Originally Posted by
Labradorks
Puppies and young dogs must be supervised. It is our job to show them how we want them to behave. If we are not there, they will find their own things to do; typically dog things that we humans don't appreciate but that come natural to the dog. In addition to digging and other types of destruction, outdoor dogs can develop other habits such as fence fighting or running and digging under or jumping over fences (my neighbor's Lab jumps a 6 foot privacy fence and goes looking for chickens to kill and bring home to eat). Then there are the dangers of leaving dogs outside unsupervised such as eating poisonous plants, eating items that could cause a blockage, being attacked by another animal and being stolen. You also have issues such as gates blowing open and dogs escaping.
The digging is natural and digging like your dog is doing is typically from boredom or anxiety. Unfortunately, the longer you allow it to happen, the harder it will be for her to stop. Think of it like flipping through your social media accounts feed on your phone, chewing your nails or eating crunchy snacks when you are feeling bored or anxious. The behavior must be replaced. So, if you want her to chew on something or eat a Kong instead, put her in her crate inside and give her that one option. In addition, add training to your day, even just three 10 minute sessions while you are making meals or during commercial breaks. Labs are sporting dogs and need a job. And, exercise. Leash walks are fine but off leash or long-line walking and sniffing types of walks are better. You can also play ball, but some dogs get amped up by that, so make sure you're doings some decompression types of things (the sniffing walks that I mentioned previously).
I typically crate my dogs until they are a year old (give or take, depending on the dog) and hire a dog-walker mid-day. My younger dog was pretty mature early on and he was crated half a day starting at nine months and then uncrated a full day just a couple months later. The dog walker comes daily until the dog is 12 - 18 months and then I put them on-call for longer work days. If you have a neighbor or close-by friend or family member you can pay a few bucks to to let her outside that could work too.