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How You Can Stop Your Dog from Digging Holes in Your Yard

Pet Stop • May 30, 2014

Dogs are wonderful animals. They are loyal, loving, and protective. They have a lot of energy and love to spread around. Unfortunately they also sometimes come with bad habits, like chewing, running away, and digging where they shouldn’t, like in your backyard.

If you love your dog, you don’t want to kick it to the curb for a few holes in the backyard. So how can you keep your dog and also keep your yard intact? Relax, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. The first thing you should realize is that your dog isn’t doing this because it wants to be a bad dog. No dog wants to be a bad dog. When a dog is digging holes in your backyard, it can mean one of a few things.

Your dog is bored. Dogs like to stay active, and they like to be involved in whatever is going on around them. If they can’t find something to do, or are unable to get to the action, they may dig holes to escape what they consider upsetting circumstances. The easiest thing to do here is keep your dog active, run and play with them whenever possible. A dog that is tired out from a day at the park is usually too tired to dig holes.

Your dog wants to escape. For some reason, your dog wants out of that yard. There might be something else out there that is upsetting them. They might be intimidated by a nearby animal. Or they might simply just be lonely out there by themselves. When a dog wants to escape a yard that badly the best thing to do is to find another place for them to be outside.

Your dog buried something in your yard. The most common reason a dog digs in the yard is because they smell something buried there that they think they should have. They may have buried bones or treats there. They may simply be smelling other things buried there. The best thing to do if you think this is the case is to help your dog find what it is looking for. If you can’t do that then give the dog a new bone or toy.

You don’t need leashes, muzzles, or expensive training to keep your dog from digging up your yard. Your dog loves you, and it wants to please you. So when you find your dog digging in the yard, stop them gently. Tell them that is bad or wrong, and then drop it. Then give the dog something else to do. Give them a stick or a bone, and let them know that is what they should be doing. You would be surprised how willing a dog is to work with you, once they understand what you want.

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