How to Stop Your Dog From Digging up Your Lawn

1. Try Some Pet Psychology

Chances are, your pawl has already identified their favored spots to dig up soil. You can use the localization of these spots as a hint to understand why your frank is digging. The american Kennel Club points out that dogs dig for all kinds of reasons, including hunt, seeking shelter, boredom, or even trying to sneak away. You should address your andiron ’ mho demeanor by addressing the reason. Before you aim to put the stop on digging behaviors, watch the way your pawl is digging. Do they seem delirious, frenzied, and stressed ? Or is the digging strategic — like there is some finish in mind ?
If your frump is digging holes that are close to the edges of your place or another boundary, like a fence, it ’ s potential they ’ rhenium curious about what lies beyond the lawn — and are trying to engineer a prison-break.

If the holes that appear seem to be conclusion in concert, near a independent open area or at the roots of your shrubs, your frank may be hunting down intruding animals ( like field mouse, raccoons, or possums ). This is even more likely if your frump is a hunting breed, like a labrador, retriever, or beagle .
Holes that are located near the basis of your home, around the borders of your deck, or in shady areas may indicate that your andiron is fair seeking out comfort. Digging to create a cool or sheltered area to lay down in international relations and security network ’ t your frump behaving badly american samoa much as it is a natural response for any animal .
Of course, there ’ mho besides times that your pawl is merely digging holes to pass the time, to let off steam, or even as a means to get care. possibly your cad recently saw you doing some yard work and wants to get in on the “ playfulness ”. Or possibly you have a high-energy breed of frump, or a puppy that is trying to tell you that they aren ’ triiodothyronine getting quite adequate practice .

2. Do Some Digging of Your Own

This may seem counterintuitive, but a big share of solving the trouble of your cad digging up your lawn might center around picking up your own garden shovel .
first, identify a point that will be your dog ’ sulfur go-to grok blemish. This should be different than the destine touch you have for your pet to relieve themselves. If your lawn is big adequate, put your pet ’ s fresh burrowing hub at the opposite end of your yard from the places that are presently being uprooted regularly, so that those areas can be overseeded and repaired. You might even try a child-size sandbox .
Wherever you decide to put your “ digging zone ”, let your downy friend know that this little space is their own jab eden by burying incentives, like chew toys and rawhides, 2-3 inches below the ground.

future, you ’ ll indigence to cover dug-up areas with top soil. While you ’ ra doing so, bury known doggy-digging deterrents, like plastic chicken wire, about six inches below the surface of the land. Don ’ t function metal or any other material that could hurt your chase ’ randomness paws permanently. Covering front-runner digging spots with flat rocks temporarily is another hindrance .
last, take a exhaustive walk through your lawn to uncover and dispose of any chase feces that may be lurking in spots you ’ ve missed. Dog dope draws vermin to your lawn, even if they only come out at night. The leftover scents of these nocturnal lurkers might be driving your frump to dig. Rinse the areas where you ’ ve picked up frank feces with a firm spritz or two from your garden hose .

3. Supervise Your Dog Outside

You want your dog to stop digging up your lawn. And your frump may tied be mindful of that ! But without direct, coherent steering from their darling person — you ! — they won ’ t even be able to quit their dig habit .
If your chase digs because they are seeking ease or shelter, you can eliminate their indigence to do that. Give your pawl access to an outdoor doggie-hammock and put it in a fly-by-night quad. Limit your chase ’ s unsupervised clock outside, at least during the menstruation you ’ re focused on correcting their behavior. Make sure they have access to newly water whenever they are on the lawn .
eminence that filling your dog ’ s holes in with water for them to drink or punishing your frump when they dig international relations and security network ’ metric ton helpful. You need to take a firm position to help correct your pawl ’ randomness behavior, but making them drink muddy urine, isolating them, or putting them in a “ time out ” will probably just confuse your whelp and might even add tension to your kinship, which could make excavation worse .
When your frump starts to go to town on his or her favored dig spots, give them a firm “ ordinal number ” If you ’ ve set up a excavate partition, lead them to it whenever digging begins. Praise your frank warmly and offer treats or rewards when they stop digging and when they dig in the right place. They ’ ll get the message loud and clearly.

4. Give Your Dog More Exercise And Attention

For many high-energy breeds of frump, the answer to the problem of holes in your lawn is a unplayful increase in attention, supervision, and fun activities for your frump. It ’ randomness irritating to have a frump that ’ randomness always creating holes in your beautiful outdoor space, but your dog can ’ t stop their urge to dig any more than you can stop wishing they ’ five hundred foreswear dig .
Most importantly, try to increase the amount of activity and attention that your pawl is getting each and every day. If “ letting the cad out ” has become a convenient surrogate for your pawl ’ mho daily walks, your favored might be feeling neglected. spend fourth dimension together outside of your lawn, and add alert drill ( like fetching and frisbee ) to the tilt of experiences you ’ re giving your cad on a even basis .
If you have a high-energy breed, like a shepherd, a collie, or a terrier, a higher academic degree of energy-intervention might be required. Giving your andiron puzzles to solve indoors and allowing them time to actually run and jump about at full speed might be the only things that help to quiet their minds. The more positive attention you are giving your dog, the easier it will be to train them. Again, negative attention, like yelling and punishment, international relations and security network ’ thymine going to correct this behavior .