Will a dog dig up or chew artificial turf?

Turf doesn’t change why your dog digs

A dog that digs up a grass lawn has a reason, and a new surface does not take that reason away. So plan for digging and chewing the way you plan for drainage: before anything is ordered.

Three things lower the risk:

• Edges and seams anchored so nothing is left loose.
• A barrier where your dog already digs, most often the fence line.
• A better option for your dog: exercise, shade and a place where digging is allowed.

Our pet turf service starts with a visit to see how your dog uses the yard. Holes and chewed spots are part of that picture.

First, work out why your dog digs

The behavior service at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine sorts digging by cause, and each cause leaves different clues:

• Hunting. Digging along rodent tracks or mole holes, with the dog fixed on the ground. Its advice is to deal with the rodents using methods that are safe around dogs.
• Cooling off. The dog lies in the hole, and the holes sit in or near shade. It is more common in dogs that handle heat poorly. The handout suggests shade, a kiddie pool, a dog house and fresh water at all times.
• Boredom. Digging only when left alone, often for long stretches, sometimes with chewing or barking. The fix is more exercise, toys and enrichment.
• Escape. Running and barking along the fence, or bolting at gates. UC Davis suggests talking to your veterinarian.
• Anxiety. Damage that happens while you are away, around doors and windows. Also a question for your veterinarian.

The Humane Society of the United States reads the holes the same way. Digging under or along a fence suggests escape. Holes near foundations, large shade trees or water suggest a dog looking for comfort.

That matters for turf. A dog digging to cool off needs shade more than a stronger edge, and turf in full sun gets hot. Our article on how hot artificial turf gets covers that side.

Chewing has its own reasons

The ASPCA lists several:

• Teething. Puppies chew to ease the pain of incoming teeth. The ASPCA says this stage usually ends by six months of age.
• Boredom and stress. Chewing combats boredom and can relieve mild anxiety or frustration.
• Separation anxiety. These dogs usually chew only when left alone, or hardest then.

So the higher-risk yard is one with a teething puppy, or a dog left outside alone for hours. The ASPCA’s steps apply to turf as much as to shoes:

1. Supervise during waking hours until you trust your dog’s chewing.
2. Keep a variety of chew toys on hand, and rotate them.
3. Give plenty of physical exercise and mental stimulation, especially before your dog is left alone.
4. When you can’t watch, use a confinement area, such as a crate or a small room, with nothing in it your dog shouldn’t chew.

The ASPCA also describes taste deterrents, and says they take more than the spray alone. Check the turf manufacturer’s care instructions before you put any product on turf.

If pieces get swallowed

A mouthful of turf fibers or a strip of backing is not food. Cornell’s Riney Canine Health Center explains that an object too large to pass can lodge in the stomach or small intestine. It calls these blockages emergencies that often need surgery, and it singles out string and ribbon as causing more severe damage. Vomiting and lethargy are among the signs.

Its prevention advice is plain: keep chewable objects out of reach, and supervise play. If your dog swallows pieces, call your veterinarian.

Edges and seams hold the turf down

Two written rules show the standard to ask for. Neither mentions dogs.

• Thornton, Colorado. The city’s 2026 turf rules for its rebate program require turf anchored at all edges and seams with pins or nails the manufacturer recommends. Seams are glued, not sewn.
• Florida. Rule 62-308.100, the state standard for turf on single-family lots of an acre or less since 19 May 2026, requires anchoring at all edges and seams, strong enough at a minimum to withstand wind or flooding.

Thornton’s maintenance list doubles as a routine for a dog yard. It includes fixing looseness at edges and seams, brushing back infill that has moved, and repairing depressions. Walk the edges regularly and deal with anything lifting early.

For the layers under the turf, see what goes under artificial turf.

A wire or rock barrier at the fence line

If your dog digs along the fence, the fix belongs at the fence. The Humane Society’s options:

• Bury chicken wire at the base of the fence, with the sharp edges rolled away from your yard.
• Partly bury large rocks along the bottom of the fence line.
• Bury the bottom of the fence 1 to 2 feet below the surface.

Its guidance on burrowing animals adds an L-shaped wire footer. It is buried about a foot deep and runs out at a right angle for a foot or more, so a digger hits a flat barrier. Where digging a trench isn’t practical, it says the footer can lie on the surface, stapled tight and covered.

For gophers, UC IPM goes deeper: hardware cloth or ½- to ¾-inch mesh buried at least 2 feet, with 6 inches bent out at a right angle. It recommends galvanized or stainless steel wire to make the barrier last longer. It also says the method is not perfect, because persistent gophers dig below it. Treat any barrier as one part of the plan.

Your city may shape that strip too. Thornton’s 2026 rules list a three-foot buffer between turf and all property lines, made of wood mulch, gravel or rock. Where rules like those apply and the fence sits on the property line, fence-line digging happens in the buffer, not the turf. Ask your city what applies before the layout is drawn.

Give your dog somewhere to dig

If your dog loves to dig, give it a place where digging is allowed. UC Davis suggests a sandbox or a sand area with toys and treats buried in it, and rewarding your dog for digging there. The Humane Society adds:

• Walk your dog at least twice a day.
• Make off-limits spots unattractive for a while with rocks or chicken wire.
• Don’t punish after the fact. It doesn’t address the cause and makes fear or anxiety digging worse.

A digging zone is easier to leave out of a turf layout than to cut into finished turf. If digging keeps happening, the Humane Society suggests keeping your dog indoors with you, supervising yard trips and asking a behavior professional for help.

Before you buy: a checklist

1. Mark every hole in the yard. Along the fence, in the shade, or scattered?
2. Tell us about digging and chewing on the free visit, when we measure and check the ground, so edges and any fence-line barrier are part of the custom layout you approve.
3. Ask how every edge and seam is anchored.
4. Choose a fence-line barrier: buried wire, partly buried rock or a deeper fence bottom.
5. Leave room for a digging zone, shade and water.
6. Supervise a puppy or a new chewer until you trust your dog on the turf.
7. Walk the edges regularly and fix anything lifting.
8. Call your veterinarian if your dog swallows pieces.