Many pet owners are frustrated when, despite countless hours of fertilizing, weeding, and seeding, their lawn is riddled with brown spots, holes, and severely \u201cpruned\u201d plants. Unfortunately, many dogs cause destruction just by doing what comes naturally.<\/p>\n
The word terrier comes from Latin and means \u201cearth dog\u201d.\u00a0 A common behavior of this group of dogs is burrowing underground to energetically hunt vermin and rodents.\u00a0 They are tenacious and excellent diggers, and were bred to eliminate mice, rats and other furry pests from farms. \u00a0Hounds, such as the beagle and dachshund, use their exceptional sense of smell to root for groundhogs, voles, and rodents.\u00a0 When they can\u2019t reach their prey underground, they can track a rabbit above ground, sometimes digging under the fence to catch a rascally critter. While we see their destructive behavior as naughty, digging holes was once a dog\u2019s job; it\u2019s hard to fight the genetic code! Other dog breeds will dig holes to find a cool spot.<\/p>\n
Malamutes and huskys are known to dig under the shade of a bush or tree to find the chilled soil underneath.\u00a0 Border collies and other herding dogs are active pups who need alternate \u201cjobs\u201d if they are not out corralling sheep.\u00a0 Without an occupation, they may take it upon themselves to become landscapers.\u00a0 Beware the bored border collie.<\/p>\n
How can you deter this canine bad habit and inbred behavior? Stop them from digging holes in undesirable locations by burying bricks or chicken wire with the edges well-protected and re-cover the area with soil.\u00a0 After a few unfruitful attempts and scraping of the nails, they will move on to another activity.\u00a0 Mulch beds with pinecones which is an unfavorable substrate for dogs to walk upon. Better yet, reinforce their natural tendency to dig by designating a sand pile or corner of the yard as an appropriate excavation site.\u00a0 Place hidden toys or treats in these locations; training your dog to head to these locations isn\u2019t hard if they are rewarded!<\/p>\n
Plant Chewing and Grass Eating<\/strong><\/p>\n Some dogs chew leaves and grass to relieve nausea, so it\u2019s always best to rule out a medical problem with the vet. \u00a0Planting thorny bushes such as barberry, holly, or roses will discourage chewing, as will showcasing fast-growing shrubs like viburnum and euonymus \u00a0\u00a0Unless you have a water-loving retriever, Havahart Spray Away or Contech ScareCrow are two motion activated sprinklers that may keep pets away from vegetation.\u00a0 By placing them near tender new plants, a dog that attempts to nibble will get a squirt in face. A product sprayed on plants that imparts a bitter flavor such as Liquid Fence or Lambert Kay\u2019s Boundary spray may also eliminate chewing.<\/p>\n Repeated applications may be necessary to \u201cremind\u201d pets that the plant still tastes bad.\u00a0 These same products can be used on rabbit feces to deter dogs eating rabbit poop.\u00a0 You may have more success installing rabbit fencing buried a foot deep near your yard\u2019s perimeter to discourage them from taking up residence.<\/p>\n Dog Urine Lawn Burn<\/strong><\/p>\n Brown spots of dead grass can be the bane of a dog owner\u2019s existence.\u00a0 Both volume and concentration of pet urine contribute to lawn burn-out. Urine contains high levels of nitrogen, a by-product of protein metabolism.\u00a0 In small amounts, nitrogen can be a great fertilizer, hence the lush green ring of grass that can be found surrounding the brown spot.<\/p>\n Though not exclusively a female dog issue, males do tend to urinate on shrubs or vertically growing plants in smaller bursts, especially if they are marking. So, the problem may be more noticeable if you have a female dog. What does not work to protect your grass? Adding pH modifiers to your dog\u2019s diet such as tomato juice or baking soda has no proven benefit and may even harm your pet\u2019s kidneys or digestive system. Modifying your dog\u2019s body chemistry can have other unintended consequences such as encouraging the production of bladder stones. \u00a0What does work to eliminate or reduce the dog urine spots? The solution to pollution is dilution! I can\u2019t remember if I learned this gem in chemistry class or when treating contaminated wounds\u2026 but it holds true.<\/p>\n Watering your lawn within 8 hours of elimination dilutes the nitrogen in waste products.\u00a0 The market is flooded with sprinklers that can be set on a timer if you don\u2019t have an in-ground programmable sprinkler system.\u00a0 Promote the consumption of clean, fresh water (tap is fine) by refilling your dog\u2019s bowl often and offering ice cubes or watering down kibble.\u00a0 Your dog\u2019s urine won\u2019t be as concentrated, and your lawn will thank you!<\/p>\n Training your dog to eliminate on mulch or pea-gravel will also stop lawn burn.\u00a0 This can be accomplished by repetition using a leash and an immediate reward.\u00a0 Fescue and rye grass are turf types that are more resistant to dog urine lawn burn than Bermuda or bluegrass, and can be used when reseeding bare patches or as part of your overseeding lawn maintenance protocol.<\/p>\n By following these tips, man\u2019s best friend won\u2019t become your yard\u2019s worst enemy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many pet owners are frustrated when, despite countless hours of fertilizing, weeding, and seeding, their lawn is riddled with brown spots, holes, and severely \u201cpruned\u201d plants. Unfortunately, many dogs cause destruction just by doing what comes naturally. Dogs Digging Holes On Lawn The word terrier comes from Latin and means \u201cearth dog\u201d.\u00a0 A common behavior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Dog vs Yard: Digging Holes, Plant Eating, and Lawn Burn!","description":"Pet owners can be frustrated when fertilizing, weeding, and seeding, their lawn is riddled with brown spots, holes, and severely \u201cpruned\u201d plants. Unfortunately, many dogs cause yard destruction just by doing what comes naturally. By following these tips, man\u2019s best friend won\u2019t become your yard\u2019s worst enemy!"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[30,9,28],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dog-behavior","tag-behavior","tag-training","tag-outdoors"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petbutler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}