How can you stop your dog from digging your yard.

Many dogs find digging really rewarding and fun. Digging is a natural behavior for dogs and one that can become annoying to their owners and very destructive to the owners garden.

If your dog is turning your garden or your front lawn into an open quarry here are a few guidelines that will help you teach him not to dig and maybe even where to dig.

The first and most important thing you want to know is that dogs can associate cause and effect only if they happen one right after the other. So if you step outside and see a new pothole in the grass it’s too late. No matter how stern you sound and how “ashamed” your dog looks to you he is just afraid of you and has no idea what you want.

So the first guideline to follow will be not to let your dog outside unsupervised so if he starts digging you can tell him to stop. You can also make a loud and sudden noise (like banging two metal lids). We would like the dog to associate that noise with him digging in the garden. If that happens once or twice in a row he will not attempt it anymore.

If you do have a spot that you are ok with the dog digging there take his there on walks and linger there for a little while. If he starts digging praise him and pet him. The most important drive behind your dog’s behavior is making you happy even if it does not always look like it is.

The second guideline will be not letting your dog see you mending your garden. Dogs are very interested in anything that we do. If he sees you working in the garden he may come later to see what were you doing. If there are things you “buried” he may unbury them. Both sides, by the way, are going to be unhappy with the outcome. He did not find the bone he was hoping for your plants might not make it.

The third guideline will be to keep your dog busy. Dogs need mental stimuli and social life. If you don’t find something for your dog to do - he will find it itself. Teach your dog how to fetch and retrieve work on his obedience or teach him agility. He will thank you and you will enjoy living with him.

If there are any places that your dog is repeatedly digging in place some of his feces in the bottom of the hole before covering it and add some gravel right before you reach the ground level. Both will deter your dog from digging in that spot again.

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