Do you have a beautiful lawn in front of your house? Maybe your kids play on it, or your own pets, or maybe you yourself play croquet, hang out to sunbathe, or chat with friends, and the idea of neighborhood dogs pooping or peeing on it is horrifying to you.  Here is the one sure-fire way to reduce that happening (plus a bonus way!).

What won’t work:
(skip to what will, this isn’t one of those recipe blog pages!)

• Motion-activated sprinklers – they might interrupt a dog who’s already started, but they’re unlikely to prevent one from starting, even if they remember that your lawn is booby trapped. And they will stop owners from picking up any pile that was started.
• Adding cayenne or other peppers to your yard – many dogs don’t care, and it will degrade or get washed away quickly
• Signs telling people not to let their dogs potty on their yard – while some people will respect them, some will go out of their way to encourage their dog to potty there, out of spite!

What will work:

• Put up a border fence

A fence – even a short, mostly decorative border fence or edging – will keep most dogs off of your lawn. Even if the dog can easily step over it, they’re not likely to, and owners are going to steer their dogs away from crossing it, even unconsciously . Of course your neighbors should respect your property anyways… but many humans will stay properly on the sidewalk but let their dog wander into a yard.

It can be short, maybe 6″ minimum.  It can be metal, wire, wood, rock or faux stone, plastic/vinyl, or a hedge.  It can be plain or arched, or look like a white picket fence, or it can be fancy, elegant, modern, artsy, or French. It can even be a line of decorative pinwheels that give the impression of a border fence (though some male dogs might be inclined to see those as vertical posts for marking).

You can add a sign, too, just to drive it home.

Advantages:

• Keeps both on-leash and off-leash dogs off your lawn
• Keeps your kids on your lawn
• Keeps your kids’ toys on your lawn
• Adds visual interest

Disadvantages:

• One more thing to pay for
• Might interfere with mowing (see below)
• Won’t keep out roaming cats or wild animals such as raccoons which might still be pottying on your lawn

What else will work:

• Lose the lawn

If you live in California or similarly drought-prone areas, and your lawn is merely decorative, not used as a surface for play, sunbathing, or picnicking, consider taking it out and put in drought-tolerant, native plants.  In San Jose, see Our City Forest’s Lawn Busters site and Valley Water’s rebate site.

Advantages:

• No mowing
• No pesticides
• No herbicides
• No (or little) watering
• Contributes to a healthy ecosystem
• And… no worries about dogs seeing it as a big, flat toilet!

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