Digging in the garden

DIGGING IN THE GARDEN

Its a normal & natural behaviour and lots of dogs have a need to dig but it can be very frustrating for owners.

So, what can you do??

Well, firstly you'll need to prevent your dog from practicing the behaviour - practice makes perfect so if your dog is out the garden on their own then the chances are they will be practicing this behaviour a lot.
We have no right to go out there afterwards and tell the dog off for getting it wrong. The teacher & the student both need to be present for learning to take place. If the teacher wasn't there and the student got it wrong then its really unfair to punish the student - no one was there teaching!

So - no unsupervised access to the garden.

Yep. That can be dead annoying. You just want to leave the back door open and let your dog free roam in & out as they please? That's fine but your dog will likely continue to dig up the garden and getting cross / shouting at your dog AFTER the event isn't teaching him what you DO want him to do ….

Options:

1) Supervise your dog in the garden forevermore.
2) Accept that your dog is just being a dog and that its perfectly natural for him to dig. Allow him to do it and live with holes & mud forevermore.
3) Accept that your dog is just being a dog and that its perfectly natural for him to dig. Create a "legal" area where he can display this natural behaviour. Build a sandpit or dedicate an area which is allowed to be dug. Bury treasure / rewards / toys / treats in the legal area and every time your dog has the need to dig call him over to that area and show him how much more fun it is to dig here. Remember, the teacher needs to be there to show the student what to do.

Non options:

1) Punishing your dog for being a dog