Hiding items then scratching to get to them

[DBlain]

Lola has a habit that I have not had to deal with my previous dogs. She will take a toy or a chewable bone and wedge it under the couch or a piece of furniture. Seconds after she does this she will start pawing and scratching frantically trying to get it out, but she has pushed it far enough in that she will never be able to get it out, so if given the chance she would paw away for a long time. This sounds like it could be cute but she has shredded the batting from underneath our leather couch and she is starting to scratch the bottoms of the furniture. I have gotten a some larger toys but it is hard to get a bone or bully stick that she can chew that will not fit under the couch. So we have no other choice but to take the items away unless we are playing fetch. Unlike with a child I don't think she puts two and two together on why we are taking her bone. I feel bad because I know she would like to chew a bully stick but it gets put under the couch just a few moments after we give it to her. Any ideas on this?

[sbgooljar]

Romeo was a "hoarder" when he was younger but I think he's outgrown this. I have noticed however that he likes to hide his breakfast plate -- I place his plate on a blanket which he uses to cover the plate -- and then sit and guard his stash until he's ready to eat.

I'm not sure if this will work for you but maybe leaving a blanket on the floor where your baby can "hide" stuff may keep her away from the furniture.

[LovinOurYorkies]

Sorry I don't have any advice... Tillie tucks a few pieces of kibble in the corner of their blanket I keep on the sofa... fortunately, I keep the blanket fitted like a slip cover and it doesn't tuck down far enough for her to have to dig out. :/

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

Magic does the same thing with her ball.....and has since she was a very little! We have tried blankets on the floor and taking up the ball if she does it repeatedly.....nothing worked. We finally started working on ways to block how far she could push something under the couch.....started with various pads/cushions under the furniture......and eventually ended up using wood and built barriers....crazy I know but it worked......now she cannot get anything stuck! Of course she still finds weird places to get the ball stuck.....but at least we have the common places blocked!

At first it appeared she did it for attention, but we find she would even do it when we were gone and who knows how long she spent scratching to get that ball......and she would focus only on getting the ball when we got home! (Even ignoring treats, outside or even our attention.....until she had the ball again.)

Good luck finding a solution that works for your family!!

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by LIL MIS' MAGIC

Magic does the same thing with her ball.....and has since she was a very little! We have tried blankets on the floor and taking up the ball if she does it repeatedly.....nothing worked. We finally started working on ways to block how far she could push something under the couch.....started with various pads/cushions under the furniture......and eventually ended up using wood and built barriers....crazy I know but it worked......now she cannot get anything stuck! Of course she still finds weird places to get the ball stuck.....but at least we have the common places blocked!
At first it appeared she did it for attention, but we find she would even do it when we were gone and who knows how long she spent scratching to get that ball......and she would focus only on getting the ball when we got home! (Even ignoring treats, outside or even our attention.....until she had the ball again.)
Good luck finding a solution that works for your family!!

oh my sounds like we have sisters from other mothers...... she started doing this when I was out and I could not understand what all the black stuff was hanging from underneath our sofa Our sofa is huge sectional and it sits in the middle of the room so we would have to block both sides and there is also a couch in my bedroom and lots of slightly raised furniture, man that would be a lot of work. For now offending items are coming off the floor and put away when I go out. I might try the blanket but I think she will fling that around the house, because her new activity is throwing the loose pillow out of her beds and dragging them around. I took the main one she attacks and velcroed the heck out if to the bottom of her bed, she must of worked on getting that pillow out for several hours last night, I must say it was sort of entertaining............. Hiding the toy is really her only fault, she does not bark, is 100% housebroken and eats normally so I guess I should count my blessings

[sbgooljar]

Originally Posted by DBlain

oh my sounds like we have sisters from other mothers...... she started doing this when I was out and I could not understand what all the black stuff was hanging from underneath our sofa Our sofa is huge sectional and it sits in the middle of the room so we would have to block both sides and there is also a couch in my bedroom and lots of slightly raised furniture, man that would be a lot of work. For now offending items are coming off the floor and put away when I go out. I might try the blanket but I think she will fling that around the house, because her new activity is throwing the loose pillow out of her beds and dragging them around. I took the main one she attacks and velcroed the heck out if to the bottom of her bed, she must of worked on getting that pillow out for several hours last night, I must say it was sort of entertaining............. Hiding the toy is really her only fault, she does not bark, is 100% housebroken and eats normally so I guess I should count my blessings

YES to your last statement! It's funny to watch them hide and dig. I especially enjoy watching Romeo think he's covering his loot with "dirt". Even funnier is when he hides stuff in the open and we can see it...

[deonk1]

Your little darling has taught YOU how to FETCH!

Harley did this, and at first I thought he was just being stupid with balls, loosing them. Then I thought like you, give him bigger toys... oh no he wedges those under too.

What I do, is I clap or growl "no" when he's digging for the toy, I get the toy, and say "NO!" and I make sure he watches me put the toy he wants on a high shelf. I do not take it back down until he is out of the room.

I found that he connected the reason he lost the toy, if I showed him I was getting it from under the furniture, and showed him it, while I'll said no and put it away. He now only does this about once a week, and he used to do this about 5 times an hour.

The first week we did this, there was a pile of about 20 toys on top of my shelf, but I remained consistent and the behaviour decreased.

[DBlain]

thanks, I will try that, my DH seems to think we should hide them and I told him I did not think that would be best. So LOL I will make him read your post.