Can You Stop a Dog from Digging?

Digging is natural dog behavior. However, a dog’s excessive digging can be both annoying and pestering at the same time. If your dear pet is guilty of this behavior, what can you do? How can you stop a dog from digging?

The first important step is to know the reason behind a dog’s bad behavior. Although digging is a natural canine thing, there are many possible reasons why your dog is doing it excessively. 

Check out the following possibilities:

• Boredom. A bored dog may resort to digging just to have something to do.

• Space. If his dog house is too small, he may try digging to widen out the space.

• Curiosity. If there are sights, sounds and smells that are beyond a dog’s reach, the tendency is to dig to try get out.

• Underground creatures. Dogs have a natural flair for hunting. Your dog may smell the scent of burrowing animals from underground and instinctively tries to unearth them by digging.

• Hot weather. Your dog may try to dig soil in search of a cooler place to lie down.

Find out if one of the above factors is true for your dog. Then, find the most practical solution by addressing the root of the problem. Here are some tips:

• Boredom. The best cure for boredom is exercise and play. Walk your dog or run with your dog. Take him to the park where he can stretch those muscles and paws. You can also give him some dog toys that he can play with especially when he’s left all by himself.

• Space. Make sure that your dog is comfortable with his pen and that he has enough space to move in.

• Curiosity. You can move the dog house in a spot where there are no tantalizing sounds or smells coming from the neighborhood.

• Hot weather. Make sure that the dog house is shaded from the sun and that he has a cool place to lie on. Also, make sure that drinking water is within reach at all times.

Here are other tricks to discourage digging:

• Set up sprinklers in the spots where your dog digs and turn on the sprinklers whenever he does the digging. 
• You can also try to bury your dog’s poop in the spot where he often digs as dogs don’t like that scent.
• Finally, you can allocate a particular spot in your garden or backyard where digging is ALLOWED. Bury his favorite toy or treat in that area and when he digs, give him lots of pats and praises. Make your dog understand that digging is not allowed anywhere else by taking him to the right spot whenever he tries to dig somewhere else.