I am going to share a tip I learned about how to prevent your dog’s digging up the yard. A few days ago I ran into town with my friend. When we returned to his house about 3 hours later we couldn’t even drive through the gate. The crazy pack of dogs he keeps in his fenced in yard had dug an enormous hole, at least 2 feet deep, with a diameter of probably 5 feet. Because we are living at the beach the digging is pretty easy for the dogs.  This was not the first time my pal’s dogs have done something like this. Obviously my buddy needed to learn how to stop his dogs from destroying his yard and driveway.

There could be several reasons why your dog may be digging up your yard.  Perhaps your dog is digging because he wants to escape, or maybe just for something to do, or just trying to dig down to some cooler soil below . I’ll discuss some possible solutions so you can prevent your dog from digging up your lawn and garden. My friend’s dogs dug up the area right in front of the front gate, so it seemed like an escape attempt.  However, on other occasions these same bored dogs have dug holes in the middle of the yard. At other times, his dogs would dig up any areas that were wet from watering to escape the heat of the sand. Finally my neighbor said enough was enough-let’s put a stop to this.

Following some of the advice I found on solving digging problems in a great dog training book I have, we decided was to build the dogs their own area where they were free to dig without it being a problem. Because my neighbor’s lot is sandy, he didn’t need to do anything beyond enclosing a nice sized area with fencing to create the enclosure. We made sure the enclosure had some shade so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable for the dogs on hot days. My friend also treated his dogs to a small wading pool to refresh themselves in as well as some chew toys and some fresh water. He obviously loves those dogs. Now that the dogs stay in the enclosure while he is away from the house, he no longer returns to a yard full of holes.

Even if you don’t live at the beach, you can make the same kind of area in your own yard to prevent your dog from digging. Inside the  area that you have chosen to enclose just put in a sandbox with some loose soil mixed with sand. Pick an area to enclose that has some shade  (or add some shade cloth) and in addition to putting in a sandbox for digging purposes, be sure to put in his water bowl and some chew toys to keep him busy.

Besides stopping your dogs from digging up the yard, it also gives them a cool place to hang out while you are gone. Some dogs will stop digging up the yard once they get used to just digging in their play area, and you might be able to once again let him out in your absence. If your dog is digging to escape, though, he should probably stay in the enclosure while you are away. Give this method a try and you should have solved the problem of your dog digging up the yard problem.

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