You’ve poured time, money, and hard work into your landscaping and having a beautiful lawn. The last thing you want is for your property to lose curb appeal with unsightly brown spots, messy holes, and animal droppings.
Dogs — whether they’re strays or simply passing through on a leash — can cause significant damage to your turfgrass. No matter what type of pup is causing trouble, you can take steps to keep them off your lawn and maintain a clean, green space.
In this article, I’ll guide you through effective ways to repel dogs from your lawn, covering commercial products, DIY and natural repellents, and alternative methods.
Why You Want to Keep Dogs off Your Lawn
You love patting your neighborhood dog on the head as it strolls by. Regardless, you still might want to keep it off your lawn. As precious as our furry best friends are, they can still cause a great deal of damage to the grass you work hard to maintain.
Likely the most common reason you’ll want to repel dogs is to keep your front lawn free of poop.
Dog piles in your front yard are unattractive, smelly, and ultimately bad for the grass. Dog poop contains high nitrogen levels, which can leave fertilizer-like burns on the lawn. This is not the type of fertilizer you need to grow a healthy lawn. Dog urine is similar in its high nitrogen content. Dogs repeatedly mark their territory in the same spot, which causes severe burns to specific areas of your yard.
Dog waste can cause more than just damage to the eye — especially if you have children or pets of your own exploring the yard.
Canine feces contain parasites and harmful bacteria while also attracting disease-carrying flies. According to Washington State Universitie’s Water and Natural Resources Program, dog feces can contain parasites like salmonella, campylobacter, giardia, roundworms, coccidia, and parvovirus.
Keeping dogs from pooping on your lawn is critical to the health and safety of your guests, family, and turf.
Digging is an instinctual canine behavior dating back to ancient wolves. Dogs dig to pursue a smell, bury toys, or create a refreshing bed in the dirt. Dogs also kick up grass after pottying to mark their territory.
These behaviors are as innate to dogs as they are harmful to grass, so you’re justified in your desire to keep your yard dog-free.
How To Repel Dogs
Now that you know why keeping dogs off your lawn is so important, let’s dive into some effective methods to make it happen. There are a range of options, from commercial products designed to repel dogs to DIY remedies you can whip up at home. Plus, I’ll cover a few plants that can add beauty to your garden while doubling as natural deterrents. Whether you’re looking for something store-bought or homemade, I’ve got you covered with practical solutions to keep your lawn pristine and dog-free.
Commercial Dog Repellents
Nature’s MACE Dog Repellent
Nature’s MACE is an animal repellent brand accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
The company sells Dog MACE animal deterrents to help you keep pets and stray dogs off your lawn. According to the company’s website, Dog MACE is “100% biodegradable, fully natural, and incredibly easy to use.”
The product comes in granular pellets, liquid concentrates, and ready-to-spray solutions.
| Dog MACE Product | Available Sizes | Average Cost | Active Ingredients |
| Ready-to-Use Spray | 40 ounces treats 1,000 square feet 1 gallon treats 3,000 square feet |
$20-$30 | Castor oil Garlic Cinnamon Potassium sorbate Sodium lauryl sulfate |
| Granular Formula | 2.5 pounds treats 1,400 square feet 6 pounds treats 3,500 square feet 22 pounds treats 14,000 square feet |
$22-$105 | Peppermint oil Cinnamon oil Citronella oil Dried blood Garlic White pepper |
| Liquid Concentrate | 40-ounce container makes 5 gallons and treats 15,000 square feet 1-gallon container makes 16 gallons and treats 48,000 square feet |
$30-$40 | Castor oil Garlic Cinnamon Potassium sorbate Sodium lauryl sulfate |
Repellex Animal Repellent
Repellex makes animal repellents for dogs, cats, deer, rabbits, moles, and squirrels. The brand’s website says Repellex “keeps animals off your lawn without harming them” and “controls pests without endangering your environment.”
