How to Stop a Dog from Digging

Well, that cute little puppy isn't so cute when he starts digging up your back yard...

One reason that dogs dig is that they are copy cats. Mimicking you is a common reason for a dog kept outside all the time. If you enjoy gardening and your dog gets to watch you have such a good time digging things up and all that, why shouldn’t he try it when he’s alone and bored?

And if you are an active gardener, chances are you’ve fertilized or put peat moss down or whatever, so when your dog digs into stuff like that, he’s rewarded by strong and different smells, too.

So here’s both a positive and negative reinforcer at work. Boredom goes away and new scents reward him. And you wonder why he continues to be a problem digger?

It may not be just you that the dog mimics you by digging. How about the example your kids set in their sandbox or the gardener that comes by every week or a cat--either yours a local hang out--teaching digging every time it uses it’s litter box or toilet. Remember, dogs are usually learning whether we’re aware of it or not.

Another reason dogs dig is that they're tempted by tastes and smells. People have been known to bury some pretty strange stuff in their gardens for fertilizer. My neighbor innocently buried a bunch of fish heads in his beautiful garden--never giving it a thought because he doesn’t own companion animals.

Since then, every cat in the neighborhood visits his self-serve fast food diner, thereby driving a lot of dogs nuts in the process. My dogs would like to get at that stuff, too; I’m sure that they would explore my garden if I buried such goodies there.

I will be posting more of the many reasons that dogs dig -- we've gotta figure out what's causing your dog to dig before we find the solutions.

Also, here you will find more on stopping your dog from digging and stopping not only digging but also other dog behavior problems.