How To Stop A Dog From Digging
There are two different opinions when it comes to dog digging habits.
1. A dog is a dog, and we should permit him to express his true canine nature by allowing him free reign over the yard and flowerbeds.
2. A flowerbed is a flowerbed, and no dog should dig if it comes at the price of a season’s worth of rosebuds. My own viewpoint tends to favor the middle ground. Although plenty of dogs love digging, and it’s healthy for them to indulge in this behavior from time to time, there’s a difference between permitting your dog to dig, and allowing him to run rampant in the yard. A dog should not come at the price of a garden. Flowers and dogs can coexist peacefully.
It will just take a bit of time on your part to learn how to stop a dog from digging. First of all, if you want to adopt a dog and you are worried about your flowerbeds, you should consider the breed of dog. The breed often plays a significant role in any given dog’s personal digging habits. Terriers and Nordic breeds (Huskies, Malamutes, some members of the Spitz family) seem to particularly enjoy digging. Of course, when you get right down to it, each dog is first and foremost an individual, and there’s no guaranteed way to predict whether or not your dog is going to be a burrower or not. But if you are trying to reduce your chances of getting an involuntarily-landscaped garden, I suggest you stay away from all breeds of terrier (the name means “go to earth”, after all!) and the Nordic breeds.
Why Do Dogs Dig?
In no particular order, here are some of the more common reasons why a dog will dig:
* Lack of exercise. Digging is a good way for a hyped-up, under-exercised dog to burn off some of that nervous energy.
* Boredom. Bored dogs need something rewarding and interesting to do to help pass time. Digging is often the ideal solution for a bored dog. It gives him a sense of purpose, and distracts him from an otherwise boring day.
* The need for broader horizons. Some dogs are just escape artists by nature. It is nearly impossible to confine some dogs no matter how much exercise and attention they get. For a four-legged Houdini, it’s not the digging that’s the reward, it’s the glorious unknown that exists beyond the fenceline.
* Separation anxiety. To a dog that is pining for your company, digging under those confining walls represents the most direct path to you. Separation anxiety is an unpleasant psychological issue relatively common among dogs.
Curbing The Habit
Some of the reasons that cause your dog to dig suggest their own solutions. If your dog’s not getting enough exercise (generally speaking, at least forty-five minutes’ worth of vigorous walking per day), take him for more walks. If he’s bored, give him some toys to play with during your absence, and wear him out before you leave so he spends most of the day sleeping. An escape-artist dog might need to be crated, or at least kept inside the house where he’s less likely to be able to break free. For those dogs who just like to dig, here are a few simple tips for controlling inappropriate digging:
* Restrict your dog’s access. This is the most effective thing you can do. If he’s never in the yard, there’s no opportunity for digging.
* Use natural deterrent. 99.9% of dogs will not dig in any place where there is dog poop. Even the ones who like to eat poop (a condition known as coprophagia) generally won’t dig anywhere near it because it offends their basic, fastidious dislike of soiling their coat and paws.
* Use nature’s own wiles. If digging is bothering you because it’s upsetting the more delicate blooms in your garden, you should plant hardier blossoms. Preferably, those with deep roots and thorny defenses. Roses are ideal.
* A more time-consuming, but effective way of handling the issue is to roll up the first inch or two of turf in your yard, and lay down chicken-wire underneath it. Once your dog is convinced that it’s pointless to dig there (which won’t take long), he’ll never dig in that yard again.
Give Your Dog A Place To Dig
If you want to prevent your dog from tunneling your yard into a grassless, crater-studded lunar landscape, you should think for a moment before embarking on a grueling and time-consuming preventative strategy. You should know upfront that eliminating all digging behavior is pretty unrealistic. Some dogs are true-blue diggers. It’s just part of their personality, and they need at least some opportunity to express that. However, dog digging does not have to ruin your entire lawn. Instead, you can allocate an area where your dog is allowed to dig as much as he pleases. Once this zone’s been established, you can make it crystal clear that there’s to be absolutely no digging in the rest of the lawn. You can enforce your rules with a clear conscience, since you know your dog now has his own little corner of the lawn to dig through. But what if you don’t have a spare corner of the lawn? What if you want to keep the whole thing, grass, flowerbeds, and gravel path, intact? In this case, you should invest in a sandbox, which you can place anywhere on the lawn. You can even make one yourself (the deeper, the better, obviously). Fill it with a mixture of sand and earth, and put some leaves or grass on top if you like. You can get your dog interested in it by digging around yourself, until he gets the idea.
Clearly Define The Boundaries
To indicate to your dog that the sandbox is okay but that everywhere else is a no-dig zone, spend a little time supervising him. When he starts to dig in the sandbox (you can encourage this by shallowly burying a few choice marrowbones in there), praise him energetically. If he starts digging anywhere else, correct him right away with an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” or “No!”. Then direct him immediately to the sandbox and if the digging starts again, dole out vociferous praise. To really clarify the lesson, give him a treat when digging gets underway in the sandbox. The close proximity between the correction (for digging out of the sandbox) and praise/reward (for digging in the sandbox) will ensure that your point strikes home.
Further Reading
For more information on recognizing and dealing with problematic dog behaviors like digging, chewing, barking, and aggression, check out Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a detailed how-to manual for the responsible owner, and is packed with all the information you will ever need to raise a healthy, happy, well-adjusted dog. Secrets to Dog Training has everything covered from problem behaviors to dog psychology to obedience work. You can find out more about dog digging and Secrets to Dog Training by clicking here.
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