Home Remedies to Stop Dogs from Digging

If your backyard is full of holes and craters, the chances are that your dog can’t stop digging.

Most pet owners can probably relate to this issue and have even tried multiple methods to stop their dog from digging but to no avail.

It is important to note and understand here that dogs generally don’t dig to destroy your landscape or out of spite, per se, but they mainly do it to seek comfort, protection, entertainment or even an escape.

However, regardless of what the reason might be, it’s essential that you stop your dog from digging and help your pet get rid of this habit.

There are several home remedies to stop dogs from digging that you can try with your pet and see if they work.

Use Unpleasant Smells to Deter Your Dog

If you’ve ever paid attention to your dog digging a hole, you must have noticed that it first sniffs the dirt and then digs a hole. Most dogs generally do this, and the idea here is to use this very behavior against their digging habits.

All you need is an unpleasant smell to deter your dog and prevent it from tearing up your yard.

There are numerous scents that you can use here to your advantage, which dogs find to be very nasty such as coffee grounds, lemons, grapefruit, oranges and red cayenne pepper.

Red cayenne pepper has been found to be the most aggressive of all smells, given how it can irritate your dog’s nostrils which will make it reconsider if digging is even worth the resulting discomfort.

Take some cayenne pepper powder and sprinkle in small amounts in all those areas that your dog loves to dig. As soon as your dog sniffs the area, he will probably end up running away from there because of the intense smell of the pepper.

Spray Your Dog with Water

A lot of dogs absolutely hate bathing or even coming close to water, be it in the form of puddles on the ground, sprinklers or the rain. If your furry friend belongs to the same category, spraying it with water is one of the best home remedies to stop dogs from digging.

Every time you find your dog scurrying away to its favorite digging spot in your yard, go after it and spray it with a little water. Your dog will simply run away and forget all about its dedicated digging habit.

However, you aren’t always likely to be around when your dog digs in the yard, right? In that case, you can resort to the use of a motion-activated sprinkler that will detect your pet’s movement and release a spray of water every time your dog comes near it.

The chances are that your dog will eventually completely give up digging because it will understand that if it tries to dig a hole, it will get sprayed with water, and your dog certainly wouldn’t want that to happen.

Change the Soil in Your Yard

As unusual as this might sound, one of the many reasons why a lot of dogs enjoy digging in the backyard is because of the type of soil.

Soft and sandy soils tend to encourage digging in dogs, especially if it is the kind of soil that is found on the beach. This type of soil is super gentle and soft on your dog’s paws and gives them utter joy when they try to dig into this loose soil.

So, the first thing you need to do here is to check the soil in your yard. If it’s the loose, soft kind, replace it with compacted, rocky kind of soil to discourage your dog from digging.

Block Your Dog from Entering the Yard

One of the simplest home remedies to stop dogs from digging is blocking their entrance in the yard with the help of a fence.

If your dog happens to dig in specific sections or areas of the yard, it is best to block those with fences to keep your furry friend away.

Before buying the appropriate fencing solution, you need to consider the breed of your dog. For instance, if you have a pug, a small fence will simply do the job. However, if you have a German shepherd, you will need to get a tall fence to keep it away because these dogs can easily jump as high as 6 feet

Use Interactive Dog Toys

If you tend to leave your dog in the yard when you are away only to come back to more than half the yard all dug up, you can try your hand at interactive dog toys.

A lot of pet owners use toys as a way to entertain their pet dogs and prevent them from digging. Some of the best toys that you can use here include tether-tugs, ball throwers and treat-dispensing balls, to name a few.

The idea here is to give your dog those types of toys that will keep him entertained for hours so that his mind doesn’t even go near the thought of digging.

Spray Vinegar-Water Solution in Trouble Areas

Vinegar has a very strong smell, and dogs (and even human beings) don’t like the smell of it. Another useful home remedy to prevent digging is to make a spraying solution of 50/50 water and vinegar and spray in all those trouble areas where your dog is likely to dig.

The strong scent of the vinegar will keep your dog away, and it probably won’t bother with the digging at all.

Final Word

As much as we all love our adorable furry friends, certain behaviors need to be prevented, one of which is digging.

There’s nothing cute about a dog digging holes in your yard, and so you must try these home remedies to stop dogs from digging.

You might be hesitant about causing any kind of discomfort to your dearest pet, but it’s best to discourage digging habits from the get-go, and you need to let your pet know that digging is absolutely not allowed!