How to Get a Labrador Retriever to Stop Digging

Your dog's love of digging can leave you with a yard full of holes and a dirt-covered pooch. Bad behaviors like this can mean that your dog is anxious, bored or lonely, so you must pay attention to your dog to figure out the root of the problem. Spending extra time in the yard with your dog will give you a chance to train it, and give man's best friend a little more time with you.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog toys
  • Chicken wire
  • Wire cutters
  • Stakes
  • Ring connectors
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Instructions

    • 1

      Observe the holes your dog digs and its behavior when it digs. If your dog is spending time lying in shallow holes, it may be finding the yard too hot and sunny. If your dog is bursting with energy, it could be digging out of boredom. The digging can also be a result of anxiety or stress, and these behaviors may be accompanied by chewing grass or licking paws.

    • 2

      Spend time playing with your dog outside and avoid keeping it outside for too long to prevent boredom, loneliness and stress. If it appears it is digging to escape the heat, move its chain to a shady side of the house. Try these approaches and see if it curbs the bad behavior. Scold the dog if you catch it digging while you're outside, and be consistent.

    • 3

      Build a wire mesh fence around the areas in your yard that you want to protect from the dog, like your flower bed and the dog's favorite digging spot. Do so if Step 2 doesn't work after a few weeks. Build the fence by placing the stakes in the ground, wrapping the chicken wire around the off-limits area and connecting the edges using the ring connectors. If needed, limit your dog's reign of the yard only to areas where it can't or won't dig.

    • 4

      Train the dog to dig only in a certain corner of the yard, if there is an area where this is possible. Bury some of your dog's toys in the corner and praise it when it gets the toy.