# Barking at the ground



## CLattaNP (Oct 17, 2015)

I have a 2 year old GSD female. She is an amazing family dog who is great with my 5 kids, extended family and friends, and a perfectly mannered house dog. She has been through basic obedience classes with ourselves as handlers and a professional trainer leading our training. The ONLY problem I have with her is this weird habit she has of barking incessantly at the ground in our backyard. She is turned out each day (during good weather days) in the backyard with our male Great Dane for several hours. She will immediately start barking, nose to the ground, trotting back and forth in straight lines, occasionally stopping to dig holes, as if she were searching for something or looking for a trail. She will not stop doing this for quite a while. She will also start it up randomly during the day. It worsens when we approach the backyard, at which time she directs it towards the other dog, chasing him away with the barks (she never snaps or bites him, just barks in his direction and runs towards him) as if to say "here they come, and they are MINE, get away!!" If we let her out of the fence off leash in the other part of the yard while we are outside, she stops the barking immediately and will lay quietly by us or play with the kids or play in the yard with great manners. We have tried increasing exercise and changing foods with the vets guidance with no real change.
The cops have been called a couple of times and i just get so upset that she is socially "handicapped" in this manner. What can I do to help my beautiful girl???


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

There might be moles ,shrews,or voles burrowing around underground.


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## Ellimaybel (Mar 16, 2014)

Who the heck is calling the cops and on what grounds????????????


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

Sounds like some kind of OCD behavior 

Obsessive Compulsive Behavior in Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Could your girl be going after some type of subterranean critter? My guys go nuts over a burrowing Gopher Tortoise which lives in my yard and the yard next door ... from what I've read, their tunnels can run about 20 feet deep and 70 feet or so long. When she's taking a walk-about in the yard my dogs go insane (my yard is double fenced and she usually stays inside her area but not always). I'm not sure if they're still around, but at one time I also had moles or gophers or some type of little burrowing mammals which one of my dogs enjoyed digging up and found quite tasty.

Is your dog really being a nuisance barking or is the neighbor who calls the police just being a pain in the backside?


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## Amshru (Aug 7, 2015)

We have moles. Everytime we go out into the garden, Elva believes it's her job to dig up the mounds they've left and try and find the little "suckers". She doesn't bark much but it's obvious that she sees it as her duty. I have to admit, I encourage her "get those moles girl" as it's amusing to watch her digging for them. 

Depending on where you live, secondary poisoning could be an issue, but our moles are poison-free, if she ever manages to catch one. (Unlikely since our cats have tried for years and never managed it.)


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I live out in the country. One day several of my dogs started barking at the ground. they would run back and forth along a 4' path or so along side a cement pathway that leads towards the back gate (towards our barn). I thought it was some sort of critter, or snake but couldn't find anything. This behavior went on for a couple of days. Never happened before. 

One day we had heavy rains. After it stopped raining, I turned my dogs out in the back yard to potty. I heard them barking again, when I looked out I saw smoke coming from the ground along the pathway. 

I had no idea what it could be. All I could think of was if there is smoke there is fire. About the point I was going to panic, my husband came home and called the neighbor (who is a contractor) to see if he had any ideas. 

I turned out to be a live electrical wire that went out to the barn. We had no idea (after living here 15 years or so) we had any underground electric lines, everything runs over head. The wire had gotten old and frayed (tree roots)and was still hot. 

After we got it fixed the dogs never displayed that behavior again. 

If your dog is alerting to the exact same spot every time, I'd be concerned and try thinking outside of the box.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Lillie has a point. Have the confined yard checked out.

As to how to get your dog to stop barking - you've found your own answer - let her out in the other fenced area (you said she stops barking then.) Sometimes it is hard to see the obvious.


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## htconstructioninc (6 mo ago)

We have the same problem. We can’t figure it out. He does it even on concrete or tile mostly so no “ critters” underneath. The vet thought maybe he has seizures. But it’s not a random event. He does it whenever he chooses. So it can’t be seizures. Help.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

htconstructioninc said:


> We have the same problem. We can’t figure it out. He does it even on concrete or tile mostly so no “ critters” underneath. The vet thought maybe he has seizures. But it’s not a random event. He does it whenever he chooses. So it can’t be seizures. Help.


Someone might have played with a laser pointer, with this dog.
There is not much you can do except matter-of-factly distract the dog, and stop this behavior as soon as it starts.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

htconstructioninc said:


> We have the same problem. We can’t figure it out. He does it even on concrete or tile mostly so no “ critters” underneath. The vet thought maybe he has seizures. But it’s not a random event. He does it whenever he chooses. So it can’t be seizures. Help.


If it's outside, concrete or tiles doesn't mean there aren't critters, mice, moles, voles tunneling underneath


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

WNGD said:


> If it's outside, concrete or tiles doesn't mean there aren't critters, mice, moles, voles tunneling underneath


indeed. We've had mice and foxes dig under thick concrete slabs. Also voles dug tunnels under my nice brick sidewalk to get to the house and that made bricks rise and fall along that path. After the first year, between myself and the dogs, that nonsense ended.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

depending on where you live fracking tremors drive some animals crazy.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Sabis mom said:


> depending on where you live fracking tremors drive some animals crazy.


Or earthquakes or volcanos or tsunamis or open pipe Harley Davidsons ....


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