Dog churning up lawn after toileting.

[Eleven]

Our dog has always done the raking up of the ground after peeing / pooing, but in the past few days he has started to do it excessively. There are bits of lawns everywhere over the paths.

He's just recovered from a nasty bout of pancreatitis. Is he just trying to tell the world that the top dog is back, and marking his territory accordingly? Or is there something else going on in his head?

Any thoughts?

[softtop]

I thought they did it to hide the remains?

[Nimby]

softtop said:

I thought they did it to hide the remains?

No, they always scratch several feet away. Apparently they have scent glands in their paws so it's to do with identification and/or territory.

[bexVN]

Digging can indicate abdominal discomfort.

[Eleven]

He's not digging, He is doing what I call wheel spins - raking up the ground with his hind legs, showering everything behind him with bits of turf.

[bexVN]

Ahh see what you mean, kind of good then . I'm not so sure why the change of behaviour tbh.

[Autopilot]

Our male does this, it's almost in a sarcastic way sometimes. From time to time, he'll do an obligatory paw wipe, but other times he really goes for it, kind of like he's got chewing gum on them or something. I have no idea why they do it (presumably for paw cleaning purposes?) or why sometimes it's done so dramatically.

The cure for this was artificial lawn

He does of course still do it but the garden looks nice and we don't keep finding mud on everything we own!

[oldbanger]

My dog does this too sometimes. He once managed to kick his own poo all over the OH when we were out in the park. I'm sorry to say I laughed.

I didn't know it was scent marking though.