How to Get Your Dog to Dig Only in a Designated Area
It’s natural for your dog to want to dig. He usually likes to dig for two reasons. Boredom and Heat. In the summertime a dog can cool off by digging in the dirt. The cool dirt feels good on his paws.
Digging doesn’t have to be a problem. It’s a problem if your dog is digging up all of your yard or even worse your garden. But what if you can get your dog to dig in just one special area? This way your dog gets to enjoy his digging and your yard will not be ravaged!
The first thing you need to do is choose the perfect area to be your dog’s digging place. I suggest looking for a sandy area with loose soil. This is a good choice because your dogs prefer loose soil (that’s why they like your garden so much) and because loose soil is easier to clean off your dog than harder dirt.
Your dog’s designated digging area must also be in the shade. Dogs most often want to dig during the summer and your dog will not be able to stay out in the hot sun. Your dog would not enjoy this and it’s also not good for your dog’s health.
If you’ve got no soft soil area in your yard then you can make one using gardening tools. You can also try buying sand from a local home improvement store. Mixing this sand in with the dirt will help make a more enjoyable digging experience for your dog.
Once you’ve got the perfect digging place picked out for your dog I suggest burying one of his bones so that a small part of the bone is visible and the rest is buried. This will make him much more likely to get excited about digging in this area. It’ll be sort of like a treasure hunt for him. When your dog is finally able to dig the bone out he will probably be very excited you should share in this excitement with him! Give him a lot of pats on the back and speak to him in an excited tone. He will learn to associate digging in this area with this kind of reward.
As well as this technique works it’s important to remember that it will not be an overnight success. Your dog will naturally want to dig everywhere he possibly can. So it will take some time to train your dog that he can only dig in this on particular area. It’s necessary that you are strategic and patient with your dog. It will take constant practice and reward for good behavior to get your dog to understand that this one area is the one and only area for digging.
If your dog does start digging in other areas besides the designated digging area you should stop him at once. Don’t stop him with punishment but by redirection. Redirect him towards his designated digging spot and bury a new bone for him to dig out. After you do this enough times he will begin to understand that this is the area where he’s allowed to dig and it’ll be the area he wants to dig because he’ll associate it with bones and your approval.
