Curing Those Backyard Blues How To Get Your Dog To Respect The Yard (2)

Curing Those Backyard Blues: How To Get Your Dog To Respect The Yard (2)

Does your yard resemble the moon's surface, riddled with craters everywhere? When resolving a digging problem, it helps to know why your dog digs. Reasons for digging are many: to relieve boredom, to hunt vermin, to create cooling pits, to escape under fences and to underneath buried treasures, the list goes on...

A dog left in the yard to exercise alone may choose digging as an entertaining way to burn up excess energy. If the soil has been recently tilled to ready it for planting, it's softer and more enjoyable to dig in than dry, hard-packed soil.

Prevent dogs from digging in newly tilled or freshly planted sections by fencing off your garden patches, laying chicken wire on top of plant beds, or accompanying your puppy on its outings and directing its play toward more wholesome pursuits, such as fetch or hide-and-seek.

Terriers and Dachshunds were bred to hunt vermin, a task that includes dashing down holes to dispatch them. If your lawn is beset by moles, voles, groundhogs or other small mammals, your Parson and Jack Russell, Cairn, Westie or other earth-dog breed will embark on an extermination mission.

The genetic urge to catch and kill these pesky critters is so strong in these breeds that walking them on-leash while they're in the yard may be the only way to control the digging until you can clear your yard of these interlopers.

During hot summer months, some dogs, particularly the heavily coated northern spitz-type dogs (such as Siberian Huskies, Samoyeds and Alaskan Malamutes, to name a few) frequently cool themselves by digging pits in shady areas to unearth moister ground. Plastic wading pools filled with a few inches of cold water can serve the same purpose while saving your sod. Keeping your pup inside the air-conditioned home during the hottest parts of the day is also wise.

Is Your Pup Digging For Sport?

If so, then you had better choose an out-of-the-way spot in the yard in which to establish a doggie digging pit, because this sporting habit is not likely to change. It doesn't have to be huge – a square 1½ to 2 times your dog's body length should do it. Put some sort of visual boundary around it – flat, light-colored stones would be just fine.

Till or aerate the soil, and add a little sand so it's more pleasant to dig in the pit than elsewhere in the yard. To make it even more appealing, toss in a few biscuits or chewies and call your dog over to dig them out.

When you catch your puppy digging in another part of the yard, interrupt it and direct it to the digging pit. When you catch your pup digging in the pit, reward the behavior. Now you're well on your way to a pothole-free yard!

BONUS : Curing Those Backyard Blues: How To Get Your Dog To Respect The Yard (3)

Does your dog try to make the great escape from your backyard every chance it gets, working to tunnel his way out beneath the fence? Ask yourself why it feels the need to leave the premises.

An unneutered male will seek out females in heat, so sterilization may put an end to this desire to roam. Social pups, such as Siberian Huskies and Irish Setters, dig out to seek company.

Either refrain from putting this type of dog out in the yard unless you can join it, or consider getting a second dog for company – especially if you're frequently gone long hours. These breeds are terrific candidates for doggie daycare, because they're unusually dog-friendly and have energy to burn.

If you don't have a doggie daycare available in your area, consider leaving your dog with a relative or neighbor who works from home, or hiring a dog-walker to come in midday to give your dog a romp.

Is your scenthound (such as a Beagle, Bassett Hound or coonhound) digging out to chase prey or track down smelly goodies from the street buffet? A genetic predisposition makes this behavior difficult to combat.

First, only let these breeds out in the yard with supervision. Second, prepare a distracting food-dispensing toy ahead of time and hide it in the yard. Now the dog will see its yard as a rewarding place and have less desire to seek food elsewhere.

Third, reinforce the bottom of your fence line. This may entail pouring a 6 to 12 inch cement trough beneath the fence line or burying additional wire fencing in an L-formation 6 to 12 inches underground, and extending 2 to 3 feet into the yard. Railroad ties, concrete blocks or large boulders laid against the base of the fence may also inhibit digging to escape.

Not every puppy bent on escape chooses to tunnel out; some climb or jump out. You can prevent climbing by choosing fencing that doesn't offer footholds, like chain-link does. Prevent over-the-top escapes by choosing a fence that is taller than your dog is able to jump. Or try landscaping the fence line so the area is difficult to clear. Attach brackets to the fence top that angle in toward the yard from which to hang taut wire or loose wire mesh netting as a further deterrent to jumping.

Teach your pup to respect barriers to prevent it from scaling your fence in an attempt to escape. Start training in the house by blocking a doorway with a pet or baby gate. Visit with the puppy while standing on the other side of the gate. If the puppy sits or stands quietly, reward the good behavior with touch, treats, praise or play. As your pup is about to put its feet on the gate, issue a verbal warning, such as “Uh-Uh!” or “Get Off!”