Poor Lindsay despairs of having a nice garden. Her dog, Poppy, digs in the lawn, the flower beds and the veg patch. Lindsay wants to know why – and what she can do about it.
Digging is a perfectly normal and natural doggy activity – especially for certain breeds. Some terriers consider digging to be their only reason for existing. Terriers are bred to dig down into holes and burrows to find their prey.
Many dogs find certain surfaces, such as sand, almost irresistible and will dig holes simply for the pleasure of doing so. Gareth’s dog, Tippi, will dig a hole in my sand arena to roll in then lie down in every Saturday.
Disturbed surfaces act as a digging magnet, which is why Poppy probably targets flower beds and the veg patch.
But dogs also dig for many other reasons.
My new book has a chapter on what to do about problem digging and gives a number of tips about what you can do. The book also covers 15 other common problem behaviours you might face. I’ll be telling you more about the new book over the next few weeks.
Keep training,
Carol