Some of my neighbors have tried all kinds of creative approaches, none of which have worked well, if at all. One neighbor strung a rope across his waterfront, and another put up a 10" high fence to try to stop them climbing up out of the water and onto the lawn. Neither worked since ducks and geese can fly.

Another neighbor fires off a loud carbide air rifle, which disturbs his neighbors but is only effective when he is home to shoot it. And it seems that the geese know exactly when he is home.

Others have tried to scare off the critters by placing plastic owls on the dock or the shoreline – at which I believe I heard the geese laughing as they waddled past.

I have heard about a product that is spread on the ground and which is supposed to repel geese but I have not talked to anyone who has tried it. In any case that doesn’t sound too eco friendly to me.

We think we have the perfect solution; a herding dog which in our case is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named "Maxie". Soon after we got him as a puppy, much to my wife’s delight I taught him the phrase "Duck, Duck, Goose." Hearing those three magic words sends him racing and barking excitedly off the deck, across the yard and out onto the dock, scattering the hapless water birds in a flurry of feathers and squawks.

You may have heard about such dogs used on golf courses. On the Turkeyfoot Lakes public course, for example, they use a border collie who seems to control the geese very effectively.

I am proud to say that we have a virtually duck and goose free yard. Yeah Maxie!