Dog Hair Repellent

Our dog has an unusually long coat, so we’re used to hearing unusual questions. But last week we finally heard a new one. A stranger asked for a lock of Clyde’s hair. True, Clyde’s just finished shooting a couple of movies, but they haven’t yet been released – so this couldn’t be his first crazy stalker. Or could it? Needless to say, we asked the man what he wanted it for.

His response: gophers.

We like to think we’ve heard every crazy dog tale out there, but this was a new one. We did as much digging as we could, and discovered that various old wives’ tales recommend the use of dog hair as an animal repellent. Our unscientific research (better known as Google) revealed a variety of sources that recommend the use of dog hair as a repellent for:

• Gophers
• Groundhogs
• Squirrels
• Chipmunks
• Deer
• Skunks

Anecdotally, we can report that in our own backyard, the mean squirrels in the oak tree are always chucking acorns at Clyde. But this neither confirms nor disproves the theory. Are the squirrels terrified by the shaggy coat? Or are they mocking the lack of efficacy of his purportedly frightening dog hair?

We’ve yet to uncover any solid research, so if anyone has more experience than we do in deterring pests with the liberal scattering of shed dog hair, please let us know by using our comment form below.

And no, in case you’re wondering, we absolutely did not give that man a lock of Clyde’s hair. It’s great that Clyde has admirers, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

And mister, if you’re reading this, good luck with your garden! Maybe next time just ask a dog groomer for a little bag of clippings. It would be a little less creepy. A little.