There’s nothing worse than finding your dog’s bowl swarming with ants. They don’t enjoy it either. We are, however coming into the Australian and New Zealand Summer, so how do we keep ants from hogging your double-coated dog’s nutritious food? Well, let’s take a look at ten great ways to combat those pesky ants.
1. Baking Soda
This is Grandma’s recipe so-to-speak. By liberally sprinkling baking soda around the food bowl, it stops ants and all kinds of other insects from invading the nutrition your dog craves.
2. Chalk
Who’d have thought that chalk could be a solution for keeping ants at bay. Chalk is a type of limestone consisting of the mineral ‘calcite’ formed originally by the compression of microscopic deep sea plankton that had settled on the ocean floor. The ‘calcium carbonate’ present in chalk repels ants. So drawing a continuous line around your dog’s bowl or sprinkling chalk powder around your dog’s feeder should do the trick.
3. Invest in an ant-proof dog bowl which houses a bowl within a bowl of which the outer one is filled with water which ants loathe. There’s also an ant-proof plate available as well. Check it out online.
4. Powdered Sulphur
If your dog’s bowl is near a few pot plants or garden beds, then sprinkle powdered sulphur around the pots and ant hills nearby, and also the edges of grass surrounding the porch or patio where your dog maybe eating.
5. Diatomaceous Earth Powder
Diatomaceous earth powder is made from the powdered sediment of fossilized algae which are found in bodies of water. The dried sediment produced contains high levels of Silica which is great for repelling ants and others bugs. Sprinkle in cracks and crevices found in house foundations and other concrete patio surfaces as well as around your dog’s food bowl.
6. Cinnamon
Most people have some form of cinnamon in their pantry. Now’s the time to get it out and sprinkle around your dog’s eating dishes.
7. Vaseline Petroleum Jelly
‘Why didn’t I think of that’ I hear you say. Well, ants can’t stand anything they can’t get through, and let’s face it – Vaseline will slow them down, if not glue them to the spot. Smear a small amount around the bottom edge of your dog’s food and water bowls to stop them in their tracks.
8. Lemons
The acidity in lemon juice repels ants and other insects so squeeze into any nearby cracks and crevices, and place the rinds around the bowls. Using lemon essential oil close to the feeding area helps as well. Orange peel also provides a scent ants can’t stand. You can blend orange peels with some warm water, then spray near dog bowls, around pot plants, the porch or patio, cracks and crevices, and directly onto ant hills.
9. Eucalyptus Oil
Spray around feeding areas, around the exterior of the house, inside cracks and crevices, and along any ant trails for optimum results.
10. White Vinegar
Ants can’t stand the stuff. Use full strength white vinegar around the bowls and ant trails, and directly onto any hills and nests.