If you think that the landscape at your home is becoming stressed, think about nature’s animals that don’t have the normal plants in the wild to eat due to the drought and hot weather.  I’m talking specifically about deer because that is the wild animal that my customers and I have trouble with getting in our yards and gardens.

Earlier in the summer when the vegetable gardens were beginning to really grow, my customers would come in the store and ask what I had to keep the deer from eating their peas, corn and even tomatoes!  My little urban garden is inside a walled part of my yard so I don’t have to worry about them getting the veggies; however, my succulent and gorgeous hostas are well within their reach.

The best product I have found that actually works is The Liquid Fence Company’s Deer & Rabbit Repellent.  It is very easy to use.  You simply spray on your plants today, wait one week and spray again, then monthly after that to keep the animals trained to leave your plants alone.

There is a strong odor when you first spray the solution but not an overwhelming odor.  Once it is dry you cannot smell it but the animals can.  The only time you need to re-apply outside of the schedule you set is when there is a downpour of rain.

When you give this a try, you will never be without it to protect any type of plants that the deer or rabbits love such as vegetables, begonias, coleus, & hostas.  The 1 gallon ready-to-use container is very convenient since it comes with its own hose and spray nozzle.  I really like to take the Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent and fill up a 1 gallon sprayer because it is easier for me to get a wider coverage over my hostas.

My dog’s favorite toys are the Kyjen Egg Babies plush toy that comes in several different animal styles such as alligator, duck, dinosaur, platypus, & sea turtle to name a few.

You see they have 3 “eggs” inside of them which are plush egg looking toys with a squeaker plus the Egg Babies come with 2 additional eggs for replacements.  Somehow all the dogs know that there are “eggs” inside of the bigger toy and they love to get them out.  We’ll stuff the “eggs” back inside the toy which starts the process all over again.

A really quirky toy for our cats is the Savvy Tabby Skittery Spiders.  They are small toys about 2 ½” long with a pull cord on the end of them.  You just pull that cord and the spiders vibrate and move which, of course with a cat, definitely gets their attention.  They are just funny looking little toys with these sparkly string-like legs that attract the cat’s attention, also.  You will be able to sit there and pull the cord time after time while the cat tries to figure it out.

In case you really don’t want to exert much energy, you just can’t go wrong with the Laser Exercise Beam for dogs & cats.  This toy has a red beam and an LED white light that can be used as a flashlight plus it is attached to a key chain so you can keep it handy at all times. There is a hilarious video of my store manager playing the laser game with his bulldog. You can see the laser beam video on the store’s website.

You push the button down and a red dot appears on whatever object you are pointing toward and then the fun begins.  Our cat, Tommy, and my employee’s dog, Ellie, go nuts trying to catch the red dot.  Your pet will run and run and jump up and down to catch it and you can be comfortable in your chair the whole time if you want!

Now you have some great toys to purchase for your dogs & cats which are fun not only for your pet but also for you!

Little black ants were crawling along my window sill.  Oh good grief!  First I thought I may have brought them in on the vegetables but then realized they were coming in and out by way of a little crack between the woodwork and the window frame.  I usually always spray around my windows and doors but really don’t like to in my kitchen because of the poisons.

All types of ants can get in your house and be out in your yard which can become quite a nuisance.  I’ve talked before about spot treating and broadcasting in the yard but for your garden and in your kitchen, let’s look at another way to control them which doesn’t expose your food preparation area and food items to harsh chemicals.

After doing some research, I decided the best approach for these areas would be ant traps.

Here is an interesting story: Grant Laboratories was founded in 1930 with the simple goal of developing a superior method of ant control.  The Grant’s Kills Ants® bait formula was the result of that research.

I tested both the liquid ant traps and the ant stakes.  I put the ant stakes near my urban garden where I saw ants crawling around.  After 2 days I saw no more ants.

To get rid of the ants I saw along the kitchen window sill, I placed the liquid ant trap there and saw the ants start going to it and then leaving. After a couple of days there were no more ants.

