Digging holes

[SarahLynn123]

Now that its getting nice out Belle enjoys spending time playing outside. (shes a bit of a loner and can come in at anytime) Well she has started digging holes in places we cant reach. (under the patio, deck, and trailers) No where near the fence, so I dont think shes trying to escape. I was away last weekend so it was her and the bf. She dug a huge hole under the patio then got herself stuck in it! (She has been working at that hole for a few weeks or more) He sqeezed under as best he could and helped her out, but how can we teach her not to dig holes? and what should we fill them with?

Thanks

[tenderfoot]

Dogs dig holes to get warm in cold weather, to get cooler in hot weather, to go after varmits, and out of boredom. So you need to think about why she is doing it.
When you find an area that she is digging it is handy to dig out a larger section about 8" down and lay chicken wire down and then replace the dirt or sod on top.
It might be nice for you to offer her a good place to dig. Dogs are diggers and it can be nice to let them do their thing in a place you don't care about.

[SarahLynn123]

Originally Posted by tenderfoot

It might be nice for you to offer her a good place to dig. Dogs are diggers and it can be nice to let them do their thing in a place you don't care about.

I really have no problem with her digging, she digs in places that no-one will step in and trip, my concern is her getting stuck in them which happened on the weekend and we cant reach her to help her. I think her leg got wedged in there possibly from slipping in. I have no idea but she was limping for a bit. Can I assume that it is rare for her to get stuck and it probably wont happen again so she can keep digging? I dont want her to get hurt.
Thanks for your help

[tenderfoot]

I think it is rare for her to get stuck in the hole, unless she was going after a varmit who already started a hole and she tried to reach in and then got stuck. I was thinking she had built up a wall of dirt that trapped her under the deck. You could always wire off the underside of the deck so she couldn't get in there at all.

[SarahLynn123]

I was thinking of doing that in the summer. I think I will let her dig and hope that she has learned her lesson. Thanks for your help.