If you have any soft dirt in your yard your dog likely enjoys digging around in it. You start gardening or planting something new and your dog makes a mess and never seems to stop. Your perfect yard can instantly become a big mess along with your garden. Your dog may be just enjoying himself but it makes his digging makes life difficult for you because you want a beautiful yard.

Dogs are natural-born diggers. Some breeds are actually bred to dig out certain prey so this digging behavior is instinctual for them. If your dog is a natural digger it may be more challenging but there are some things you can do to control the digging.

It is important for your dog to engage his curiosity, learn about and explore his surroundings. But most people want a beautiful yard too. You must control his digging or even stop it completely if you want to keep your yard beautiful.

Dogs sometimes dig because of boredom. They crave entertainment. He may be experiencing separation anxiety because you are away. Maybe he istrying to dig out an escape route so he can leave the yard. He may even be digging because of something as simple as controlling his own temperature. He may be too hot and trying to cool down or he may be too cold and trying to get warm.

You can get your dog to lessen or even stop his digging behavior. First make sure that he has enough time with you and gets plenty of exercise and playtime. You can also make sure that he has toys that he loves. Often dogs will try to bury bones so if you give your dog bones to chew on make sure you replace them with chew toys or rawhide bones.

Clicker training often works well to stop digging. Watch and see when your dog starts to dig then click the clicker to distract him, give him a command that means “no digging” and give him a treat. With some persistence and consistency, clicker training can be very effective.

You can also try to fill up his holes with undesirable things. You can fill the hole that he has been playing in up with garden mulch, sticks, pine needles and so forth. When he comes back he will dig and find the undesirable things in his hole and he will stop digging. You can also bury a balloon that will pop in his face as he digs. This will not hurt him but it will scare him and he may stop the digging. Some trainers also recommend putting dog poop into the holes as the dog will no longer want to play after he finds his own poop!

If your dog is a natural digger you could go with the flow of his natural tendencies and train him to only dig in a certain place. This takes patience but it can work well once you succeed. Be persistent in your training and you will get your dog to stop digging.

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