Dog-gone Digger...

I have a 1yr old Husky Lab mix who looooooves to dig!
After doing some research I discovered some tips and tricks to help keep this from becoming a terrible habit.


Several reasons that your dog is digging:
*they are bored, and seeking entertainment
*they are seeking comfort from weather, (hot,or rainy days)
*they are seeking to escape

There are several ways to help prevent these behavioral acts from occurring.
First you need to be able to identify why your dog is in fact digging.
If your dog is hyperactive, chews destructively, and digs holes, more than likely you have a bored pet on your hands.
If the holes very deep and your pet seems to be covered head to toe in the mud, you may have a pet looking for shelter in those holes, and it wasn't mentioned up top, but they may be chasing prey.
Last by not least, if your dog has been digging beside or under a fence, you're dog is looking to escape. Most likely not to get away per-say but again, because they are bored and something on the other side of that fence is more intriguing. This also comes from being bored.

So after figuring out what type of "digger" your dog is, here are some tips to help this behavior go away!
If they are a seeking entertainment because they are bored, provide toys in the yard that your dogs can play with and keep their minds occupied and away from your fence and yard. Make sure to rotate toys to mix things up and keep the dogs interested.
If they are looking for comfort from weather, make sure you provide them with a safe place to escape all types of weather.
If they are digging up fences, again, make sure you can give your dog at least 30 minutes of interaction with yourself a day for exercise. The more tired they are, the better!
Plus, they love you! They want to be around you!

Another tip is to add the dogs feces to the holes. Dogs HATE the smell of their own feces!! This will discourage them from coming back to a hole and continuing to dig. A cheap way to help preventing your dog from digging at fences is to buy chicken wire and to place it at the bottom of the fence, this will discourage them quickly and you won't have to worry about your dog digging at a fence and running away.

Things not to do...
do not scold them when you find a hole. This doesn't do any good!
Only scold them when you see them in the actual act!!

If these tips and tricks don't seem to help, I would seek a behavioral training to help in this.

by:Amanda Hyder