7 Easy Steps on How to Keep Dog from Digging under Fence | DIY Project
It’s not a bad idea to let your dog playing around your outdoor living space. As an active animal, they may get stressed if you always keep them inside. They need to feel the exhilarating time to walk and run here and there.
But, the problem comes when they start digging under your backyard fence. It has been known as their common behavior when they start playing in your outdoor space. There are some factors that cause your dog to dig under your fence, such as:
They look for attention – Sometimes, they just do weird things to seek your attention, especially when they get used to getting your attention. If they keep doing this digging behavior in your presence, then they want to have some attention.
They entertain themselves – When you don’t provide them with some toys, enough walk, or quality time with you, they will look for another thing to entertain themselves. Especially when you have puppies or adolescents, they always look for the outlet for their energy.
They hunt for prey – Their hunting instinct sometimes forces them to look for some prey that live in the burrows underneath your backyard.
They comfort themselves – Sometimes they dig to comfort themselves, as another way to chill the heat of their body.
They escape from something – Though the case is rare, your dog may dig under your fence to get away from something inside your property.
Due to those various causes, you have to know the root of the problem to solve the case. Below, we share the simple tutorial on how to keep dog from digging under fence that you can easily follow.
Stopping your dog from digging your fence is not a really hard job. You can change their behavior so they won’t damage your lovely backyard.
Entertain Your Dog
You need to make them distracted from digging under the fence by providing them enough entertainment. If you entertain them properly, they may not find other sources to cheer them up.
Walk your dog regularly, at least twice a day.
Give them toys that they love.
Make some bonding time for them like teaching them some tricks and giving them treats so they won’t feel lonely.
Chill Them Down
If you find that your dogs digging around the area which is close to a water source or large shade of trees, they may look for the spots to cool them off.
Immediately bring them inside with the aircon running.
If you are willing enough, you can install an additional fence to keep your dog from digging. You can use chicken wire to complete your existing fence.
Prepare these supplies:
Chicken wire
Tape measure
Shovel
Staple
Follow these steps:
Measure the length of the existing fence to measure the size of the chicken wire that you need to buy.
Dig a trench 1-foot width and 1 to 2 feet depth around the bottom of the fence.
Place the chicken wire in the trench.
Staple the chicken wire to the fence, make sure that it’s secured enough.
Fill back the trench with the dirt to finish the step.
Provide Their Own Digging Zone
If your dogs keep digging under your fence even after you have done all of those efforts, then you have to give them their own digging zone.
Pick the spot away from the fence for the digging zone.
Cover it with sand or loose soil. You can also use a sandbox as an alternative.
Bury their favorite toys under the digging zone to make it more attractive.
Praise or give them treat when they dig in their own zone and say “No dig!” firmly when they start to dig outside the zone.
Similar to pepper spray, capsicum spray can give an unpleasant aroma that your dog hates. However, consider this step as the very last effort that you will choose since it can cause a bit of irritation to the dog’s eyes and nose.
Spray the bottom line of your fencing with capsicum spray.
You may need to respray the fence every two weeks if necessary.
So those are some steps that you can do when you have a problem with your dogs digging under the fence. They are so easy to follow that you can add to your DIY project list right away.
Keep in mind not to punish your dogs when they start to behave as such since it can just stress them out. By following our tutorial on How to Keep Dog from Digging under Fence above, you can solve the problem right away without costing you a lot.