How do I keep my dogs and cats out of my gardens

Welcome to Able2Know, hophyde!

Hmmm, well, for dogs and cats (particularly dogs), it's all about scent. If the flower bed already smells like dog urine or ammonia (and since their noses are a lot more sensitive than ours, it may smell just fine to you but still have an aroma for them), you'll need to really, really clean it up.

Doing this without killing your flowers may be tricky, but since the cats are uprooting the plants you might have a clean slate on your hands.

Step 1: I'd say, first off remove any solid waste matter and put it in ziploc bags and then in another bag and dispose of in the trash. Keep the lid on the trash can. Then hose the whole area down to get rid of urine. You may need to do this on a daily basis for a while until step 2 is in progress.

Step 2: For the dogs, it's a matter of training, e. g. a loud "No!" and a squirt with a water bottle gets a lot of dogs to stop what they're doing but the trick is to administer the correction while the dog is doing it. Even five minutes later is too late - the dog is as bewildered as you'd be if your boss scolded you about a report you submitted late, back in 1998. Effusively praise your dogs when they go where you want them to go. This may mean extra walks but at least they will be eliminating at the curb or elsewhere which is away from the flowers.

Step 3: As for the cats, I think you'll need to keep them inside, at least for a while. Training is mainly not going to help here, but indoor cats are healthier and live longer than outdoor cats. If you can make the transition, great. Also, an unneutered male cat may be spraying rather than urinating so I'd suggest getting it "fixed" if you haven't already done so. This is better for the cat healthwise anyway, plus you'll hear less yowling at night because the cat won't be looking for romance.

Step 4: If any of the offenders don't belong to you, contact their owners if you can find them. If you can't find the owners, contract Animal Control. Stray dogs and cats are unsafe to people and to each other. It's possible that your dogs are urinating in the flower bed in response to a scent marking by some other dog(s). And, fortunately, dogs tend to scent mark the same places over and over again, so the culprit may return. As for stray cats, you may need to go straight to contacting Animal Control.

Sorry this is a lot of work and you might not save the flowers and herbs this year, but if your dogs are better trained and your cats are brought indoors, you'll salvage the next several years' worth of crops.

Best of luck!

Today's Martha Stewart show had an episode on that very subject. You can probably find info on it at her website at www.marthastewart.com

I looked for you and here's a link to the short synopsis of the episode.

Martha Stewart's Tips for Pet Proofing Gardens

One tip that was on the show but not mentioned on the website synopsis is to put down a mulch of pea gravel on the garden soil to make it inhospitable to cats.

They also suggest designating a spot in your garden where the pets are allowed to do their thing to it.

Dear But, I have pea gravel in my back yard, the we had five young cats running around, thrashing my flowers and such, until I spread some Dog and Cat Repellent. It seems to be working. c.i.

Lion dung is effective, and before anyone starts YES you can get a commercial product called 'Silent Roar' to do the job. Better yet a couple of real lions in the yard, beats those garden gnomes. Also seem to remember that pepper is also recommended, you might even want to try citronella - I know dogs hate the stuff.

Silent Roar

Pepper works too. c.i.

jespah's answer is the best - train, train, train. of course, you have to remember that training pets is really owner training. if you're not consistent, there's no chance the pets are going to learn. the first lesson in any dog training class - it's about >>> YOU <<< (that's how my favourite instructor always starts).

You listen to my Lovey, no one i've ever met knows this subject of training as well. In fact, her dogs have had her in for training on more than one occassion . . .

Look, you could just piss all over the place. I don't know what it would do for the animals (or your neighbours for that matter), but jeez it would be funny!!! (OK, I'm too drunk to sensibly operate a computer, hey - sue me!).

Re: How do I keep my dogs and cats out of my gardens

I have heard that putting moth balls in a garden may make the scent less appealing for your pets.

Build a fence.

A lead spray works, .22 calibre should do the trick.

Less appealing for you and your guests, too! (Whew! Those things smell awful!) Build a fence to keep out the dogs, and sprinkle cayenne pepper liberally wherever the cats have decided is their litter pan.

Dog and cat repellent, I say!

As far as the moth balls, I wouldn't recommend putting so many that the smell carries.