it will help if you have an establish command that means "you don't do that" such as no. i was able to train my rat terrier in a matter of a week only to dig in one specific place in the yard. (come to find out she was digging to get cicada larve. yummmmmy!) this was back when i didn't know much better. what i did is when she went out side i'd watch her, if she started to dig, i said "No". well, i wasn't always able to watch her, so when i'd find a new hole in a bad place, i'd bring her over to it, give her a small swat on the butt and say bad girl! then i'd take her over to her digging area and giver her a treat and praise. and take her over to the hole and only tell her bad girl, then back to the other area again and tell her good girl. by the second day she was already starting to dig there, but it took a whole week to get her to completly stop digging the rest of the lawn. it may go against alot of people training methods, but it worked. and alot better than those a$$ho!e$ who use the water technique. grrrrr. those people make my blood boil. anyhoo, you could substitute the butt slaps if plain simple no's are effective w/ your pup. it also would probally help if there was a physical border such as a rope. her area was this spot in our yard where the grass had refused to grow. i think aly's suggestion of a sandbox is a good one too. but i'd either put dirt or a dirt sand mix in it. digging is a good way for dogs to keep their nails down. i wish you the best of luck!