Stop Your Dog Digging In Forbidden Areas

There are two extreme philosophies with regard to dogs digging. Firstly, that it's natural for a dog to dig and that he should be allowed to express his nature even at the expense of your flower garden. Secondly, that the garden is off limits for digging. Maybe there is a middle ground where a digging dog and the garden can coexist peacefully! I would recommend this middle ground.

Breeds That Love To Dig

If you haven't yet got your dog and you are concerned about your garden, you should consider carefully which breed to get. Certain breeds have more of a predilection for digging. Terriers and Nordic breeds like Huskies and Malamutes particularly tend to enjoy digging. You would do well to avoid them. If you are choosing a mixed-breed, consider what breed is most prominent in it. However, each dog is an individual and breed is only a very general guide.

Before I continue, if you want a complete guide to dealing with behavior problems such as digging, take a look at the Secrets To Dog Training manual which covers everything you could want to know about choosing, caring for and training your puppy or dog.

Reasons Your Dog Digs

What are the reasons for a dog digging? Here are the main ones:

• lack of exercise leading to excess nervous energy
• boredom
• desire to escape out of a confined space
• separation anxiety (check out our separation anxiety article) causing the dog to dig out to get to you).

Solutions

These reasons already suggest some solutions. Make sure your dog gets enough exercise and then it won't have so much energy for digging. Especially, if you are going to leave him on his own for a time, give him exercise before that. Take him for more walks. If you think he may be bored, make sure he has a variety of toys and chews to play with when you are out. If your dog is an escape-artist, you may need to leave him in a crate or at least leave him somewhere in the house where he's less likely to escape.

If your dog just loves to dig, here are some basic points for controlling this:

• restrict his access to areas where he may dig (eg. only let him into the yard under supervision)
• plant hardier plants with deep roots and preferably thorny such as roses
• put a scoop of dog poop in any hole he has started (dogs are horrified by digging anywhere that there is dog poop).

A more extreme but very effective measure is to roll up the first inch or so of turf in your yard and put down chicken-wire underneath it. Your dog will be unaware of it until he has a few tries at digging. It won't take long for him to convince himself that it is futile. Then, he won't try again.

If your dog is really keen on digging, it might be preferable to just give him an area where he is allowed to dig. It may be too unrealistic to think you can prevent all digging completely when it is a natural behavior. It's easier to redirect his energy into an area where you don't mind him digging. Then, you need to make your rules crystal clear to your dog.

If you don't have any corner to set aside as a digging area, you could get a sandbox and fill it with a mixture of sand and earth. You can put some leaves or grass on top if you wish. Show him the box and scratch around it yourself to get him interested. Initially, you need to supervise him when he's in the yard to make sure he only digs in the allocated area.

Correct him immediately with a "No!" if he digs in a forbidden area and redirect him to the assigned area. When he starts to dig in the assigned area, give him lots of praise and a treat.

I hope these stop dog digging tips will be helpful to you!

Are you having problems with your puppy or dog digging in your garden? If your answer to the above question is yes, then I strongly recommend that you check out the Secrets To Dog Training Guide. It's very in depth and great value for money. There's the downloadable manual, and audio version of the same and some great bonuses such as a 30 minute video. The whole package covers everything you need to know about selecting a puppy or dog, caring for your dog, training your dog, dealing with any behavioral problems such as barking and biting and much more. Click here to check out the Secrets To Dog Training website.