by Rabenschwarz

Created on: December 21, 2006   Last Updated: October 02, 2010

Many dogs, especially Terrier breeds are instinctive diggers. That's what they were born to do, go to ground and get rodents, foxes or other small animals. The Terrier and Dachshund breeds are a little more difficult to break of the digging habit. Dogs may also dig if they are bored and have nothing else to do, especially "back yard dogs." One way to prevent the dog from digging is to make the dog exhausted. Take Fido on a long walk or to the park. Afterwords if he/she is still not tired also try a long game of fetch. A tired dog is not a dog that is going to destroy things because it is too tired. That is probably the best way to stop the dog from digging.

The problem of digging can also be stopped by encouraging the dog to dig in an appropriate place. To do this, find a section of the yard that is to be your dog's digging hole. It is wise to keep the hole as far away from the "off limits" place as possible. Then take your dog out to his/her digging place and show it where to dig. One could also take a small hand held garden shovel and dig with the dog. Of course, one should always praise the dog when it does the desired behavior. To discipline the dog for digging where he/she is not supposed to there are several methods.

The object is to make the experience as unpleasant as possible without harming the dog. One could use physical stimulus such as wetting the dog with a squirt gun, hose or sprinkler. If you chose to wet the dog aim for the face as he'she will find that more annoying. There is also auditory stimulus such as putting coins in a can and shaking it causing a loud noise. This will usually startle the dog and he/she will cease the behavior and maybe run away. When disciplining the dog remember, hitting or spanking the dog is no longer an acceptable technique.

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