You see there are scouts that literally “scout” out areas for the ants to get food.  Once these main scouts get the bait, go back to the nest and feed it to the queen and worker ants, they all die.  No more ant scouts to show the way to your home!

Now you know a very clean and mess free way to control any of your ant problems without the worry of harsh chemicals by using Grant’s Kills Ants® ant bait traps

As a young adult I chose schnauzer and sheltie puppies. A lab/retriever mix became a Christmas present for my children. Then there was a procession of 5 shih tzu pups (not at one time!) with the last one being our daughter’s little Meisha who did not like living in the big city.  There have been 15 cats in a variety of black & white, tabby and blue Russian.

There are those of you who have had more pets in your lives or possibly less, but the love and care of our pets are pretty consistent.  We want to make sure they have their shots and heartworm pills.  The right food is high on our list for creating a healthy body & coat for our pets.  Who doesn’t love to get the endless supply of toys along with the crate or bed so they can be comfortable!

Those are the easier and fun things to do for our pets but then we have the more difficult part of pet ownership to deal with.  I’m specifically speaking about dealing with the “accidents” our pets leave on the floor!

Whether the pet is in the process of being potty trained, has an “accident” due to some stress, an older pet that has trouble controlling themselves, or just some odd reason a well behaved pet starts acting out, we all struggle with the cleanup and getting the odor out of the carpet.  Every time I saw a new product for just this purpose, I quickly purchased it and just as quickly was disappointed in the inability to get the smell out.

Through the years I have struggled with this issue and at one time just wanted to have wood floors throughout the house.  But my husband only wanted carpet in the bedroom.  Of course, that is where our 3 small dogs and 1 cat like to hang out with us, so if there is a problem, it generally happens there.

You’re in trouble?

When one of my vendors was talking to me about a new product, all she said was “You’re in trouble”.  I gave her a quizzical look because I didn’t think I had done anything for her to say that.  She pulled out a purple spray bottle and that is exactly what it said on it — Ur’ N Trouble!

She went on to tell me about this great new product for cleaning up “accidents” by our pets and I gave her that look of doubt.  I did not want to try a new product because I didn’t have much hope in it actually working.  She assured me this was a different product. I said “sure, why not”.

I am so glad I did!  Honestly, it smells good itself and it works to get the smell of urine, throw up and “poop” out of the carpet.  I simply get some paper towels and soak up all that I can, spray with Ur N Trouble and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then I pat the spot with the paper towels again & that only smells like Ur’ N Trouble’s good smell.  Finally, a product that does what it says!

You know there is nothing more embarrassing than to have friends over to your house and the smell that meets them at the door is ‘ode d’urine’.  No matter how many candles you have burning or air fresheners you have been spraying, there is still that underlying odor that just won’t go away.

Leave this embarrassment in your past and go confidently into the future with Ur’ N Trouble.  Go get that new puppy or kitten you have been putting off adopting or buying; don’t dread the strife that causes stress in your pet’s life that makes them lose control;  concentrate on the positive attributes of your pet because you now know you have help in keeping your home odor and stain free.

Sedgehammer is the product I have recommended for several years.  When Monsanto owned the patent on the product it was called Manage.  They sold the technology to Gowan Company and they changed the name to Sedgehammer.  Now, Gowan has improved the formulation again to include the surfactant, the part that makes it stick longer to the weed, as part of the product and now they call it Sedgehammer Plus.  With the original Sedgehammer you needed to add a liquid surfactant along with the packet of weed killer to obtain the right solution for sticking to and killing the nutgrass.

Even though nutgrass resembles grasses and is often referred to as nutgrass, it really isn’t a grass at all but true sedge.  Their leaves are thicker and stiffer than most grasses and the leaves are arranged in sets of three at the base.  Nutsedge stems are solid, and in cross section they are triangular whereas grass stems are hollow and round and in cross section they are almost flat or oval.

