It’s perfectly normal to have an undying love for your furry friend but still be unimpressed when it makes its way over to problem areas of your home. Maybe it digs up your precious flower beds and leaves everything in tatters, or you find dog poop in hidden areas around your yard. In this article, we share the best DIY dog deterrent sprays to make sure your dog stays away from unwanted areas and will hopefully keep it out of trouble.
DIY Dog Deterrent Sprays
Compared to store-bought dog repellents, a homemade repellent can come in different forms such as solutions that can be soaked in cotton balls to ones that you can store in a clean spray bottle. There are also plenty of advantages to using natural ingredients, and many of these are cost-effective while also providing an effective dog repellent that’s safe for dogs.
1. Citronella Oil
Dogs can’t stand any kind of citronella smell, so trainers will often use it in both collar and spray form to teach aggressive dogs to break their bad behavior and barking habits. Just one whiff of this oil can keep your pup from visiting your garden and other no-go zones in your home. However, if you decide to make your own citronella spray, make sure to only use them in small doses, mixing the oil with 10 parts of water since it can be poisonous in concentrated amounts.
2. Bitter Apple Spray
Many commercial products will be made from apple cider vinegar, which can be used to make your own natural dog repellent at no extra cost to you. To make a repellent solution, mix a cup of white vinegar with 2 cups of apple cider vinegar. You can then store it inside a spray bottle and use it in areas inside and outside of your home.
3. Mustard Oil
Because they’re readily available and are perfect to use at home, mustard oil is one of the best home remedies for dogs that love to ruin gardens. Canines just hate the bitter taste and smell of mustard oil which is why many people use it as a solution for keeping pets away from their gardens. All you have to do is spray some on any location you want to keep dog-free and you’re good to go! The strong smell of mustard oil can provide a natural way to keep dogs away from furniture, plants, and even food items.
4. Citrus
Dogs don’t like the smell of citrus; you can directly use some citrus fruits around your plants to protect your plants. There are other ways for you to use this tool to deter dogs, such as:
- Use citrus peels near your vegetables or flowers
- Spray citrus oil on furniture or items that your dog needs to avoid
- Make a citrus spray using lemon juice and other citrus fruits
- Any kind of citrus smell chases dogs away so look into citrus scents in areas around your home
If your dog has a habit of urinating inside your home, simply combine lemon juice with water for a homemade dog urine repellent.
5. Chili Pepper and Garlic
You can sprinkle some chili pepper on your garden to keep your dog from chewing plants but it’s even better to make your own DIY dog deterrent spray using common chili pepper powder and garlic. All you need to do is mix dishwashing soap, chili powder, chopped onions, garlic, and a cup of warm water. Allow for 24 hours before you strain it and then pour it into your spray bottle.
6. Coffee Grounds
Don’t throw away your old coffee grounds because you can save them and turn them into your own dog repellent. Just spread them around areas where you don’t want any dogs to reach and you’ll find that the strong smell is just too much for your dog’s sensitive nose to handle.
7. Black Pepper and Chili
To get the most out of this dog repellent, it’s best to mix black pepper with chili powder with oil rather than water like a typical spray. Mixing with oil will allow the peppers to release capsaicin, active ingredients that are highly effective in anti-chew sprays.
8. Essential Oils
Using essential oils can be a great way to stop your pup from going through the garbage or your garden. Simply mix a few drops of essential oils with a cup of water and place it in a bottle to mist around your home to prevent indoor accidents. A few oils to try for your spray include sour apple, lemon, eucalyptus, orange, and cinnamon.
9. Cayenne Pepper
This is probably one of the most effective repellent spray recipes on this list and will surely get rid of strange dogs around your yard. Just use 1 part cayenne pepper to 10 parts water and mix them then put the solution in your spray bottle. Much like pepper spray, cayenne pepper will irritate a dog’s nose, eyes, and throat so make sure that you don’t overuse it though, because it can harm the dog’s olfactory receptors.
10. Vinegar
The smell of vinegar alone can be an effective way to lead the neighbor’s dog away from your yard and can be even more powerful when combined with lime juice. You can create a dog spray out of the vinegar solution and mist chair legs if they are getting chewed or on various items you want dogs to stay away from.
11. Ammonia
Ammonia has a strong scent that absolutely collides with a dog’s sense of smell and will work better than everything else here. You can apply some ammonia in cotton balls and place them around the trouble areas in your home. Another way to use this is by making an ammonia solution to get the best results; dogs will stay away from your furniture as well as plants when used outside.
Just remember not to spray or pour ammonia directly into flowers or plants.
12. Rubbing Alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol comes with a strong scent that both dogs and humans stay away from. To use it, all you need to do is soak a few cotton balls in alcohol and leave them throughout the problem areas in your home. There are many similarities between ammonia and rubbing alcohol but the latter can’t be used spray around your home.
13. Dog Poop
Maybe you’ve heard of this trick before but dismissed it because it sounds a bit icky. Well, the joke’s on you because dog poop works as well as any other deterrent to keep your pooch from making holes around your garden. It might sound yucky but hear us out; place your dog’s poo around the places they love to dig into.
You’ll find that they will avoid these areas as much as possible — after all, they work very hard to bury their waste. Once they lose interest in a particular spot, you can fill in the holes with soil.
One Last Trick
You could get the best results by using a combination of the different methods above to create your own dog deterrent spray. Cayenne pepper and vinegar are particularly disliked by dogs, so you can try this around your yard. Coffee grounds and rubbing alcohol can also be added to the mix which you can scatter for an extra boost.
A few of these repellents are also effective on other pests, such as raccoons, skunks, and deer. Another good news is that many of the deterrents above can be used to train your pets to stay away from certain places around your home even when you’re away.
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