Why Backyard Digging Is Almost Always Boredom
🐾 Is Your Dog Destroying the Backyard? Ask Yourself These Two Questions
Why Backyard Digging Is Almost Always Boredom
Does your dog chew up everything in sight or dig holes all over your backyard?
If so, before blaming the dog, ask yourself two very important questions:
- How long each day does your dog spend outside in the backyard?
- What activity have you provided your dog while he or she is out there?
Those two answers usually explain almost everything.
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🐾 Backyard Destruction Is Almost Always Boredom
Let’s be honest—most destructive behaviors that happen in the backyard are boredom-created. And in a roundabout way, that puts the responsibility on the people, not the dog.
Think about it this way.
When you first got your office, cubicle, or personal workspace, you were excited. You decorated it. You made it your own. It was new and stimulating.
Fast-forward four to six months, and you’re doing everything you can to get out of that space because it has lost its novelty and become boring.
Sound familiar?
Chances are, when your dog was first left in the backyard, there weren’t any problems either.
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🐾 An Unpopular Truth About Backyards
Here’s the part that doesn’t make everyone happy:
Backyards are not good long-term places to leave dogs.
Dogs are social animals. They want to be with their family. A lot of destructive behavior comes from young or juvenile dogs that have been banished to the backyard because of behaviors their owners didn’t want to deal with inside the house.
Instead of training and managing the dog, the dog gets parked outside.
Don’t shoot the messenger—I’m just sharing a very common cause of backyard mayhem I’ve seen over the years.
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🐾 What Backyard Time Should Be
Backyard time should really be:
- potty time
- a short activity break
- then back inside with the family
Leave a dog outside any longer than that and boredom sets in. When dogs get bored, they look for something to do.
As my mom used to say: “Idle hands are the devil’s play toy.”
Dogs are no different.
So how do you fix it?
I have two realistic suggestions.
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🐾 Option One: Doggy Day Care
Doggy Day Care is often the right choice for people who don’t want to admit that the real reason their dog is being put outside is convenience.
Many dogs end up in the backyard because they were given too much freedom inside too soon, became destructive, and were never properly managed with crates or confinement areas.
Then people are shocked when the dog that destroyed the house also destroys the backyard.
A good doggy day care:
- provides supervision
- provides structure
- burns energy
- and keeps dogs mentally engaged
For many dogs, it’s a far better option than backyard isolation.
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🐾 Option Two: A Dig Box (Yes, This Takes Work)
If doggy day care isn’t an option, there is another solution—but it requires effort on your part.
That solution is a dig box.
A dig box is a sandbox built in your yard using landscape timbers. Depending on your dog’s size, it should be about:
- 3×3 feet for smaller dogs
- up to 5×5 feet for large or giant breeds
Fill it with sand. Then buy:
- toys
- chew items
- dog-safe treats
Bury them in the sand.
You’ve created a treasure chest.
With training (yes, training is required), you teach your dog that digging there is far more rewarding than digging in flower beds.
But if you plan to leave your dog outside for more than two or three hours, even the treasure chest will eventually get boring.
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🐾 The Real Takeaway
No matter how creative you get, the backyard is never going to be a great long-term confinement solution for a dog.
Just like people, bored dogs don’t make good decisions.
It’s our responsibility as dog owners to manage dogs until they are trustworthy, not put them in situations they aren’t ready for and hope for the best.
Spend time with your dog. Train your dog. Manage your dog. And while you’re at it—have fun doing it.
After all, isn’t that why you got a dog in the first place?
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🐾 Kansas City Dog Owners — A Quick Note
If you’re in the Kansas City area and dealing with backyard destruction, I help owners set up realistic routines, management strategies, and training plans that actually work in real life.
👉 Learn more about working with a dog trainer in Kansas City
