Thread: Holes dug in garden - what could be causing them?

My mother is recently finding holes dug in her flower beds - they are about 6 inches wide by 12 inches deep. This has only happened since her dog died last week - so whatever it is, they don't like dogs! Also, she found a mound of the earth on the patio, about 20 feet away! There are no droppings of any kind to be seen. We are in the UK.

it may be a male dog marking his territory we had mud thrown both 10 feet from a flower bed up on to our front door for a long time and could not figure it out till we spotted our neighbours lab marking the flower bed with his urine then he would dig his back paws into the soil in a back ward motion flicking the soil out of the bed and all over the door.. i think its a way of spreading his scent further