What Smells Do Dogs Hate?
If you have a dog, you know that they will smell everything from the trash can to their own butts. While dogs seem immune to bad smells, there are plenty of scents that most dogs tend to hate.
These smells, like citrus and vinegar, are known for being strong and overpowering. Pungent odors can overwhelm your dog’s strong sense of smell, which leads to your dog avoiding areas where the smell is present.
While not a foolproof plan, you can use your dog’s aversion to overwhelming scents to keep your dogs out of certain areas of your home or garden (especially if your dog has plenty of unsupervised time outdoors through a pet door). An especially tenacious dog will power through a bad smell to get what they want, but some pet owners found that spraying down restricted areas of their own with strong sprays or planting odorous plants in the garden can dissuade a dog from going and playing where they shouldn’t.
So what are the strong scents that our dogs loath?
Top Smell That Our Dogs Hate
- Chili Peppers
- Onions
- Ground Spices (such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cardamom, mustard, and cayenne pepper)
- Garlic
- Citrus Fruits (such as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits)
- Vinegar
- Fresh Herbs (such as basil, mint, rosemary, and thyme)
- Alcohol
- Household Cleaners
- Strong Perfumes or Colognes
- Mothballs
- Nail Polish and Remover