My question is, how do I get the birds from using my dog’s water dish as a bird bath? The birds invade my dog’s food dish as well. I’ve tried the fake owl, but it only helped for a few weeks. Now the birds just hang out near and around my dog’s kennel. I even trapped the top of the kennel to try and keep out the birds and to give some shade and protection from the rain for my dog. Nothing seems to work; I’m constantly power washing the dog run, because it is invested with bird poop. I am at my wit’s end! Help!

From: Jackie, in Fairfield Connecticut

Dear Jackie,

I don’t know what your specific situation is, but I assume you have your dog in a run that doesn’t have any protection from rain and sun, even before the birds bugged you. Is your dog living exclusively in an outdoor run, with no time out of there? If that’s so, I’m curious as to why you’ve decided to live with your dog that way.

Your dog should not have food that sits out in a bowl in the sun -- or sits out at all. Your dog run sounds more appealing to the birds than it might be for the dog, or am I misunderstanding? The dog needs to get a breakfast and a dinner that he might want to eat when he’s fed. The bowl comes up within ten minutes after feeding, and is washed. If you can afford canned food, it is SO much better for him than kibble, in terms of what it contains. As for the birds, give them a bird feeder and bird bath on the other side of the house so they have somewhere else to go.

Hope this helps.

Tracie Hotchner