How to Stop a Dog From Eating Wild Bird Seed

If your dog admires birds at the feeder and lingers to snack on seeds, your pet may be in danger. Fungal infections from fermented seeds, impaction in the intestines and gastric dilation leading to stomach bloat can plague a dog that has consumed wild bird seed, according to Jill Bowen, veterinarian and Roanoke Times "Paws and Claws" columnist. Modifying the content of the bird seed and the style and placement of the feeders can prevent your dog from eating wild bird seed.

Things You'll Need

  • Chile peppers or powder
  • Window-mounted bird feeder
  • Shepherd's hook
  • Bird feeders with drip tray
  • Sealed garbage can
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Treat bird seed with capsaicin, the organic ingredient that makes chile peppers spicy. Add one part chile pepper powder or ground chile peppers to ten parts wild bird seed. Apply capsaicin indoors, away from wind, to avoid getting the powder in your eyes or on your lips. Dogs will quickly reject and avoid the hot seed mixture.

    • 2

      Choose window-mounted bird feeders. When placed above bushes, flowers and landscaping that hug the perimeter of the house, fallen bird seeds and hulls are inaccessible to dogs. Small birds can still easily maneuver the foliage to get the seeds.

    • 3

      Place the bird feeder outside of the yard area used by the dog. Go beyond the fence or dog tie-out. Put the bird feeder next to the front of the home, by the garage, near a window or on a shepherd's hook in the front yard next to a tree.

    • 4

      Use bird feeders designed with a special "drip tray." Allow the seed hulls and extra seed to collect in a tray dangling below the wild bird feeder, rather than on the ground where a dog can reach. Pour the discarded seeds directly into a sealed garbage can.