dogs dig for two minutes and you fall in a hole that carries you to Middle Earth.
So the trick is this...it's gross so hold on...you bury the dog poop. When Frank was a puppy he showed tendencies towards a desire to dig. A wise dog trainer told me to simply place a turd or two into the hole he has been digging, bury it, and he will have no desire to dig in that particular place anymore. The hard part about this training technique (like all dog training) is that you MUST be consistent. Every hole, every area of the yard, every start of digging must be filled with poop and covered.
I did this for about a week. I had to watch him like a hawk. There was no letting him out the door and walking away. I would let him out, stand behind the window curtain like I was a poop carrying James Bond, and watch for him to dig. I would run out, say, "No!" in a loud and firm voice, and then pick up my shovel.
If you're asking how we had that much poop to fill all the holes then you don't own a Giant Breed and this information is not for you.
I haven't had to think about burying poop for several years. After that one week of training, Frank gave up digging. Some say it's because the dog feels it has sufficiently spread it's own scent throughout the yard. I say Frank had mercy on me and was tired of seeing me running with a shovel filled with poop.
This week I am pet sitting a lab puppy that likes to dig. I have begun the poop burying process again. The trick is knowing which poop is his from the pile of daily scooping.
I realize right now that my life may appear very glamorous. Try not to be jealous.
I actually had another thought this week though, as I was burying poop. There have been countless times in my life when I have been incessantly pursuing something. A thing, an idea, a goal, whatever....that isn't healthy for me. I think back at how many times God has said, "Stop! That's not good for you. Put that down. Let go of that. Walk away." I generally will put down whatever the bad thing is and step to another area of life and start digging.
What would happen if I asked God to help me bury the bad? What if I said, "God, I don't want to mess with this harmful thing again so I need you to get the shovel" and then fully laid it down? I'm assuming the scent of a buried past would help me to avoid digging up old holes again. I feel certain that God has some blessings he's been holding out for me that I haven't been able to see because I've been too busy digging on the other side of the yard. How many rests by the fire or walks down the lane have I missed out on with my Father because I was obsessively digging holes?
Healing doesn't come in questioning the what-ifs but in making a conscious decision every day to ask God to bring the shovel. Healing comes when I can have peace in my heart, knowing that God wants more for me than obsessively searching for something that is outside of his will. Healing comes when I hand all the poop over and not dig it up again.
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