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©1986, All rights reserved Dr. B.V. Beaver Digging A common problem shown by dogs is digging. Owners are often frustrated by the damage done to beautiful flower beds and lawns by their pet and may resort to a number of unusual or ever cruel tactics in attempts to stop this behavior. Usually the methods are unsuccessful. In order to stop digging as a problem, it is necessary to understand why the dog is doing it and then to take appropriate action for the specific cause. Why do dogs dig? For most dogs, digging represents a type of behavior which evolved so they could go after small animals that were potential meals. The trait was even selected in the development of certain breeds like dachshunds and many of the terriers. Today’s pet has its meals supplied, so the digging is usually restricted to burying an occasional bone or going after a visiting gopher. Occasionally this behavior is shown excessively without the presence of bones or a pesky yard visitor. In these situations there are usually several contributing factors. Modern dogs often do not get enough exercise. Why? Because, their daily routine is very restrictive. The dogs ancestors, wolves, spend much of their day hunting for and trying to capture their next meal, so the calories from one meal are used up trying to capture their next one. Our pets don’t need to spend much energy walking to their food bowl so they tend to accumulate a lot of energy. In many ways a dog is like a 5-year old child trying to sit still in church. Sooner or later he just can’t help wiggling. The dog’s buildup of energy will be used in some way, too, and that way may not be acceptable. It could be expressed as destructive chewing, barking, pacing or digging. The release of the energy serves as its own reward, making it difficult behavior to stop. This energetic dog may dig out near a gate or along a fence and resist “capture” for several hours. Or it may just dig in several spots around the yard. A second factor that can cause a dog to dig is isolation. People often get a dog and then confine it to the backyard. After a while, the new pet becomes less interesting to the owners and other activities become important, so the only time the dog gets to interact with people is when it is fed or when someone decides to go into the backyard. The dog will dig near a location of human activity in a neighbor’s yard, in a flower bed near the house to try to get near its owners, or by a gate leading to a front yard view of neighborhood activities. These dogs usually stay near the house or can be found where activity is going on. Other dogs seem to dig under trees or in flowerbeds near the house, and they seem particularly active in the summer. Dogs get hot during the summer, particularly in this part of the country. Since dogs cannot sweat like humans can, they have to rely on other methods of cooling off. Panting helps fill this role so does lying in cool dirt. Thus, dogs will often dig cooling holes in shady areas. Flowerbeds in the afternoon shade of a house are ideal because the loose, moist ground is easy to dig in and is very good for cooling. Unfortunately this behavior is not conducive to an attractive garden. What can be done? Many things have been tried. Some owners fill in each hold with bricks or water, fence off a hole, or put an electric wire at the bottom of a fence. These may work for a little while, but soon alternative activities show up. This can mean digging holes in new locations, so that the yard becomes paved with bricks. Dogs that can’t go under a fence may soon learn to go over the top, or worse yet, subject themselves to the electric shock because the desire to get out is so great. The solutions must attack the cause, not simply look at methods to punish. For any dog that digs there are two major recommendations that should be followed. These are exercise and schedule. Since most dogs, like most people, do not exercise themselves enough, it is important for owners to encourage exercise. This can include walks for little dogs, and ball chasing sessions for larger dogs. This exercise and all other activities should occur on a fairly rigid daily schedule. Also included in this schedule should be the obvious things like eating and eliminating, and some less obvious things like interacting with the family members. This interaction can be in the form of play and exercise, grooming or obedience sessions, or petting. The key is that it occurs at the same time or times each day. Because dogs are social animals, they would normally spend the majority of their time in close proximity with pack members. For the dog that has been forgotten in the backyard, social isolation is a punishment that animal doesn’t understand, random attention just aggravates the situation. For isolated dogs, scheduled interaction with people relieves the anxiety that causes digging for the purpose of escape. When
the dog digs to create a cooling hole, additional measures are needed. The dog
has to have a way to Careful consideration of why the dog is digging will provide the most successful alternatives to help prevent the behavior from becoming a problem. |
