Dogs that dig at artificial turf: where they get in, and what holds

01Where on artificial turf can a dog actually dig?

At the ends of things. Out in the open turf, claws rake the blades and fling infill, with only backing and a compacted base underneath. The weak points:

• Edges against beds, rock, a fence or a patio, where a paw or a mouth can get under the turf.
• Seams, where two pieces meet. One that has opened slightly gives claws a catch.
• Cuts around fence posts, trees, valve boxes and anything else the turf was trimmed to fit.
• Loose tufts. One pet-turf manufacturer notes that most turf is tufted, each blade “just a loop through the backing,” so a dog can grab an end and pull it out (K9Grass FAQ). That maker sells knitted turf, so treat it as a pitch worth testing.

The same maker says turf held down only by spikes, or by the weight of its infill, leaves edges a dog can pull up. And covering the ground doesn’t cancel the urge: VCA’s veterinary behaviorists note that a hard cover over a digging spot may keep a dog off that spot without stopping it digging somewhere else (VCA Animal Hospitals). On a turf yard, somewhere else is usually an edge.

02Why is my dog digging at the turf?

Find the reason before you fight the digging. VCA’s behaviorists warn that blocking every hole without dealing with the motive can bring chewing, barking or escape attempts instead, and that a dog after prey keeps digging until the prey is gone. Where the holes are is the clearest clue:

The “where” column follows Humane World for Animals; the fixes come from VCA and the American Kennel Club.

Heat is a real driver here. NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals average 58.3 days a year at or above 90°F at the Greeley UNC station and 48.8 at Longmont 2 ESE, the station nearest Firestone. The AKC says thick-coated Northern breeds such as the Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute may be especially prone to digging a cool bed on hot days. Sunny turf offers no cool soil, so a hot dog works at the edges and the shady corners. See how hot artificial turf gets for what cools it.

03Is something living under the turf?

Often, if the dog digs at one spot with its nose down. VCA’s behaviorists write that some dogs dig because they smell or hear voles and moles underground. In Northern Colorado it is almost never a mole: CSU Extension’s PlantTalk says moles are rare in Colorado outside the far eastern plains, and that voles and pocket gophers are among the most common burrowers (PlantTalk Colorado).

• Voles stay active all year and do most of their damage in winter, moving through grass runways under the snow (CSU Extension Fact Sheet 6.507). CSU places prairie voles along streams and irrigated land in eastern Colorado, and meadow voles along the South Platte. A dog that starts on a turf edge beside a bed or an unmowed strip in late winter or right after snowmelt may be following one. Look for runways 1 to 2 inches wide through matted grass, burrows and spongy soil.
• Pocket gophers push up mounds of soil with no open hole. Their tunnels run 2.5 to 3.5 inches wide in the top 4 to 18 inches of soil, traffic a dog can hear and smell from above.

CSU says voles shelter in heavy grass and litter, and that close fall mowing and clearing tall grass near lawns cuts their damage, so the grass bed against the turf matters as much as the turf. Keeping rodents out from under turf is a job for gopher and vole wire. Go carefully with poison bait in a digger’s yard: Humane World for Animals puts it plainly that anything that poisons wildlife can poison your dog too.

04What stops a digger at the fence line?

The fence is where escape digging happens and where a patrolling dog wears turf hardest. Two layers work together: an edge the dog can’t get under, and wire it meets if it does.

Wire under the fence. Humane World for Animals suggests chicken wire at the base of the fence with its sharp edges rolled away from the yard, large rocks partly buried along the fence line, or burying the bottom of the fence 1 to 2 feet. Its L-footer design goes further: wire buried about a foot deep and bent out at 90 degrees for a foot or more, which it says can also be laid on the surface and covered. Where turf runs to the fence, that apron can go in before the base and turf, so a dog that lifts the edge hits wire, not soil.

A hard edge. Turf fastened to something solid, such as concrete curbing or a staked border, gives a paw nothing to hook; turf that simply ends on soil does. Keep seams out of the fence strip and off the dog’s usual track where the layout allows. Fasteners are their own subject: see nails vs staples and edging options.

In Firestone. Not legal advice. Firestone’s code requires turf to be anchored at all edges and seams and separated from other landscape areas by bender board, concrete curbing or similar, and it requires a buffer of at least 3 feet of living, permeable landscape between the turf and any property line (Firestone Development Code 16.6.4). On a Firestone lot, then, turf can’t run to a property-line fence. The strip along it is living landscape, and that soft strip is where a digger goes: put the fence wire there, and treat the turf’s border beside it as a fence-line edge. It depends on where your lines and fences sit, so ask Firestone Planning. The full standard is in our turf spec sheet guide.

05How do you repair an edge a dog has dug up?

Soon, and from the bottom up.

1. Keep the dog off it until the repair is done.
2. Look underneath first. A runway, a burrow or soft ground means an animal is still down there, and the dog will be back at the same spot.
3. Rebuild what the dog removed. Fold the turf back past the damage, clear out the churned soil and base, then refill and compact the base to grade. Don’t leave it open on clay: the Colorado Geological Survey says expansive clays can swell up to 20% by volume when wet, and snowmelt runs straight into an opened edge. The Fort Collins station averages about 150 days a year with a low at or below 32°F, so a wet, open edge freezes and thaws all winter.
4. Fix the edge, not just the hole. If the edge was soft or pinned only into soil, give it a solid border before the turf goes back; see turf edges that lift or curl.
5. Patch what’s torn. Pulled tufts and torn backing need a patch.
6. Put the infill back and brush it in. A digger throws it well beyond the hole; see infill for dogs.

In Firestone this is not optional: the code says turf may not have holes, tears, seam separations or uplifted surfaces, and damaged areas must be repaired or replaced to match the rest.

06What should I ask an installer if my dog digs?

• “What holds the edge along the fence and the beds?” A good answer names a solid border the turf is fastened to, not the weight of the infill or spikes into bare soil.
• “Where will the seams fall?” Out of the fence strip and the dog’s running path, where possible.
• “Is this turf tufted or knitted, and can I have a sample?” Pull on a tuft yourself. One maker advises exactly that: request a sample and test it.
• “What goes under the fence line?” Wire along the fence for an escape artist, and rodent wire under the whole area if there are voles or gophers.
• “What happens if my dog digs up an edge in the first year?” Get the answer in writing.

More in questions to ask a turf installer and on the pet turf page.