Can You Stop Your Dog From Digging?

Can You Stop Your Dog From Digging?

by Mike Jones

Dogs love to dig. Turn over some soft dirt in your yard to begin a garden or plant a rosebush and the digging never seems to stop. It can be frustrating to deal with a dog that digs. He can can ruin your well-manicured yard and turn it into a sloppy mess. He can make a disaster out of your well-tended garden. And even though he seems to be enjoying himself he can make your life challenging and miserable with his digging behavior.

Dogs are actually diggers by nature. Some breeds are even bred to dig as they hunt and dig out specific prey. It may be more challenging if your dog just digs naturally but you can still contain his digging behavior with a few training techniques.

Digging can be good for your dog. It is crucial for him to dig around and engage his curiosity, however, it is important for you to have a nice yard also. You must both be able to find a happy medium in regards to his digging. That may well mean that you want to stop the behavior completely and that is okay.

Dogs dig excessively for many reasons. Your dog may be bored and wanting some fun. He may be lonely and be having separation anxiety. He may want to create an escape route to get out of the yard! Or it may even be as simple as a temperature thing, as he is too hot and wants to cool off or he is too cold and wants to warm up.

There are ways to prevent your dog from digging. First off, make sure that you have plenty of interaction time and that your dog is getting enough playtime and exercise. This can prevent boredom. You can also make sure that he has enough stimulating dog toys to play with. If you give your dogs bones to gnaw on they will usually try to bury them so replace bones with chew toys or rawhide bones.

Clicker training often works well to eliminate digging. Watch and see when your dog starts to dig then click the clicker to distract him, engage him with a command that means "no digging" and give him a treat. With some persistence and consistency, clicker training can work very well.

You can also try to fill his hole up 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 dig after he finds his own poop!

Lastly you could attempt to get him to use only one spot to dig in your yard. If he is a natural digger and prone to digging this may be a great solution but it is difficult to contain him to just one spot. With patience and time you can train him to do it though. Be gentle and persistent and you can get your dog to stop digging. - 20511

Mike Jones works with dogs and people everyday on such things as (http://universitydog.com/150/stop-your-dog-from-digging/) how to stop your dog from digging. He is an expert at (http://universitydog.com) dog obedience training.
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New Unique Article!

Title: Can You Stop Your Dog From Digging?
Author: Mike Jones
Email: kevinlynch2@gmail.com
Keywords: dog,dog training,puppy,puppies,pets,family
Word Count: 560
Category: dog
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