Yellow and purple nutsedge produce tubers, which my customers call nuts; thus the origin of their common name, nutgrass.  The tubers are produced on underground stems that grow as deep as 8 to 14 inches below the soil surface.   Buds develop on the tuber sprouts and grow to form new plants.  Did you know that they can eventually form patches that range up to 10 feet or more in diameter!  Now that sounds like the beginning of a migraine!

Nutgrass Takes Persistance Not Pulling

I would venture to say it is almost impossible to get rid of nutsedge by pulling up the plants.  Roundup has not worked that well for me in the past either.  It does a good top-kill but does not do a good job killing the underground tubers.  Nutsedge is very aggressive when left alone.  It is a perennial weed so in the fall it will go dormant and then sprout again the following spring.

It takes persistence with the spraying of Sedgehammer to get rid of the nutsedge.  You can use it as a directed spray in flower beds, being careful around your ornamentals, and can be sprayed in most lawn grasses.  The Sedgehammer will work quicker if you can spray the nutsedge when it is only 2-3 inches tall.  The taller it gets, the longer it takes the chemical to work its way through the plant.

The process for getting rid of nutsedge is now easier with Sedgehammer Plus which you will find out as soon as you purchase it and begin your control over this headache weed!

“Rebecca, I need your help getting rid of fleas!”

I hear that comment a lot from my customers.  My response to them is always “Tell me where the problem is…in your home, in your yard or on your pets?”

Usually they say everywhere and the fleas are beginning to get on them.  When the fleas move from the pets to the humans, the infestation is getting out of hand.  Taking back control from the fleas is a three-fold process.  You have to treat your home, your yard and your pets to make your efforts worth your while.

Other pets or even squirrels can bring fleas into your yard.  Even if you have a fence, other animals come up to it with your pet on the other side, and fleas can jump onto them.

When you walk through your yard, fleas can get on you and you can bring them into the house even if you don’t allow your pet inside.

Total control is a 3-step process:

Outside:  A good insect granule such as Bug Blaster is what I suggest for outside.  It will last 3 times longer than any sprays that you can use which lose their effectiveness after 30 days due to the UV light of the sun.

When you broadcast the granules in your yard, do so before a rain or set a sprinkler for a little while as water activates the chemical in the product.  Once it dries, it is safe for humans and pets.

Inside: An adulticide such as Martin’s Viper or Bifen I/T (be sure and rotate the chemical you use so the fleas don’t become immune)  mixed with a larvicide for an indoor spray is preferable.

You need a product that will kill the adults but another one to take care of the eggs & larvae which will continue to develop into adults anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks depending on the environment.

If you don’t stop the cycle with the insect growth regulator (IGR, larvicide), you will continue to have adult fleas!  It is a good idea to rotate your adulticide product so that the fleas do not become immune to that chemical.

Cypermethrin, Bifenthrin, Beta-Cyfluthrin are all great products to use in conjunction with the IGR.  A one gallon mixture will treat 1,000 square feet. I don’t have a “bug company” come into my house to treat for insects.  I do this myself, quarterly, and these products will take care of other insects in addition to your flea trouble.

Spray your floors, pet’s bedding, around baseboards, under sinks, behind washer/dryer and refrigerator, back in closets, around doors & windows.

If for some reason you are not able to mix up and spray these products, there are really great flea/insect bombs that contain both adulticide & IGR ingredients such as Zodiac Room Fogger.

Pets: Your pet needs a good spot on product that is applied monthly to kill the fleas that get on them.  There are several on the market today.  Some spot on products are really expensive and others less expensive.

The key is to make sure they, too, contain an adulticide along with an IGR.  The Zodiac Spot On products are broken down by the weight of the dog to be treated.  You want to make sure you select the right product based on the weight of your pet.   There is a 4 month supply in one package which makes this a cost effective approach to protecting your pets and their environment.

Do you have a special container that you love to fill up with fresh plants in the spring?  Do you also have dogs or cats who love those same areas to dig in or “do their business”?

Whether the dogs or cats are owned by you or your neighbors, there is nothing more frustrating than to see your hard work destroyed by these animals.  You may not have to worry about your landscaping but get annoyed by the animals using your garbage cans or heaven forbid the tires of your freshly washed car as their bathroom!

