Dogs are an excellent family members. Sometimes, their actions or antics can tickle the entire family. However, some of their activities, though seemingly cute, are detrimental if it is left unchecked by the owner. One such action is the dog’s attempt at digging at every surface, be it your flooring or even in the garden. If the dog is digging at your backyard, then you must be very frustrated that the plants are being dug out! This is considered less dangerous, given that there might be the possibility of hidden cables at the garden, and your puppy's life might be endangered if he accidental dug into it.
For the concerned pet parents, you would want to stop this behavior as it can potentially harm your dog. But before that, do you know the reasons that push your furry friend to dig?
Digging as a form of comfort
Sometimes, dogs dig around as a form of relaxation. If you spot him/her digging relentlessly on the floor, don’t be too worried that there is something hidden underneath. Instead, the dog is digging so that it can lie down comfortably, even if there is nothing to dig from the hard floor. It is just their instinct to do so, especially when it is warm. The best way to solve this is by providing your puppy with a cool bed to lie on.
Digging to keep their treasure
You know those retro cartoons, where the dog digs a hole on the ground to store a bone? There is some truth to this! Indeed, dogs do dig into the soil to hide their treasures. It can be the odd-sock that they found or even your favorite slipper. This behavior is disastrous on two counts. For one, your favorite items will go missing. On the other hand, the puppy will need to destroy your beloved garden to find a suitable place to store their treasure!
Digging because they are bored
The dog may be digging simply because they are bored. If this is the case, we will encourage you to spend more time with your furry friend. You can always purchase their favorite toy, or you can still bring the dog out for frequent walks.
How to prevent digging
For whatever reasons that causes the puppy to dig, digging is still a behavior that needs correction, and one of the best ways to correct this is by using an e-collar. The e-collar works wonders as it can be used for a myriad of training sessions and training to stop digging is an excellent way to implement some discipline in your dog.
Here are the steps that will get you started
- Get the dog to be acquainted with the e-collar. This is covered in an earlier post!
- Ensure that you set the stimulation setting to be at the lowest before gradually increasing it before it triggers a reaction in your puppy. Do not place the initial level at a high level as it may cause pain.
- Bring your dog to the area that he frequently digs at.
- Activate the stimulation level once the puppy starts to dig at the location. Always accompany this action with a firm ‘no’. Repeat these two more times before calling it a day.
- Ensure that you do not give your dog access to the ‘training area’ at all times without your supervision.
- The next day, bring your puppy to the ‘training area’ and observe his behavior. If he starts to dig, you can repeat step no.4.
If the above is implemented correctly, your dog will stop digging in your favorite garden! Of course, always remember to include a healthy dose of love and patience during the training process so that the training session can be a fruitful one!