How to Repell Dogs From Our Property

If you are tolerating visiting dogs using your lawn to do their business, crushing your flower beds and bothering your pets, your best bet is to build a fence to keep them out. However, this is not always practical or affordable, especially if you are a tenant in the house. Repel dogs with natural home remedies that will not harm them or your own pets. Most of these remedies work by masking the smell of previous visits, because dogs usually mark where other dogs have marked before.

Things You'll Need

  • Laundry soap
  • Baking soda
  • Vinegar, lemon juice and water solution
  • Cotton balls
  • Eucalyptus and citronella essential oils
  • Chilli powder or cayenne pepper
  • Dog repellent plants
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Identify the visiting dog's favorite areas to smell or do its business. These are spots where old odors attract it to leave its mark. Some of these spots are likely to be in the entrance areas, such as at the foot of the gate or fence post, and any open tree trunks as these automatically attract a male dog.

    • 2

      Scrub the pathways, the gateposts, paved entrance way and the driveway with an outdoor broom and laundry detergent mixed with water and a spoonful of baking soda. This will help to remove old odors so that those areas will no longer attract the visiting dog.

    • 3

      Spray a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice and water on the scrubbed areas. The vinegar used should be industrial strength -- 15 or 30 percent acetic acid -- as household vinegar is not strong enough to mask odors. Do not to let the solution come into contact with plants, because the vinegar may kill them.

    • 4

      Soak cotton balls in essential oils such as eucalyptus and citronella, and place them in the flower beds close to the spots the visiting dog uses. These have a strong scent that dogs dislike, and using the oil rather than a water-based solution will help the odor to last longer.

    • 5

      Sprinkle chili powder or cayenne pepper around the base of plants that you want to keep safe. The dog is likely to smell around the plants before trampling through them, and the spices will irritate its nostrils and distract it from doing so.

    • 6

      Grow plants that repel dogs, such as garlic, calendula (pot marigold), ruta graveolens L (common rue), or Plectranthus caninus (coleus canina). All of these are considered dog repellent due to their scents. Lemon grass and citrus trees or shrubs also will help to make the area smell unpleasant to the dog.