It is amazing how many products are out on the market today stating that they are the best Dog & Cat Repellent.  You can Google that and in .29 seconds get 161,000 results!

You can learn how to make homemade dog & cat repellent, or use products that contain several peppers, or products with naphthalene.  I have done just that with brief to no results…until now!

“He Licked It One Time and Hasn’t Been Back Since”

Liquid Fence has a Dog & Cat Repellent that is made with natural plant oils so it is biodegradable and can be safely used around your family and on your plants.  It is also cruelty-free, so it won’t harm your pets or other animals.

This product does have a smell when you spray it, but after it dries you will not be able to smell it but the animals will be able to smell it.  The effectiveness of Liquid Fence Dog & Cat Repellent will last a week or more and will continue to act as a training deterrent for pets and strays as long as it is present.

Initially, to train and break a pattern of habitual behavior, Liquid Fence Dog & Cat Repellent may need to be applied more frequently. As the animal’s behavior is changed, the application frequency can be reduced.

Kim, one of my customers from Arkadelphia, AR said:  “I wasn’t sure about purchasing this product because so many of them have not worked.  We want to have a vegetable garden in our backyard but our dog keeps getting in it.  I sprayed this and he licked it one time and hasn’t been back since!!!!”

Enjoy your home and the surrounding areas without being distressed by nature’s call on dogs and cats! Go now and purchase the Liquid Fence Company Dog & Cat Repellent so you will have your training aid on hand.

A good shampoo should have a low pH level and be made primarily from natural ingredients.  Whatever the formula, it should lather up and rinse easily and never bring the animal to tears.  While the shampoo should clean the dog thoroughly, it should not dissolve the natural oils that keep the skin from drying and prevent the dog from developing allergies and other dermatological problems.

If you are using your own shampoo on your pets, you should stop!  I know economically that might seem to be a smart move but it could be harmful for your pet.  Typically, human shampoo has a higher pH level that can irritate the dog’s skin.  A bottle of dog shampoo should last for several months, as veterinarians generally recommend dogs be bathed no more than once every three or four weeks.

Wonderful Naturals Shampoos

There is a line of “Naturals” shampoos which are all plant-based.  They contain NO drying soaps, or alcohol and NO coat-stripping detergents.  Each of the line of shampoos has a pleasing fresh scent.  The products are 100% biodegradable and the container is 100% recyclable.  Plus they are made in the USA!  Now that is an amazing line of shampoos for sure.

You can start with the Extra Gentle Puppy Shampoo which is actually for puppies and kittens.   Most time we are so unsure of the product to use on our new puppy or kitten but you can use this with confidence knowing it will be gentle enough for their skin & eyes yet it will clean effectively.  The other 4 shampoos in this line for adult animals (dogs, cats, rabbits & ferrets) will meet a variety of needs.

Our little shih tzu, Meisha, has a lot of allergies.  The Oatmeal Shampoo, which relieves itchy, scaly, sensitive skin caused by allergies to food, grass, flea bites and other environmental allergens, has been ideal for her.  She has allergies to the environment just like people do; dust, grasses, weeds, etc.  Her skin becomes bright red when she is beginning an outbreak.  I wash her with this shampoo and it calms her and her skin so she is comfortable again and so am I!

Another shampoo for itchy, allergy type skins is the Tar & Aloe Medicated Shampoo which is a medicated – solubilized coal tar and natural aloe vera — to soothe itchy, inflamed skin due to hot spots, seborrhea and non-specific dermatitis.

For those dogs that encounter the skunk or just has a foul odor, use the Patented Deodorizing Shampoo.  It uses a proprietary active ingredient Ordenone which encapsulates and eliminates foul odors, including skunk spray on coat.  This one should be in your Dog First Aid Kit!

And last but not least is the 2 in 1 Conditioning Shampoo which is an enriched protein & cream conditioner with coconut and lanol extracts plus shea tree butter.  Now who wouldn’t want to spoil their dog with that one!!! Like humans, every dog has their own unique skin and hair type that requires a product to get them clean and stay healthy.

