Yellow Lab Digging

Hello and welcome to the forum!

It sounds like your Lab is digging out of boredom.  10 hours outside is a lot of time to fill, even with his doggie friend with him.  Labs have energy, so I'll bet some good games of fetch plus some walks will help reduce his boredom and therefore reduce his digging.  Teach him some tricks - it won't help when you're away, but it will be stimulating to him to learn new tasks while spending time with you.  Even if you don't do anything special like agility, increased activity helps almost any dog at least reduce destructive behavior.

Hopefully someone else will come along with more suggestions!  Oh, and we love pictures, so post some if you can!

In honesty, in this day and age it's just plain not safe to have them outside -- they are wide open "prey" for not just other animals, but bunchers (people who steal purebred dogs to sell them), disgruntled neighbors as well as any animal, snake or biting/stinging insect.  Not to mention the havoc they can wreck on buried cables, yard, and stuff around the house.

 So honestly the best option is inside -- even if crated (and they sleep -- it's not a horrible thing). 

But to resolve the outside issues (and I've tried ALL of the above -- all my dog did was learn to LIKE cayenne!!  no joke -- he ate the dirt from the holes with cayenne in them *sigh*).

Try building him a "legal" place TO dig.  Use some railroad ties or similar and literally build him a BIG sandbox.  Fill it with a decent grade sand (several inches of it -- don't be stingy) and then go outside and play with him -- bury some toys for him to "find" or other  such stuff.  Once he learns it's an ok place to "play" he'll use it and probably leave the other stuff alone.  Cycle some toys around.

But    he does need more exercise -- so another good energy burner -- get a Kong but rather than just "stuffing it" -- take it outside and toss it for him.  They bounce irregularly and tend to make a lot of fun for a dog with energy to burn.

calliecritturs

he does need more exercise

Agreed, dogs MUST walk EVERY day for at least 30-45 minutes, specially labs since they are famous for having extra energy. My Alaskan Malamute would literally tear my dog apart if i dont walk him every day. After each walk he is ready to relax.

calliecritturs

...Try building him a "legal" place TO dig.  Use some railroad ties or similar and literally build him a BIG sandbox.  Fill it with a decent grade sand (several inches of it -- don't be stingy) and then go outside and play with him -- bury some toys for him to "find" or other  such stuff.  Once he learns it's an ok place to "play" he'll use it and probably leave the other stuff alone.  Cycle some toys around...

Exactly what I was going to suggest.  I've never had a problem with our dogs digging up the yard because they were given a place where they were allowed to dig.  For Mick, it was the kid's sand box (and the beach at the lake).  Caleb's spot is his kiddie pool- he loves digging in the water!  LOL  A real easy way to make a sand box is to use a kiddie pool.

I've found that Labs like many dogs need mental stimulation as well as physical to help deal with boredom.  I would do some simple obedience daily and trick training is very fun and stimulating.  Another idea is to take some classes in agility or some other activity. 

 Hes alone, except for the doggie friend, for 10 hours a day? He digs because hes bored.

 I agree, I would never leave my dog outside all day unattended, and I also agree he is exhibiting boredom.

However I wanted to add dogs once they start are hard go get to stop digging, it is a lot of fun for them. We found if we put *** in each hole and cover it back up the dogs seem to stop. Not sure why but they do. My dogs occassionally do this, we bury the poop, and they stop. Something you may want to try. 

Maxs Mom

 I agree, I would never leave my dog outside all day unattended, and I also agree he is exhibiting boredom.

However I wanted to add dogs once they start are hard go get to stop digging, it is a lot of fun for them. We found if we put *** in each hole and cover it back up the dogs seem to stop. Not sure why but they do. My dogs occassionally do this, we bury the poop, and they stop. Something you may want to try. 

Ok when I used the technical word for #2 it "****" out. When I called it poop, why didn't it? Curiosity. 

hey i have a black lab who is 16months old now and he just loves being in the garden although our garden has a locked fence so no one get in so im comfortable leaving him there whilst im in the house although after a while he does get very bored and he used to dig over the garden but we found that if we put toys all over the garden and give him a treat he is fine and i normally go out and play for a bit every so often.