Repellex’s dog repellent comes in a spray, granule, and tablet form. The ready-to-use spray formula contains several spices, including cinnamon and garlic. The granular and tablet formulas are made of capsaicin, a component of chili peppers.
| Repellex Dog and Cat Repellent | Available Sizes | Average Cost | Active Ingredients |
| Ready-to-Use Spray | 32 ounces treats approximately 500 square feet | $13-$15 | Cinnamon Mint White pepper Garlic |
| Systemic Granular | 1.5 pounds 3 pounds | $18-$25 | Capsaicin |
| Systemic Tablets | 50-count150-count300-count | $20-$100 | Capsaicin |
Go Away! Rabbit, Dog, & Cat Repellent
Go Away! by Bonide is a cost-effective and accessible animal repellent.
Since 1926, the Bonide brand has developed organic pest control products that are now available in hardware stores and garden centers across the U.S.
Bonide’s dog repellent is available in a granular formula made of spices that irritate pups’ noses to keep them away.
| Go Away! Rabbit, Dog, & Cat Repellent | Available Sizes | Average Cost | Active Ingredients |
| Granular | 1-pound container treats up to 300 square feet 3-pound container treats up to 900 square feet |
$10-$25 | Red cayenne pepper Cinnamon oil Thyme oil |
I Must Garden All-Natural Spray
I Must Garden was founded in 2004 by an avid gardener frustrated with animal repellents on the market. She developed products dedicated to helping fellow gardeners protect their plants through safe, all-natural pest control.
I Must Garden’s liquid spray repellent stops dogs from chewing on your plants, and the granular formula keeps them from digging holes in your yard.
According to the company’s website, its products are completely biodegradable and contain “natural ingredients and botanical oils that smell and taste bad” to dogs.
| Available Sizes | Average Cost | |
| Liquid | 32-ounce container treats 1,000 square feet 1-gallon container treats 4,000 square feet |
$13-$25 |
| Granular | 2-pound container treats 150 square feet 20-pound container treats 1,500 square feet |
$19-$40 |
Active Ingredients
- Garlic
- Citronella oil
- Cedar oil
- Thyme oil
- Geranium oil
- White pepper
- Potassium sorbate
- Xanthan gum
- Peppermint oil
- Lemongrass oil
- Clove oil
- Castor oil
- Cinnamon oil
- Wintergreen oil
- Citric acid
- Fuller’s Earth
DIY Dog Repellents
You can make your own dog deterrent at home using a few of the ingredients in standard commercial products. Dogs’ senses of smell are approximately 100,000 times more powerful than ours, so filling your yard with harsh, irritating scents is a harmless way to keep canines away.
Scatter or spray these substances around your lawn and flower beds to keep pesky pups at bay:
- Cayenne Pepper — Mix one teaspoon of cayenne pepper with about 10 ounces of water. Spread the mixture around problem areas using a spray bottle. Be wary not to use this remedy excessively — cayenne powder can irritate a dog’s eyes, nose, and skin.
- Vinegar — Mix vinegar with water and use a spray bottle to spread the solution around the perimeter of your yard. Avoid spraying the liquid directly on your grass — instead, form a “scent fence” around your lawn.
- Coffee grounds — There are several ways to use coffee grounds in gardens. One of which is sprinkling coffee grounds around your garden to repel dogs with the robust and bitter fragrance.
- Baking soda — Mix a cup of baking soda with a gallon of water and spray on areas where dogs are urinating. The solution will decrease the urine’s scent, making dogs less likely to continue marking there.
- Orange and lemon peels — Scatter citrus peels around your flower beds. The intense fragrance will overwhelm dogs’ noses and discourage them from visiting.
Plants That Repel Dogs
If you’re looking for a home remedy to keep dogs out of your garden, consider planting some aromatic varieties that dogs find unpleasant. By adding fragrant plants, you can create a beautiful and functional garden that doubles as a canine deterrent. Plants like citronella, lavender, and curry are not only visually appealing but also serve as effective natural repellents.
Citronella, known for its ability to repel insects, has a strong citrusy scent that dogs typically avoid. Lavender offers a soothing aroma for us but can be quite irritating to a dog’s sensitive nose. Similarly, curry plants emit a spicy fragrance that dogs tend to dislike, making them a great addition to your garden beds.
Incorporating these plants gives you a chance to enhance your garden’s beauty while tackling the issue of unwanted dog visitors. Planting them in strategic locations, like along garden edges or near entry points, can help create a scent barrier that discourages dogs from entering your space. Not only will you enjoy the added greenery and pleasant aromas, but you’ll also keep your garden and lawn dog-free.
