Content
- Why do dogs dig?
- How to prevent your dog from making holes
- Alternative for puppies that need to dig
- Teaching a dog to make holes in a concrete place
- a real case
dig holes in the garden is a natural behavior and very common in puppies, some dogs feel a great need to dig while others only do it if they were stimulated to do so. There are even some who never dig and it is likely that this is more related to the education received than to the natural behaviors of the species. The risk to dogs is usually less than in the case of dogs that chew things, but it is not non-existent.
There have been cases of dogs electrocuting themselves by damaging electrical cables while digging. There have also been cases of dogs breaking water pipes while digging. Therefore, digging is not a behavior that can and should be happily accepted in puppies. However, it is also not behavior that can be eliminated in many cases. Therefore, the solution to this problem is more about managing the environment than about dog training.
Find out in this article by PeritoAnimal how to stop the dog from digging the garden.
Why do dogs dig?
If your dog digs holes in the garden, it's because he's trying meet your needs somehow.A serious situation of stress or anxiety can lead you to minimize your discomfort with intense physical activity or, in this case, digging in the garden.
There are several reasons why you can carry out this behavior, but to try to help it is essential identify the cause that drives him to make the holes:
- keep things: is an instinctive behavior. Dogs hide the goods they like best under the ground, and for that they have to dig. However, puppies that live indoors and not in the garden can store their things under blankets, rugs or inside their suitcases or dog houses. They don't always have to dig to "store" their favorite toys and food scraps.
This brings us to a discussion topic, "where should puppies live?". Discussing whether dogs should live indoors or in the garden is a very old issue and has no answer. Everyone decides where their dog should live. However, in my opinion, dogs are beings with whom we share our lives, not objects and, therefore, they should live indoors, together with the whole family. - look for cool places: Especially in summer, puppies can dig holes to find a cooler place where they can lie down and rest. In this case, a comfortable, cool and comfortable house for your dog can be a solution to help refresh him. Leaving it to rest indoors and not in the garden is another alternative. It is essential that puppies always have plenty of fresh water at their disposal to avoid a possible heat stroke.
- look for a comfortable place: this is the same case as the previous one, but in which the dog is not looking for a more pleasant temperature, but a softer place to lie down. They move the earth so that the place where they are going to lie down becomes more comfortable. It usually occurs with dogs that live in the garden and have houses made of wood or other hard material without blankets or mats.
- want to run away from a place: many dogs dig with the sole and simple intention of getting out. In some cases, these are puppies that run away from their homes to go for a walk outside.
In other cases, they are dogs that are afraid of something. These dogs feel anxiety when they are alone and try to flee this place in search of protection. When the case is very serious, the dog can develop separation anxiety and in its attempt to escape it may try to dig hard surfaces until the nails break and get sores. - Because it's fun: yes, many dogs dig simply because it's fun for them. Especially dog breeds that were designed to chase burrow animals like terriers dig because they do. If you have a terrier and you notice that you like to dig in the garden, don't waste your time trying to avoid this behavior, it's part of their instinctual behavior. You can redirect this behavior, but not eliminate it (at least with no side effects).
- chase animals from the burrow: in some cases the owners of a dog think that the dog has a behavior problem when in reality the dog is chasing animals that people have not detected. If your dog digs in the garden, make sure there are no burrowing animals that might live there. It stands to reason that a dog of any breed will fit when chasing an animal that hides underground.
- Suffer from behavior problems: Puppies are very sensitive animals, for this reason it is essential to observe their emotional well-being if you observe them digging and making holes in the garden. Aggression, stereotypies or fear can tell us that something is not right.
How to prevent your dog from making holes
Next, we are going to offer you three different options that can help you improve this situation. We suggest that you try all three at the same time so that you can see how a dog changes if you offer him regular attention, warmth and toys:
If your dog is a compulsive digger and only digs once in a while or when he's alone, the solution is relatively simple. provide you company and activities that you can do. Many puppies dig because they are upset or sad, see for yourself how play and attention change their behavior in a positive way.
