Diggers!!!

[Cheryl Panko]

Both my Doodles have turned into diggers. They learned it from my daughter's Golden Retriever, or she just brought it out of them. They dig up my flower beds constantly. They dig foot deep holes and they are only 20 lb dogs! Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop this? Thank you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wouldn't let them out there unsupervised; you can't correct a behavior if you aren't there to see it, lol. :) 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Not sure why, but Teddy my 12-pound Toy likes to dig and also eat grass roots.  He'll dig holes into the bark at the local dog park....into dirt....and sometimes in and around grass.  But only the latter is food-related, as he'll munch on some roots.  I can't understand why the soft lush grass isn't his target.  Weird.......

I stop him and distract him, but he keeps doing it.  Maybe stronger negative reinforcement needed.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

As puppies my dogs dug.  They quit.  Now Clancy digs near the fence line in a specific spot where we think he is looking for tree roots from a specific tree (weird).  Then, we had a gopher intermittently - a neighborhood one.  The dug to China looking for him until we got one of those battery operated stakes that deter gophers. They aren't digging at all any more - did the gopher stake actually deter Clancy from those roots?  I'm just glad.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Two-year-old Belle has been an enthusiastic digger since she was a tiny pup. She loved digging so much that I hated to deny her that enjoyment, but didn't want holes all over my property for me to fall into. When she was a few months old, I read somewhere (maybe here, or on Doggy Dan's website) about setting up a digging pit where the dog is allowed to dig.  I outlined a small, out-of-the way spot in my yard with old bricks painted white, and it only took a few weeks of close supervision and consistent guidance ("dig here" and "no digging") for Belle to figure out that she may only dig in that spot.  I am always in the yard when she is out, however, and sometimes I have to shove the dirt pile back into the hole so she doesn't dig me a new well. She doesn't dig anywhere else, except when I allow her to "dig here" in the sand at my friends' beach house. She has so much fun it is a joy to watch, and worth the inevitable clean-up.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

My youngest one used to dig at every opportunity.  I put red pepper flakes everywhere she started and she didn't like that.  She also had a chewing problem, she would try furniture or the raised wooden beds my husband built for them to have in the yard, bitter apple spray helped stop that.

[Lauren Armstrong]

My Doodle buddy is a digger, he dug up a section of our grass the other day! 

I read you can blow up balloons and put them in the soil where they usually dig and the popping sound when they pop the balloon will frighten them and they will stop...we tried this as a last attempt with my mums lurcher pup.. it did not work at all. 

Any info on how to stop digging would be great..current garden is a mess :(