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Neighbor’s Dog Keeps Digging Under The Fence: What Can I Do?

Neighbor’s Dog Keeps Digging Under The Fence: What Can I Do?

Have you ever found yourself in a scenario like this? To obtain access to your yard, your next-door neighbor’s dog digs beneath your fence.

Doesn’t this sound vexing?

Dogs are wonderful companions, yet they can irritate people at times, especially if they haven’t had sufficient training.

So, how do you go about it? If your neighbor’s dog digs under your fence to peer through or access your yard regularly, you can take various approaches.

To find out, keep reading.

What Can You Do if Your Neighbor’s Dog Keeps Digging Under the Fence?

1. To stop your neighbor’s dog from digging under your fence to enter your yard, first talk to your neighbors about what’s going on. Don’t be surprised to find out they’re completely clueless about the situation.

 If they are aware of the situation and have no plans to act, you can place physical obstacles beneath your fence or spray deterrent spray around the perimeter.

Your neighbors will, in the best-case situation, apologize for their dog. However, we aren’t always that fortunate to have such nice neighbors, do we?

2. If you find yourself in this situation with your neighbor, you can erect a physical barrier beneath the fence, dig a hole beneath your fence and fill the hole with concrete.

Even if the dog digs into the concrete, he won’t be able to escape his way through it. If you don’t want to buy concrete, you can fill the hole with large pebbles.

You might be able to save money by finding the rocks on your property or in the local region.

How Do I Keep My Neighbors From Digging Under My Fence?

1. You’ll need to put up some strong deterrents: This will serve to discourage your neighbor’s dog from digging under your fence and can be a physical barrier or a mental barrier that the dog finds intolerable, such as deterrent sprays.

The main objective is to prevent the dog from accessing your yard again while avoiding harming it.

2. You can make or buy a deterrent spray: This is a good method if you want to start cautiously. These sprays are made to make dogs smell bad, and because the smell is a dog’s primary sense, they will have no desire to approach the spray.

3. Go for the wire fence: A more extreme alternative would be to install a chicken wire fence that reaches into the earth beneath your fence. The dog will be faced with chicken wire when it goes to dig in its favorite spot.

Hopefully, the dog won’t perceive this as a challenge and continue digging instead of looking for something else to occupy its time.

Does Chicken Wire Keep Dogs From Digging?

Yes, it does. The use of chicken wire to keep dogs from digging under your fence is effective. It may not deter them from digging at first, but once they discover they’ve gone as far as they can and still can’t get to where they want to go, they’ll understand burrowing under your fence isn’t going to get them anywhere.

It will then be your neighbor’s job, not yours, to deal with the digging disaster. When you add chicken wire to the base of your fence, it closes the opening beneath the fence that your dog uses to get in

Dogs sense an opportunity when they see a gap, getting rid of the gap by covering it with chicken wire will gradually teach the dog that they can’t get beyond that barrier.

How Do I Keep a Neighbor’s Dog From Pooping in My Yard?

1. Keep the dog out: You must first keep your neighbor’s dog out of your yard to prevent the dog from pooping in your yard. Determine how the dog enters your yard and devise a strategy to keep it from doing so in the future.

2. Use deterrents: A spray filled with disgusting odors, for a dog, or a physical barrier, most commonly under an already erected fence, can be used as a deterrent. You can buy deterrent sprays or produce your own.

Spray the scented mixture around the perimeter of the fence, paying special attention to the areas where the dog enjoys digging the most.

Is It Legal For a Neighbor’s Dog to Poop in My Yard?

While it is inconvenient when a neighbor’s dog poops on your beautiful and well-kept yard,

it’s not always unlawful.

Some states, such as Maryland and Virginia, have enacted strong animal control laws requiring dog owners to restrain their pets in public places and to keep them from fouling other people’s yards. Such rules might not exist in other states.

Check local ordinances to learn what you may lawfully do about your neighbor’s dogs peeing in your garden. Local authorities may have the solution if you don’t know where to go for the laws that govern this situation.

How to Dig-proof a Fence?

Adding an extension to the base of your fence with chicken wire mesh using the L-footer approach is the most effective way to dig-proof your fence.

Why?

Chicken wire mesh is robust enough to prevent dogs from chewing or scratching through it, making it an excellent choice for digging-proofing your fence.

Use the methods below to put up a chicken wire fence:

1. Make a trench beneath your fence. The depth is 12 inches and the width is 6 inches. Chicken wire should be cut into 6-foot pieces, depending on the sort of fence you have, secure the chicken wire to each section with zip ties or staples.

2. Fold the bottom of the chicken wire, which is located at the bottom of the trench, into an L-shape facing you.

3. To keep the wire secure, place rocks on top of it.

4. Backfill the trench with dirt.

Once you successfully do this, the dog will now have to dig a little further under the fence, climb up, and then encounter a barrier it won’t be able to overcome.

Does Cayenne Pepper Stop Dogs From Digging?

It’s debatable.

Cayenne pepper or ground black pepper sprinkled on your lawn may deter a dog from digging in it, though this is not guaranteed to work for all dogs. Cayenne pepper is an effective deterrent majorly to dogs digging or chewing on plants, the spicy pepper’s dried form can be sprinkled in your garden without harming your flowers or grass.

Use cayenne pepper to your advantage with these simple steps:

1. Sprinkle the pepper in locations where the dog spends a lot of time.

2. If he keeps digging up the same spots, sprinkle some pepper in the holes to keep the dog away. A few pepper-based spices will keep your dog away from your garden, yard, or flowerbed.

What Smell Do Dogs Hate to Stop Digging?

There are a variety of methods for preventing digging so you may relax and enjoy your yard.  The smell that deters one dog may not deter all dogs, so there may be some trial and error involved.

Below are some of the smells dogs hate:

1. Citrus

Even though we humans appreciate the aroma of oranges, lemons, and grapefruit, it is very powerful and overbearing for dogs. Place slices of oranges or lemons across your lawn to protect it.

2. Mustard oil

Mustard oil is unpleasant to dogs’ taste and smell, feel free to experiment with it.

3. Vinegar as a deterrent

Because dogs loathe the scent of vinegar, it may deter them from digging in your yard. Because vinegar can be harmful to plants, avoid spraying it directly on your lawn or garden.

4. Citronella oil

Citronella, like insects, does not appeal to dogs, so it works well as a digging deterrent.

5. Essential oil

A variety of essential oils can be used to naturally inhibit digging. While essential oils are enticing to humans because of their fresh aroma, they are not appealing to dogs.

6. Ammonia-based dog-digging deterrent

Ammonia has a strong odor and is one of the most disliked by dogs. It can, however, kill plants. If you wish to use coffee filters to prevent digging, soak them in ammonia. This will keep your plants in good spirits.

7. Rubbing alcohol

Dogs will be put off by the strong odor of rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol should not be applied directly to plants or grass because it is toxic to them. You should also avoid spraying it in your or your dog’s eyes to avoid getting it in your eyes.

8. Dog poops

Do you need a last-ditch effort? Make use of your dog’s poops. The dog will surely hate the smell of its poop, this unexpected suggestion turns out to be highly effective.

Conclusion

Dogs enjoy digging.

You should have a lot of ideas by now on how to keep your neighbor’s dog out of your yard.

Before you go out and buy concrete or chicken wire, try to find options around your property, such as DIY repellants you can produce.

A simple spray of some repulsive fragrances (to dogs) may be all you need to keep your neighbor’s dog out of your yard or someone else’s.