Offering a whole lot of help for dogs that dig
A dog owner recently asked how to stop his dog from digging in the yard. The dog produced ankle-breaking holes throughout the yard and fence line, leaving the owner worried his pet would escape. No one wants to fill holes every week either.
So, why do dogs dig, and what can you do about it?
Some dog breeds dig more than others. Some dogs dig to unearth things, or to hide food or toys. Dogs may dig holes to stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Dogs mostly dig, though, because they’re bored and have been left alone too long. Monitoring your dog’s outside time, keeping him busy and active, and correcting and redirecting the behavior on the spot will halt or prevent a digging habit.
Some people go with the flow and create a sand pit or designate an area in the yard where they encourage their dogs to dig.
Dogs will only know to dig in your selected spot through training. You do this by burying tasty treats in the designated area for your dog to discover. Leave one or two of these treats on the surface, eventually burying more halfway and pushing them just below the soil as he learns there are treasures in that spot to unearth.
When you catch your dog finding the treats, say his marker word, like “Bingo,” to mark the desired behavior, and then give him a treat.
Equally important, catch him digging in the wrong places in the yard so you can quickly correct him: “Max, no.”
The same goes if you don’t want your dog to dig at all. After the correction, redirect him by calling him to you, ask
ing him to sit and giving him a treat.
This provides a stepped transition between the correction and the desired behavior. The dog is rewarded for coming when called and sitting on command, not for digging. Then give him a toy or play a game with him. Keeping his body and mind busy and active can help break the habit.
If your dog digs along the fence line and you’re worried about his escape, create a plant or rock border around the inside of the fence to make it harder for him to dig. There are also products like Dig Defence, which are metal barriers* pushed into the ground around the fence to discourage digging, or Invisible Fence, which emits a warning when your dog gets too close to the designated electronic border.
Finally, spay and neuter your dogs so they aren’t digging to get out of the yard to reproduce, and monitor their outside time. Dogs are much like children and will get into trouble if not properly supervised.