I fail to see any significant difference between that and the explanations for the misbehaviours of children. Or adults, for that matter.

My 2 year old lab recently gave birth. Before doing so she would constantly "dig" on the floor of the house, like a compulsion. Didn't damage the floor, but she just kept going and going. I figure it's some kind of nesting thing where maybe they'd make a hole to lie in if they were in the wild.

The labs I've known have been happy diggers. I think it's gotta be something like direct wiring to their pleasure center.

My poodle loves to get his dig on at the beach. Really goes to town. To the point of exhaustion. Once he experienced sand, he stopped digging in our yard. I imagine it just wasn't as fun any more, comparatively.

Likely the dog instinctively believes that it has a higher chance of finding something interesting in a hole that someone else filled in, than another spot. You won't get it to stop this behavior unless you fulfill it's needs to dig and find stuff, plus give it a reason why it shouldn't be digging up certain items. The later is done with negative reinforcement, which is not acceptable to some dog trainers these days, despite being sometimes necessary.

I love dogs.

I didn’t like my sister’s dog going to the bathroom inside. She refused to do anything but positive reinforcement.

Within a couple days of my (fairly minor) negative reinforcement it stopped.

She eventually got another dog once we weren’t living together. It’s probably 8 years old and still goes to the bathroom inside - on a “puppy pad,” at least.

I also love dogs, and enjoy having a well trained companion that will walk along side me without a leash or harness across the city (Oakland). I would have only been able to do that by showing them that I'm in control, that they don't need to worry about possible dangers, and that they need to follow my commands to stay safe.

Positive reinforcement is great. But without a small amount of negative reinforcement, I believe a dog feels like it needs to be in control and make decisions. The modern world is too complicated for it to feel safe doing so...so it will either become neurotic, or completely unsafe, running after things and barking at anything that looks threatening.

Not to mention that going to the bathroom in the house is completely unacceptable. My puppies get a stern no, while I point their nose at the mess, and a quick pat on the rump. Then they are put outside.

Most dogs don't want to go in the house anyways, if given the chance.

exactly, as with humans, negative feedback is not only necessary but absolutely required to be able to exist around other beings, humans or otherwise. and yes, employ mostly positive reinforcement, and a small, focused, non-angry amount of negative feedback to show them the boundaries of acceptable behavior. most dogs, like most humans, are happy to be given reasonable boundaries.

> "I also love dogs, and enjoy having a well trained companion that will walk along side me without a leash or harness across the city"

i'm in this boat as well, and it's awesome!

It has associated digging with something positive. You need to work on associating not digging with something positive (that is stronger than the positive of the digging)