By Eric Hartwell

In homes, where gardens or yards exist, it is common to find dogs digging around anywhere they want to. If left unchecked, the wife will start yelling that her favorite flower was destroyed. A child may get hurt while playing because he did not see the hole the dog dug. These are accidents that could have been prevented earlier if attention was given to the dog on the spot.

Digging holes is as natural as barking to any member of the canine family. The dogs do it for several reasons, and the owner should be able to discern why his pet is doing it in the first place. It is imperative that the dog starts understanding that his behavior is unacceptable, but punishing it is mostly pointless. It may take some trial and error in addressing the issue before it resolved, but the important key here is to stay patient with the pet. Losing patience will not work. A lot of owners have seen that. It just plainly doesn’t work whether on the long-term or short-term span.

Why Dig Holes

Because dogs are covered with fur, digging is their way of staying cooler because the hole is much cooler than the ground, and some owners fail to realize that some dogs dig holes to create a nice cool place for them to lie on while staying outside. It is also frustrating to see the dog ignore the dog house provided for them during the hot season. Face it, folks. Just like our houses, it, too, gets stuffy so they need to look for a cooler place to lie on.

Digging can also be an invitation from the pet to “come here and play with me.” By digging around, the dogs notice that their owners seem to mind them more when they do it. It is a call for attention, which the owner should address right away.

If people get frustrated and bored at time, so do dogs. This is one of their ways to release all the pent-up energy they have.

Training the Dog

Here are several things an owner can do to help the pet dog behave and start toeing the line.

Because dogs are active pets, they could help their dogs channel their energy through regular walks in the morning and/or evening. This activity also helps the dog and its owner know more about each other because they start recognizing each other’s quirks and habits.

If the dog really just likes digging around, it would be good to train them to do it on a sand pile. The owner can reinforce this behavior through praises and even tokens to indicate that they approve of their behavior only if they do it on the designated sand pile.

If all else fails, the owner can start burying balloons, squirt water or make any loud noise to deter the dogs from continuing with their digging. The owner should be there on hand to witness the dog digging consistently so the dog starts accepting the fact that its behavior has to change.

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