Golden Retriever Digging

Golden Retrievers by their nature love digging. However, you must not punish them for digging as it is part of their personality. If you do not want your Golden Retriever digging and destroying your backyard by digging here and there, then simply create a ‘digging area’ for him. Reward you dog for digging in the assigned area. You can also bury something that your Goldie loves and encourage it to dig until he finds ‘buried treasure’. It is important to understand that digging is part of their nature and will take time to get out of this habit. Consistence training, however, can help them get out of their digging habits. Like all other dogs, Golden retrievers are also guided by a set of responses and if the trainer disapproves the habit of digging, Goldens will soon learn that the action is unacceptable and will restrain itself from digging.

Lack of exercise, boredom, separation anxiety, and things like that could be the reasons for Golden Retriever digging habit. Solutions to these problems for example, if digging is due to lack of exercise then you may take your dog for a walk, engage it in other work, or play with the dog to help it come out of this feeling. By doing so, you may be able to stop the digging entirely. If the dog is digging because of boredom or separation anxiety, then you can buy some toys for the dog and can even spend some time with your Golden Retriever entertaining it.

However, some Golden Retrievers dig without any particular reason, that is, they dig for the sake of digging. In that situation, you have to take care and train the dog out of the digging habit. To take Golden Retrievers out of digging habits you may restrict their access to the yard and invest in obedience training classes. Diverting the attention of Golden Retriever while they are in the garden, such as playing with them or giving them something to chew can help them come out of the digging habit.

Great attention has to be paid when the dog is in garden, you have to look after it and immediately reprimand your Golden Retriever when it starts digging. It is important to make him realize that for what he is being rebuked. If you rebuke him after he has completed digging, it would not help. It is at this point that you could introduce the “no digging” command, right when the action is occurring.

Another common reason for a Golden Retriever digging habit is to get a relief from heat. Especially during the summer time in some parts of the world Golden Retrievers dig to stay cool. Through digging they try to cover themselves from dirt which is cool and moist as their coats are pretty thick. So, to stop your Golden Retrievers from turning to digging, you must keep your dog in a cooler place and plenty of water to drink. If you can give your Golden a pool where he can splash around can also keep them away from feeling the need to dig. You must know that a Golden Retriever loves water more than digging. Though there could be many aversive ways of controlling Golden Retriever digging habit, but the results for those are greatly varied. Supervising and obedience training classes are the most recommended methods when it comes to digging.