How Do You Stop Your Dog From Digging Holes?
Dogs are a man's best friend. However, it can be frustrating when your best friend is digging holes into the lush grass carpet in your backyard. Don't fret, you can have a happy furry friend and a safe, spotless yard at the same time. Here are some strategies to stop dogs from digging holes in your yard, and get your outdoor space back.
Ward Off Unwelcome Guests
If your dog is digging holes in your yard, it's important to understand its behavior doesn't come from a place of malice. In fact, it could be your dog's attempt to protect your backyard. One reason that could explain your dog's digging problem could be attributed to animal intruders in your yard, especially if they're of a hunting breed such as labradors, retrievers, and beagles. Your dog could be hunting down burrowing animals in your yard such as skunks, raccoons, and moles, and digging to catch these unwelcome guests. This typically leads to holes focused around a single area, which will come to an end when you sniff out the burrowing animals sneaking around in your yard.
Help Your Dog Get Comfortable
If your dog is digging and lying in holes under the shade of a large tree on your lawn, or near a source of water, this may be a sign that your dog is simply trying to get comfortable in their environment. Since your dog is lying in the holes in your yard to seek out shelter and comfort, it's likely to stop digging holes once you provide it with a shelter, or make its shelter more comfortable, such as by adjusting the shelter's temperature.
Provide More Entertainment and Attention
There's also a chance that your dog could be digging holes purely for entertainment value. Your dog could find your yard an attractive location to play around in due to various reasons, such as:
- Being left alone without any company at home, with unsupervised access to the yard
- Their environment is empty without any toys or companions to play with
- A lack of outlets to expend its energy into (This is especially common for puppies with a lot of natural curiosity)
- It's of a digging breed such as a Terrier, Dachshund, etc.
- It's of an active breed that finds joy from physical activity and loves to work, such as an Australian Shepherd or a Boxer
- Your dog is hyperactive
To resolve hole-digging, you should ensure that they have an outlet for their pent-up energy.
Block Off Your Yard
If your main goal is to ensure that your dog is physically unable to dig around in your yard, you can fence off your yard to block off your dog's access to it with fences, baby gates, and other effective forms of barriers. The size of the fence you need for this strategy to work depends on your dog's size, so make sure you install a fence that your dog won't jump over easily.
As you fix your doggy's digging habit, positive reinforcement in response to progress always goes a long way. Don’t forget to treat it to something special with HUND Denmark's dog products!