What To Do If My Dog digs The Garden Dirt?
Most dogs love to dig, whether in the garden, on the beach, in the field or anywhere else. But there is nothing more unpleasant than when they decide to do this in our garden, where we plant beautiful flowers with so much love, care and hard work. Want to know why your dog doesn’t miss an opportunity to dig holes in the ground?
Is there any way to stop this behavior? Of course there is and we’ll tell you. But first, let’s answer some questions that may arise.
Why does your dog dig?
They say that to find the causes of a behavior, you have to look to the past. That goes for this case : wolves, ancestors of domestic dogs, had to work hard to get enough food to feed them and their families.
And what did they do when they found a lot of food? They dug the earth and hid the food in a hole. In this way, the tendency of dogs to dig is a legacy of their “parents” wolves. However, there are other causes that can cause a dog to dig holes in the ground.
find a smell
A certain odor may indicate that there is something under the ground (perhaps a bone that another dog or even he has hidden). The scent reaches its furry, and in the usual craving for every dog to eat all the available food, it can dig in the earth for its scented treasure.
dig for the heat
Dogs have an incredible ability to know which is the coolest place in the house or… in the garden! They are aware that the earth holds part of the rainwater and that, by digging a little, they can find a cool place to escape the heat.
Anxiety
That could be the biggest problem. If our dog has a habit of digging for any of the above reasons, the behavior will be punctual. Now, if the reason that leads him to make holes in the ground is anxiety, this compromises the animal’s health. The behavior will be compulsive and can hurt the animal. Don’t waste time and take him to the vet to assess the causes of the behavior.
What to do when my dog likes to dig?
Based on the causes that lead your dog to dig the earth, we will give some tips and advice that will help you to stop this attitude.
- Pay attention to it. Animals have no reasoning, being compared, in many cases, to small children. Thus, it is possible for your dog to dig in the earth to get your attention. Try it and see if the problem persists.
- End the boredom. If your dog spends a lot of time alone at home or gets bored when he’s with you, buy him toys and always have things on hand to have fun with. When you go for a walk with your furry one, take a ball with you and make sure he doesn’t get bored!
- Put an end to the pleasure of digging. Like? Watch your dog and find the places where he tends to dig. Place some stones under the ground so that he loses the pleasure of the touch when reaching them. Install a small fence around the place where he usually digs, along with a wire mesh, preventing him from trying to dig in the earth to get rid of the fence.
- Create an “excavator” for him. Okay, we know the word doesn’t exist, but it’s a way to get the idea understood. If you have a large garden, delimit a square area with wooden beams and invite your dog to play in it after you’ve filled the area with wet sand. Bury treats, bones or anything else your dog likes to motivate him to hunt for treasure. As the saying goes, “one nail takes the other”. Having an open place to dig will make the dog forget to dig holes where it shouldn’t.
- Look for a professional. If none of this works and your dog continues to show compulsive behavior, the best thing is to seek help from a professional, as the animal may have internal or behavioral problems that go unnoticed by us.
Finally, don’t worry too much, as this is normal behavior in almost all dogs. Remember that positive reinforcement always works, and scolding him in this situation won’t help.