On the other hand, allowing your puppy to start live indoors and spending more time indoors than in the garden is an excellent option. You will greatly improve your quality of life, you will avoid debris in the garden and you will have a happy dog. When going out into the garden, it will be important to accompany and supervise him, this way you can distract him when his digging instincts start to appear.
Finally, we suggest that use toys for dogs. As with dogs that gnaw things, you can give your dog enough activity to forget about digging when he's alone. Keep in mind that you should restrict the places you are alone, at least until you are completely sure that you will not dig in your garden. Among all the toys for dogs, we definitely recommend using the Kong, an intelligence toy that will help you channel stress, motivate you intellectually and allow you to develop an activity that keeps you away from the garden.
Alternative for puppies that need to dig
If you have a terrier or another dog addicted to digging the garden, should redirect your behavior. In these cases you will not be able to eliminate this behavior without creating other side problems, so the best thing you can do is to get your puppy a place where he can dig and teach him to do it only in that place.
Teaching a dog to make holes in a concrete place
The first step will be to choose the place where your puppy can dig and make holes without a problem. The most sensible option is to go to the countryside or a nearby garden area. In that place, it will be enclosed by an area of two by two (approximately and depending on the size of your dog). We advise you to first move the earth to get loose. It's okay if your puppy helps you move the earth, as this will be your digging hole. However, you should make sure the area is free of plants and roots so that your dog doesn't associate digging with spoiling planting or he might eat some of the plants toxic to dogs.
When the digging hole is ready, bury one or two toys of your dog in it, leaving a small part of them sticking out. Then start encouraging your puppy to dig them up. If you see that it doesn't work, you can try spreading feed around the area to familiarize you with the place. When your puppy digs up his toy, congratulate him and play with him. You can also use positive reinforcement with treats and snacks for puppies.
Repeat the procedure until you see that your dog dig more often in this place. At that point, you'll notice that digging in the digging hole has become a very popular activity for your dog because he does it even when there are no buried toys. However, from time to time, you should leave some toys buried so that your puppy can discover them when he digs and his digging behavior is reinforced in the dig hole.
This procedure can be carried out preventing your puppy from having access to the rest of the garden when you are not supervised. Therefore, for a while you will have to put a physical separation in some places to prevent your puppy from having access to the entire garden. You should only have access to the area in which the excavation hole is located.
Little by little, you will notice that your dog stop digging in other areas of the chosen area and just dig in the hole you built for it. Then, gradually and over several days, increase the space you have access to when you are alone. During this time, keep a toy that reinforces your dog's behavior buried in the digging hole every day. You can also leave the food-filled interactive toys outside the dig hole so your puppy can do other things besides digging.
Over time, your puppy will get into the habit of digging only in his dig hole. You will have lost a little garden but you will have saved the rest. Remember that this alternative is only for compulsive diggers. It's not for the dog that digs occasionally and can learn to learn to chew its toys instead of digging.
a real case
A few years ago I met a Labrador dog that was destroying the garden. In addition to chewing the plants, he dug anywhere. The dog spent all day in the garden and chewed the plants at any time of day, but only dug during the night.
The owner didn't know what to do because the dog was destroying everything. One day, the dog sustained a head wound and to avoid becoming infected while it healed, they were allowed to sleep indoors for a week. During this time the dog did not do any damage inside the house and therefore did not dig in the garden. Then they went back to leaving the dog in the dog time and time and the problem reappeared.
Why did this one dig in the garden? Well, we couldn't know with absolute certainty the answer to this problem. But, being a hunting dog, of a very active breed and developed to spend a lot of time with company, it was left on the street all the time, with nothing to do, no toys and no company. It is likely that he felt anxiety about being alone or frustration at not being able to access the things he wanted, and he eliminated this anxiety or frustration by digging.
It's a shame that even though an immediate solution was found and didn't need any effort to add (and that didn't cause any collateral problems), the owner decided that the dog would have to spend the rest of its life in the garden and not inside of home in the company of his human family.
We often ignore the options that are presented to us to solve a problem of behavior of our dogs and, we wonder why dogs behave that way.
It's important to remember again that dogs are neither toys nor objects. They have their own emotions and act accordingly. They are dynamic, active animals that need physical and mental exercise, as well as the company of other beings.
