Can a Dog Be Trained Not to Dig?

Dear Bark: I recently adopted a charming two-year-old Terrier-mix, my first small dog. I had heard that they like to snuggle under the covers, and sure enough, on the first night with me, Ezra did just that, and I was delighted. Less delightful is that he steals socks and buries them in my garden (at least now I know what happened to them). He’s also digging up some of our favorite plants. I can’t always supervise him, so need some advice on how to stop his digging, or at least redirect it.

I sympathize with your frustration. Many dogs dig, but Terriers are notorious for it—no surprise, given that many of them were bred to dig for vermin. They dig to bury things (like Ezra’s doing), for entertainment, to ease boredom, to cool off and sometimes to escape. On the upside, your dog likes to “burrow” under the covers, another form of digging!

Here are some strategies to modify this behavior.