Dear Fellow Dog Lover,

I assume you love your dog, or you probably wouldn't be reading this. But, looking at your "battle-field" of a yard filled with holes sometimes makes it tough to love your dog like you want to. You look out the window, and there he is digging like crazy, for no apparent reason. As if there is something buried there that he HAS to have right now! My Border Collie used to drive me nuts!

So, I started checking around. Calling every dog expert I could find trying find someone who knew the answers. Then, Bingo! I found a trainer in who actually had some ideas.

He said most dogs don't dig for no reason. They smell something that intrigues them and compells them to dig. It could be many things. From moles to mold.

In my case it was mold from an old decaying tree stump just under the surface. "Buster" had dug a virtual "foxhole" around the area.

Here's what I discovered. First, there are some commercial products you can by like "Keep Off" and "Repell" and I had some success with them. But, they soon loose their effect. Either they simply wear off, or get washed away by rain, etc. But the attraction to dig remains.

Here's what I did that actually broke Buster forever!

The trainer who finally helped told me to put Busters stool in the holes. I said "will that really work?" And he said "Well, unless your dog likes digging in s---." I grabbed my shovel and everytime I cleaned up after Buster's "business" I put the stool in the hole. It worked almost immediately. Everytime Buster dug a new hole, I started filling it with poop. Within a week Buster gave up and quit digging.

So, since you need to clean your yard anyway, you might give it try. Get a couple bags of top soil, put in the poop, fill with the soil and plant some grass seed. Soon you'll have your yard looking like a yard again.

I hope I have been of some help. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to email me at jennasgifts@cinci.rr.com

Wishing you and your dog happiness always,

Janet Combs