My dog has gone in a hole and won’t come out

[Diggerydoggery]

Any advice?

We have recently moved to a house which is further out in the country than we were before. There is decking in the a garden and there is small hole under it - which the the dog managed to get in today.

He is an 18 month old spaniel and has a good recall - apart from when he gets a scent of something and digs madly. DS heard “scuttling” under there when he saw the dog go in.

He has been in there for about 20 mins and he just barking constantly - I am worried he is fighting with rats I don’t think he is trapped, just choosing not to come out.

We have tried treats and calling him. It is a rented house so we cannot do anything to the decking to retrieve him. Starting to panic about him a bit...

The barking will be annoying but he'll come out when he's run out of steam.

As long as you're sure he's not trapped – rented or not rented, if your dog is stuck under a deck you need to lift the decking to get him out.

As long as he's not trapped/injured he'll be fine for a few hours at least and then he'll come out when he's bored or hungry.

Can't you just unscrew some of the decking to lift it and see what it's like under there if he won't come out?

Find a screwdriver and remove a panel or two. It may be foxes under there

Is he moving around or do you think he’s stuck? Don’t panic, we’ll figure this out!

Thank you. We will give him a bit longer then DH will unscrew the decking. He has done this on walks before but it is bushes he normally goes into, so I don’t feel so worried about rats! I’m sure he would leg it back out if something bit him though.

Good luck. My spaniel has been known to spend up to an hour digging into a rabbit hole before....::.

Foxes @movingonup20 !

@Scweltish - definitely moving... he is making a right racket...

You say you’ve tried treats, have you gone as high value as you can? Cheese/chicken?

@Spanielmadness - is there any way they can be trained out of it? He has been a nightmare since we got here, as the garden has lots of bushes and hidden corners - there is also a pond that he keeps leaping into, then the DC are crying because they think the fish will die I am hoping he will get used to it here and settle down soon!

Update - he is out! 😅

DH came back and stamped hard and loudly on the decking (I hadn’t thought of this). Dog ran out in a panic and he caught him. He is in the shower now, and seems unharmed, just filthy, out of breath and slightly wild eyed..

Glad he’s safe and sound 😊

[quote Diggerydoggery]@Spanielmadness - is there any way they can be trained out of it? He has been a nightmare since we got here, as the garden has lots of bushes and hidden corners - there is also a pond that he keeps leaping into, then the DC are crying because they think the fish will die I am hoping he will get used to it here and settle down soon![/quote]
Sounds like he's just having fun in his interesting and exciting new garden tbh. Glad he's out now.