Help needed trying to stop digging for worms.

Well its that time of year again,Oscar is digging for grubs again
He has already put holes in the garden and dug up a hedging plant,but it was dead so he kinda did me a favor!
But anyway,back to the digging,its not big holes,its just deep enough for him to reach the grub. He is sniffing for them and then digging them up,which i admit is pretty impressive cause he can smell underground but its kind of an issue i would like to stop.
He did have a digging spot but right now thats covered with tree branches waiting to be burned so its our search game spot for now. So he has no digging pit and i have no wood to make a temporary one.
He gets walked every morning.He is trained in the morning and we play search games with his food,its also scattered in the garden for him to find. And he gets a kong. So its not like he has nothing to do.

It is not possible for me to only let him into the garden supervised. I have to study for exams with start on wednesday so i cannot supervise him inside(i will get distracted to easily and play or lie down with him) and its not fair to keep him in the utility room while i study. At least outside i can give him plenty of things to do.

Is there anything i can do to try and stop this digging? Its a self rewarding behaviour so its not going to be easy i know.

Any ideas?

I am a bit confused, if you can give him plenty of things to do whilst he is in the garden, why is he digging?

Honestly if you have given him all those things to do then I dont see why he cant be expected to come into the house and chill while you study

If he is left on his own in the garden and he enjoys digging then he will keep doing it

Personally I would want to teach him to chill and do nothing while there is nothing to do

I don't know why he is doing it. I can only assume he likes the taste of the worms,i think they are grub worms,so high in protein i think.
Did i mention he eats them?

My first thought was that if you throw his food around in the garden for him to find - he probably will always be searching for food in the garden?

Other than that I've never ever had a dog that dug for worms! Not even a dog that dug holes in my garden (did once have an incident with my GSD digging up all the bulbs I had just planted - but that was a one off and she was out there with me and watching me do it - perhaps she thought it was a game!)

Oh I have dogs who dig.... but just tell them off when I catch them, only suggestion is to move your wood off of the dig patch you created for this purpose, as it would be harsh letting it go on for some time and then wanting it to stop, it is your mess impeding the controlled digging area so move it (politely)

I tell him off when i catch him,just an 'ah ah' does the trick and then redirect him into something less distructive.

Its easier said than done,i have nowhere to move all this,

i moved some of it so you could see the actual soil.

It needs to be burned,but it rained today so it will be a little while before that happens. Its our searching spot now,i hide his toys in there and send him to find them.


He only digs for the worms at this time of the year,it made his nose bleed last year cause he couldn't keep it off the ground. So its not the food searching thats causing it.

Hum I am of no use sorry.....

Did he do that patch? I'm impressed if he did.

He must have an incredible sense of smell, time consuming but could you hide things around the garden for him to find?

Use his skill to keep him entertained

Sneaks also sniffs out worms and digs them up! I thought he was the only one. Except he rolls in them rather than eats them and prefers dead ones. I am always impressed that he can sniff them out at up to six inches underground. For a sighthound he certainly acts more like a scenthound sometimes!