The following plants are fragrant and pleasing to humans, yet stinky and overwhelming to dogs. Plant a few throughout your flower bed to pack a perfumey punch.
- Citronella is one of the plants that repel insects, but the flowering variety of the plant has a citrusy, floral fragrance that dogs detest.
- Lavender plants have a distinct smell that is soothing to humans and irritating to canines.
- Curry Plants have a spicy aroma that is often used to deter cats and dogs.
Still Having Trouble?
If commercial repellents and DIY remedies haven’t done the trick, you can try several other methods to salvage your lawn care efforts.
Talk to Your Neighbor
If you know your neighbor’s dog is the culprit behind your littered front lawn, the first thing you should do is talk to them about it.
Chances are, the dog’s owner isn’t intentionally letting their pet trash your lawn. They might not know their pup has been exploring the neighborhood or simply don’t understand proper pet owner etiquette.
Nicely ask the neighbor to pick up their dog’s droppings. If confrontation isn’t an option, you can put up a sign in your yard asking passersby to clean up after their pets. You can also put out a container of pet waste bags so that people have no excuse not to pick up the poop.
If you’ve asked around the block and no one knows the repeat offender, you can contact animal control services to report a stray dog.
Stake a Fence
Putting a fence around your yard is a more expensive method of keeping dogs off your property.
Installing a fence can cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the size of your yard. Fencing may be a viable option if you’d like to put one up for other reasons, like gaining some privacy or giving your pet a safe space to roam.
If keeping dogs off your lawn is your main goal, you should first try different, lower-cost options. Even if you stake a fence around your yard, determined canines could still jump over it or dig under it.
Consider Sprinklers or Flashing Lights
If you’re still having trouble with dogs and other animals wrecking your lawn, try a motion-activated sprinkler tool like the Critter Ridder. This small machine uses an infrared sensor to detect nearby animals and “releases a startling surge of water to scare them away.”
Other motion-activated animal-repellent tools emit high-frequency noise to frighten animals without harming them. These products are often designed to repel raccoons and rodents. They not only serve as deer deterrents for yard safety, but they can also irritate and deter dogs. Human ears can’t detect the sounds generated, making these gadgets less startling than sprinkler sensors.
Final Thoughts on Keeping Dogs off Your Lawn
With the right mix of commercial products, DIY solutions, and natural repellents, you can keep your lawn looking great and free from pesky problems. While you can tackle a lot on your own, sometimes the damage might be beyond what you can fix by yourself.
If you find that dog urine or heavy foot traffic has really taken a toll on your lawn, I recommend reaching out to a lawn care professional. A lawn care expert can offer advice on how to get your yard back to its best and recommend the most effective products to revitalize it quickly.
So, if you’ve noticed your yard turning brown and suspect it’s due to dogs roaming around, it’s time to take action. With the right steps, you can keep your lawn in top shape and enjoy a beautiful, healthy outdoor space.
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FAQs About How To Keep Dogs Off Your Lawn
Will cayenne pepper deter dogs?
Because of its spicy nature, cayenne pepper will keep dogs from approaching the areas where you apply it. Though it’s not toxic for dogs, it can irritate their eyes and other sensitive areas that come into contact with it. Cayenne pepper will keep dogs from your lawn but is certainly one of the more extreme solutions compared to other homemade dog deterrents.
What is the best dog repellent for lawns?
Commercially made dog repellents are the most effective, although the home remedies we shared will also go a long way into keeping your lawn pristine. But you’ll need to be cautious when applying a mixture as a dog repellent. Certain repellents can harm your dog. Pest repellents like mothballs, detergents, coffee grounds and excessively applied garlic and pepper solutions can endanger your dog’s health. Always do your research before you apply a repellent to keep dogs off your lawn.
How can I get dogs to stop pooping on my lawn?
The simplest way to keep dogs from pooping on your lawn is to erect a fence or a hedge barrier. Commercially made repellents, natural smells from plants, fertilizers and homemade ingredients can also help in preventing your dog or the neighbor’s dogs from pooping on your lawn. Also, make sure to create a “poo zone” for your pup, and train your dog to go only on that area instead of using the entire lawn as his toilet.