stray dogs attacking our bins

galah

Hi everyone,

quick question - is there anything we can do to keep stray dogs from attacking our bins?

There seem to be some very large (I assume) stray dogs running around, and since we don't use 'normal' city bins, but bin bags in a smaller bin, these bags have fallen prey to those dogs - they manage to knock over the bin, somehow open the lid (fastened with clamps), take out the bag, and distribute our rubbish all over our front yard obviously searching for food. Not a pleasant sight, and very very annoying.

Any ideas what we can do to stop them? (since the dogs seem to be stray, and we don't know where they're coming from, calling the dog warden is pointless. Thinking more along the lines of 'stay away' spray plus something very heavy in the bin so it can't be knocked over.)

Cheers,
galah

Clare Bear

Why is calling the dog warden pointless? Better for you, everyone in your locality and the dogs if they are stray to call the dog warden.

star-pants

I was going to say maybe if you could chain them somehow to something, and maybe put heavy rock on the lid?
A spray of sorts might help too. Hmm, just trying to think what else would be useful, I know cats can get freaked out with bottles of water in the grass, but I dunno if that would be effective around dogs.
Also maybe if you believe they're stray calling the local SPCA or pound?

galah

problem is that we don't know where they come from, so what is the dog warden supposed to do? Wait until the dogs show up? (it doesn't happen every night...).

olaola

My Dad used to spray dettol on the bins.

kildara

Put the bins out in the morning.

Saw a film once where the guy who was running from the police put pepper all over the ground - hindering the following blood hound whi had a bit of a sneeze. Dunno if that would deter them or not though (it might improve the taste of the food it eats!)

galah

Can't have the bags in the house - they smell (cat litter, among other lovely things)! That's why they're permanently in a bin outside...or spread over the front yard if the dogs got to it. (we don't have a backyard, the front is the only place to keep the bins).

Shall try dettol first, and see if that works. There's commercial "dogs away" spray available, google told me, but if dettol does the job, I'm happy.

olaola

Could you use actual dustbins and keep the lids shut with bungee cords or something?

galah

our dustbin has those 'snap close' brackets (they fold around the lid) - but somehow, the dogs manage to open these (or, due to the weight of the bin when it falls over, the lid comes off).

Also a good idea though - shall invest in some cords (they're sold as bicycle supplies as well, aren't they?) and see if that keeps the lid on.

peasant

put a bucket full of water on top of the bin ...possibly a metal one.

The cold shower and noise from the falling bucket when they tip over the bin the next time should scare them enough to not try that one for a while

EDIT:

Or you could try a box of empty cans or something like that ...anything that creates an almighty noise will be good.