Do puppies grow out of digging? Surprising Answer

1 Cure your dog’s seperation anxiety

Do puppies grow out of digging?

Is your dog overly attached to you? He may miss you so much that he acts up when you leave him alone.

This extreme attachment is referred to as separation anxiety and is a surprisingly common issue.[3]

Troublesome behaviors associated with separation anxiety include:

  • Your dog going potty where he shouldn’t.
  • Pacing
  • barking and howling
  • Chewing or being destructive
  • and, you guessed it… digging holes
  • If your dog is an anxious digger then the solution is simple:

    You need to cure his separation anxiety!

    Typically, this involves teaching your dog to enjoy (or at least tolerate) being left alone.

    Check out this video on how to train your dog to overcome separation anxiety:

    There are also a wide variety of products that help to treat separation anxiety in dogs.

    One of the most popular is calming treats. As the name suggests, you give your pup a treat, and he will become noticeably more relaxed.

    Other temporary solutions include calming sprays, leaving unwashed clothing at home that smells like you and pressure wraps.

    To make the best use of these products, combine them with training your dog out of separation anxiety.

    Once your pup’s separation anxiety fixed, the digging will be too!

    1 Make your scaredy-dog feel safe

    Do puppies grow out of digging?

    The world is a noisy place. But some sounds are much louder than others. I’m talking about fireworks, thunder, gunshots, loud trucks, trains and alarms…

    Of course, you and I know that loud noises are entirely harmless. Unfortunately, your pup doesn’t know any better.

    When your scared dog hears these sounds, he thinks that it’s something threatening. His first reaction? To search for a safe place to hide…

    If there is no safe space around, your dog may frantically dig, to make a safe hole to hide in.

    Fortunately, loud noises are an easy fix.

    Keep your dog inside when you know there are going to be loud noises. 4th of July fireworks? Incoming thunderstorm? Bring your pup inside.

    Need to leave your dog outside? Provide him with a cozy shelter, such as a dog house. If your dog does get spooked by a loud noise, he will hide in his house, rather than dig a hole.

    A popular solution for scaredy-dogs is the Thundershirt. These dog coats gently constrict your dog with reassuring pressure – many dog owners swear by them for keeping their dog calm during thunderstorms and fireworksOther popular products designed to keep dogs calm during loud noises include the

    Do puppies grow out of digging?

    Can you imagine being locked in your yard all day with nothing to do? Sounds pretty dull, right?

    Well, your dog feels the same way….

    To keep himself entertained, your pup may take up digging as a hobby. It may be destructive, but to your dog, digging a hole is better than being bored.

    By curing your pups boredom, you won’t return home to a yard full of holes.

    I covered a couple of boredom busters earlier in this guide, such as toys and taking your dog for a walk.

    Other boredom solutions include training your dog or even getting a second dog to keep your pup company.

    Do puppies grow out of digging?

    Back when dogs roamed wild, they would dig holes to hide their unfinished food. Once the food was inside, they would cover it back up.

    Think of this hole as a refrigerator for dogs. The next time they were hungry they would dig up their hidden meal.

    Nowadays, dogs have it too easy. They don’t need to hunt, a tasty meal hand to deliver to them. And if your pup is like mine, he gets a steady supply of treats in between meals too.

    Even so, your dog still has these natural instincts. Despite knowing that he won’t go hungry, the desire to hide food is irresistible.

    And so he will turn your yard into his private food storage. Some dogs will even go so far as to hide their chew toys in holes.

    Look closely at the hole your dog has dug. If you see food, treats or toys inside, you’ll know you need to deal with your pup’s instincts.

    But how do you fight what comes naturally to your dog?

    The first step is to remove anything your dog has buried in your yard. If you don’t, your pup will dig it up again. You don’t want another hole in your yard, do you?

    Now you want to make sure you are not over-feeding your dog. If your dog is full, but there is food left over, he will be more likely to hide it.

    Next dogs are less likely to bury bite-sized treats. Larger treats like bully sticks, yak chews or bones, on the other hand, are more likely to be saved for later.

    Making the switch to a smaller treat could be all it takes to stop your dog from digging up your yard.

    If you supervise your dog, you can still give him large treats. However, once you notice he has finished eating or chewing you should take the treat off him for later.

    Another alternative is to just offer the larger treats inside. There isn’t any soft soil to dig up here.

    Digging holes to hide food is considered to be more common in hunting breeds such as Labradors, Beagles, Golden Retrievers and Weimaraners.

    Why Puppies Dig

    But he doesn’t have to be a “holy terrier” to indulge in diggidy-dog behavior. Puppies of any breed may notice you working in the garden and want in on the fun and copy your digging. They dig up plants, tunnel beneath fences, or dig out of boredom.

    They also dig to cool off or stay warm. Hot dogs instinctively scoop out holes to rest their tummies against the cool soil. In the winter, dirt is great insulation and a hole is a warm place to rest. Understanding why pets dig can help you figure out ways to stem the excavation.

    STOP Your DOG DIGGING in the Yard (GUARANTEED!)

    I’ve been there. I would often return home to find my dog’s head in a hole with his butt sticking up in the air – spraying dirt behind him.

    Not only are holes ugly, but when it rains, they turn to mud. The only fix is to stop your dog from digging.

    We surveyed over 500 dog owners and consulted with an animal behaviorist to find the best solutions to stop a dog from digging.

    With their help, we put together this list of 26 tips. By the time you reach the end, you will know exactly how to stop your expert hole digger from tearing up your yard.

    To start with, I’m going to give recommendations that you can use to stop a dog digging right now. later on, I will cover the causes of digging – fixing these can create a long-lasting digging solution.