How to Make Homemade Dog Repellent (2024)

• Citrus. Dogs find the smell of citrus horrendous. You can protect your garden by placing slices of oranges or lemons throughout the flowerbed. To keep your dog off of your furniture, place a glass of lemon water on a nearby table or spray your furniture with the mixture.
• Cayenne peppers. Though cayenne peppers will not harm your dog, they will irritate his eyes, nose and throat. To keep your dog out of your flowerbed, grind a mixture of black pepper and cayenne pepper, and sprinkle it throughout your garden. A good trick for getting your dog to avoid the upholstery is to sprinkle cayenne pepper in your potpourri or leave a bowl of ornamental chilies next to the sofa.
• Vinegar. Dogs strongly dislike the odor of vinegar. Vinegar can be potentially dangerous for plants, so don't spray vinegar in your garden. Instead, douse biodegradable coffee filters in white vinegar and allow them to dry in the sun. Once completely dried, cut the filters into thin strips about the length of a toothpick. Spreading the strips throughout your garden will repel your dog and allow your flowers to thrive.
• Mustard oil. Dogs hate the smell and taste of mustard oil, so spray it around the area you want your dog to avoid and watch it do its magic.
• Dog poop. Try placing some of your dog's poop in holes that he has dug and you can bet that he won't dig in them again. Strategically place some in holes all around his favorite digging spots and watch him lose interest in encountering his own waste.
• Coffee grounds. Coffee is another smell that dogs aren't fond of — and coffee grounds are great for your garden soil as well. Just scatter them on top of the soil and your dog will stay away.

Now That's a Doggone Good Idea

According to rover.com, a great way to stop Fido from trying to dig to China is to bury flat rocks just below the surface at noted digging spots. Or, if you have a sprinkler system, set up a motion detector to spray your pooch and run him off at the first sign of a dig.

Dogs dislike the smell of citrus fruits. These include grapefruit, lemons and even oranges. This is one of the reasons why citrus odors are used in sprays to keep dogs from chewing on items.

Any sound over 20,000 Hz will negatively affect a dog both mentally and physically. These sounds can cause dogs to become distressed and nervous and they will often run away and hide if exposed to these frequencies for too long.

In a clean spray bottle, mix two tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and 20 drops of any citrus scented essential oil into one and a half cups of cold water. Mix well and spray in the places around your home that you want the dog to stay away from.

Some apps produce ultrasonic sounds that are supposed to keep dogs away. These apps can also be used to stop an attacking or barking dog. There are options available for both Android and iOS; just search in your phone’s app store.