Finding dog poop in your yard can be extremely frustrating, particularly if it’s a regular occurrence!
Dog poop can be dangerous to you and your family’s health and will damage your lawn and flower beds. If young children come into contact with dog poop they can contract bacterial and fungal infections as well as other nasty medical conditions.
Dog poop can also destroy the grass in your yard leaving unsightly brown patches due to the excess of nitrogen in the animal’s droppings.
Is There Anyway To Stop Dogs Pooping In Your Yard?
So you might be wondering if there’s a quick and easy way to stop the dogs in your neighborhood from pooping in your yard. There’s a rumor that’s been doing the rounds on the internet which claims that if you spread mothballs in your yard it will stop dogs pooping there. Is this true?
Yes, Mothballs do stop dogs from coming into your yard and pooping. Mothballs have a very strong odor which smells terrible to a dog. The chemical pesticides that make up the composition of mothballs are repulsive to dogs so they should leave your yard alone.
However, there is a problem. If a dog eats the mothballs it can cause them to become sick and it may even kill them!
Mothballs are very poisonous to dogs, particularly if they are ingested, and even if they only eat a tiny amount they will need immediate medical treatment. In fact, mothballs are so toxic to dogs that even if they just sniff them they can become sick.
So even though mothballs will keep dogs off your yard you run the risk of killing the dogs in your neighborhood! This is obviously something which you can’t do.
Is There Any Other Way To Keep Dogs Off Your Yard?
Fortunately, there are 3 non-lethal ways to stop dogs using your yard as their personal potty!
Put Up A Tall Fence.
There’s a saying that goes, ‘Good Fences Make Good Neighbors’; and this old adage certainly rings true in terms of keeping your neighbors’ dogs out of your yard. A good sturdy fence will create a physical barrier through which dogs cannot pass. This will keep them out of your yard on a permanent basis.
Try Using Water.
If you don’t want to put up a fence or feel that it would ruin the views from your yard then don’t fret because there are other ways to keep those pesky dogs out of your yard.
Water will naturally keep dogs away. If you’ve noticed that a dog is pooping in your yard at a particular time you could try waiting for it and then spraying it with your hose pipe!
Alternatively, you could set up a motion sensitive sprinkler system around the areas that you want to keep the dogs away from. This means that when a dog enters your yard to mark its territory it will set off the sprinklers and get a nasty surprise as it gets drenched by the water.
This will have it turning on its tail and fleeing to find a drier place to poop.
Use A Commercial Dog Repellent.
Another option that’s available to you is to use a commercial dog repellent. You can buy these dog repellents at your local pet supply store, a hardware shop or online. These repellents are safe and will not harm dogs although they will keep them out of your yard.
Usually these dog repellents come in a sprayable or granule form. These can be spread around the areas where the dogs like to poop. These repellents work because they smell bad or feel strange to the dog underfoot.
Stop Dogs From Pooping In Your Yard.
If you’ve been pulling out your hair because your yard has become a public toilet for every dog in the neighborhood then putting some of the suggestions above into practice will soon solve all your problems!
You can try out one of the methods to see if it works however it’s more advisable to set up multiple layers of defense. This means that you might want to try several commercial dog repellents as well as setting up a motion sensitive water sprinkler system.
Of course, putting up a big fence is 100% guaranteed to keep those pesky pooches out of your yard on a permanent basis.