Use a shampoo low in pH to protect the natural oils of your loving pet and if there are other issues involved, you have more options with this line of Naturals Durvet Shampoos.

Ahhhh the wonderful smells of summer

If you have ever experienced the smell of a skunk, you know that it attacks the senses full force!  The attack on your nose & lungs is offensive and has even been known to make your eyes water (mine did  but from crying when I was having a party on a Saturday afternoon after the Friday night skunk spraying under the house!)  Let’s get to know a little more about this silent creature that can bring down the strongest of us.

Skunks are peaceful and non-aggressive animals.  They really try to stay out of harm.  They have a range of a few hundred acres and are primarily nocturnal and solitary animals except when the mamas are raising babies.  They can be active all year long, but in the coldest areas of winter, they spend that time in their dens.

The skunk’s food source is mostly insects of which many are pests to humans.  In regard to that we can think of them as beneficial to have around.  Plant material, including wild fruits, apples and corn are included in their diet along with mice and eggs from ground nesting birds.

Breeding usually occurs in late winter or early spring, so babies are generally born in May or June.  Skunks have the ability to dig their own burrows but will also use abandoned dens of other animals, hollow logs, wood, rock piles, under buildings, stone walls, hay or brush piles and trees or stumps.

Being a docile animal, the skunk’s main line of defense is a complex chemical substance that includes sulfuric acid that can be released from either one or two independently targetable anal glands.  This allows the skunk to face any threat instead of running away.

How Do You Keep Skunks Away?

Now that you know a little more about a skunk, let’s look at a way to keep them from your home or business so you can continue smelling the fragrant scents of summer.  My customers have asked for years for a product that will keep skunks away and until now, all I have had to offer is a  live trap (then you still have to dispose of the stinky skunk!) and a sympathetic ear.

Now there is a product called Shot-Gun Repels-All animal repellent granules.  This repels-all granule not only repels skunks but also deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, dogs, cats, raccoons, porcupines, bird, rats, beavers, groundhogs  and shrews from around your home, business and garden.  Repels-All animal repellent can be used where kids and pets play. It is also biodegradable and won’t harm lawns, gardens or other plants when used correctly.

Repels-All contains a unique blend of ingredients that cause a mild irritation in animal’s nasal passages.  This irritation is triggered when an animal touches, tastes or smells the repellent granules making the animals’ natural instinct to flee/escape immediate.  It has an unpleasant taste and smell that animals find irritating.  This repellent does not harm the animals, it just drives them away!

We love our dogs and we love our beautiful lawn.  What do you do with the effects on the pretty green grass when your dogs do their “business”?  Actually there are a few things that work well to keep on loving your pets and having pretty green grass.

Let’s stay “natural” and clean with bio degradable dog bags to pick up any mess that your dogs leave.  You get to keep a clean lawn, you continue to help the landfills with the bio degradable bag and there are no spots in the lawn from the residue.  Check this for being pro-active for our environment and keeping your grass looking great!

You may ask, however, what about other neighbors who aren’t quite as conscientious as you are and your yard becomes the toilet of the neighborhood dogs?  The damage has been done to the grass before you realize it and there is a bare spot.  A really great quick fix is an all in one dog spot repair kit for either sun or shady areas.  You can just shake it out and water it in.

The Pennington Seed All-In-One Dog Spot Repair Kit really does work because the seed is coated with a protection against fungus and disease along with having improved water penetration. Now, you can check this as a problem solved!

The urine stains on the grass are another issue.  The best I have found is a dog treat that is specially formulated for lawn protection called Healthy Baker Lawn Protection Dog Treats.  They are natural treats with added vitamins and dl-methionine and are oven baked.  No soy, sugar or artificial flavors & colors are added.  Having one dog with a lot of allergies, I really look for this type of product for her.

I always believe you can accomplish all that you want with your pets & your home with just a little added effort.