Of late my lawn has been the object of some bad affection. Seems like one or more dogs have taken to releave themselves on my lawn. My quarter-acre lot is not fenced and I do try to keep it looking good (greeness in the ‘hood). But, it seems to appeal to these dogs and to some extent dog owners as it becomes the most appealing place for them to do their business. For instance, one mut running around yesterday took a dump at the foot of my mailbox!
So, is there something I could put on the lawn that would greatly discourage animals from doing their business on my lawn and not repulse me, the unhappy homeowner?
Replies
Well I've never tried it - I still go with the 'Get outta here' approach, but here is something you might consider:
http://www.liquidfence.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=24
Or there is the sound based repeller:
http://www.pestrepellerultimate.com/Pest_Repeller_MC.htm
Good luck.
Well, I found a new use for my grass/leaf blower ... flying crap machine. :)
Hey Nuke, me again!
I had a prob with a dog digging holes under my fences recently to get to my dogs...I drove a TON of 2 3/8 nails through some 1x and placed them in front of my gates and camouflaged them...within 3 days no more dog prob! Inhumane , maybe, but I know the dog is still alive and well ( I see him at his fence every day!)
Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
I do not consider that inhumane. Back in college a friend's dog was hype-active and would constantly jump up to nose-nudge your face. This SOB gave my now wife a fat lip. At that point when the dog got close enough I stomped on its front paws. Since the mangy-mut was on a tile surface this brought out the howls of discontent.
No more jumping near me. I was astonished at how quickly it changed his attitude. Now, I did buy safety rounds for my .357 because of the now-chained-up next door dog. That POS was aggressive and had already attacked my and the wife on two separate occasions. Heck, I even took the owner to court! Another neighbor offered to use a bow & arrow on it.
I chose the safety rounds so that the dog would take the full amount of energy while making sure the round wouldn't pass through the animal and potentially endanger others. I wasn't so concerned with myself as the children getting up the next morning (dog had gotten loose).
Yeah I have two noisy dogs beside me that have kept me up more nights than I can remember. I used to go outside and pop off a couple of rounds out of my Benjamin air rifle. Now I just walk out the back door and they know to shut up.
The underlying problem is the owners training their animals and keeping them contained, not the animals themselves.Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
Agreed. The first couple of incidents I did blame the owner. Dog just wasn't trained to know any better. But, since it was two strikes into biting incidents I thought justified. There was a third incident involving that aggressive mut: dang thing jumped onto the hood of my car!
Any animal that sets foot unauthorized onto my gleaming paint is subject to the swiftest and strictest of penalties LOL.Jason Pharez Construction
Framing & Exterior Remodeling
Jason & Nuke,
I'm sure if you spoke with any dog trainer, they'd give you several effective, less violent ways to handle these situations, even if they aren't your dogs and you can't take them to class.
I used to live close to a very vocal, very territorial german shepherd who was raised to be a guard dog (just like the signs on his fence said). Every day when I walked my calm, friendly dog by his yard through the HOA park path, the dog would bark and growl, and my dog wouldn't want to pass him, even to get home. At first I would sternly yell at him. Then I realized that this was only compounding the situation--fear + fear = violence. I began speaking to him as I speak to my own dog, calling him by name, reassuring him that we were friendly. My dog tried hard to give play-bows & wag his tail. I even started bringing treats for him, tossing them through the openings of the fence. My dog & I got braver, and the other dog got more used to us. The solution was one day when we were walking with another owner & her two dogs, she showed us what a sweetie the barking dog was & her two dogs went right up to the fence and they all sniffed & nuzzled. Suddenly Guard Dog accepted my dog & me because we were with friends of his. They had been acquainted on the street in a leash-situation, but behind the fence, he was doing his duty & was as scared as he was scary.
You'll get surprising results if you make an effort to get to know whatever dog is offending you and establish a relationship that is based on thinking like a dog, not inflicting pain. Better still, establish a relationship with the dog's owner & let them know that you'd kindly like them to train their dog to not do whatever it is that's bothering you. They might have no idea that their pet is doing these things & would be happy to help... and upset to find mysterious puncture wounds in Fido's paws!
Communities too are becoming much less tolerant of people who inflict corporal punishment on animals, and you wouldn't want an anonymous neighbor to send the authorities to your door for shooting your gun, booby-trapping your property line, or stomping on paws. So rise above your animal instinct and count to 10 so you can find a better way to handle your frustrations and can truly "outsmart" the dog by getting him to happily obey you rather than just fear you.