How to Have a Garden with a Digging Dog

Dogs are great, even with all their quirks, cute habits, and downright irritating behaviors. A digging dog is a nightmare for several reasons. It ruins your yard, makes a mess in your house when it tracks in the mud and makes doing anything with a garden or outdoor space nearly impossible. The good news is that you can have both: a beautiful garden and a bumbling, digging dog that can’t get enough of the great outdoors. Here’s how. 

Separation of Space

The first, and most obvious answer, is to separate your dog’s outdoor space from your outdoor garden space. If the dog has the run of the backyard, you can start a small garden out front if you have the space, or in a side yard. Perhaps you can block off a portion of the backyard with fencing or planter boxes so that the dog can’t get into the garden. 

If you can separate the garden from where the dog is allowed to be, you’ll be able to do whatever you want with your garden without compromising your pup’s happiness. 

Redirect Behavior

Redirection is a really useful tool in dog training. Essentially, when you see your dog starting to dig, you redirect them to do something else. Rather than just saying “no,” which can be easy to ignore, you’re giving them something else to focus on, and hopefully to expel their energy. That way, they won’t dig. 

If you’re leaving your dogs in the yard unsupervised, of course, this method won’t really be on the list. However, it may be worthwhile to spend some time with them so that you can leave them unattended in the future. 

Find Out Why They’re Digging

Some dogs are just diggers. Others dig for a reason. Some dogs dig because of anxiety, for example, or because they are trying to escape the yard due to boredom. Maybe your dog is just digging because they’ve got an extra bit of their wild genetics left that says they need to hide everything from potential predators and thieves. 

If you find out why your dog is digging, you’ve got at least a chance of addressing and changing the behavior. If they’re just digging to dig, you might have to go another route. 

These are just a few of the things you can do when you’re dealing with a digging dog. Another great option is to consider Dog Training Now Charleston to address and resolve digging behaviors once and for all.