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Is Your Dog a Digger?

Posted in Articles | August 7th, 2009

Does you dog like to dig holes in your yard? What about digging in your carpet? Yep, my dog loves to dig the carpet and also scatter rugs. The scatter rugs he digs at all year but he’ll only dig at the wall to wall carpet on hot days and he’s looking for a cool place to lay down.

Some dogs just love to dig but this can be a problem if that lovely landscaped yard of yours looks like a minefield from all the holes that your dog has dug.

No doubt if you have a dog that likes to dig you have tried all and sundry to get it to stop from smacking it to yelling at it when it starts to dig and you probably still haven’t resolved the problem.

Once again, like all methods of dog training, if you can address the reason why the dog is doing something you will be able to eliminate the problem.

There are many different reasons why a dog will dig, from boredom and frustration to the search for a cold place to rest in humid weather.

Consider the surroundings that you have made available for your pet and see if there are any areas that need attention.

Does your dog need more shelter, or is the current shelter just a little too hot for the climate that you are living in?

Although we have “inside dog” when our one dog likes to go outside he always goes to a spot which is nice and sunny and warm in the winter but very hot in the summer. In the summer he’ll dig and dig. So we have allowed the weeds to grow in that area during the summer. This keeps him nice and cool.

We had tried planting a few shade plants but he kept on chewing them or pulling them out of the ground. The weeds he seems to like. Funny thing, our backyard is very shady, yet he has picked the only sunny spot to lie down.

Is your dog digging to gain your attention and if so you will need to look at earlier lessons on how to give your dog the attention that it is seeking without encouraging it to continue with the behavior that you wish to stop.

Maybe your dog needs more toys to play with or more exercise to relieve some of it’s pent up energy.

Maybe you will need to fence off parts of your yard where you know your dog prefers to dig.

If you have a dog that just prefers to dig for no other reason than the enjoyment of digging you might need to offer it a dedicated area of the yard where it can dig to it’s hearts delight.

This might help to keep your dog contented while you are away.

There will always be a solution, you just need to look at the circumstances and take the appropriate action.