My previous entry in this series I discussed the possibility that your pet might drown. Now let’s talk about the dangers associated with waterfowl. Ducks, swans, and Canada geese are probably not something that you would have thought of adding to your “Dangerous to Pets” list. But when you live next to a body of water, the danger is real and persistent.

The water birds are fun to watch while they remain in the water, but are not so much fun when they foul your yard, seawall, and dock. A single Canada goose can produce a pound or more of goose poo per day, so imagine what a flock of 10 geese can make your yard look like. It can make it difficult to walk in your yard or on your dock. The poo can get tracked onto your boat and into your house.

Some dogs seem to love the stuff. As unappetizing as that sounds, dogs are not known for their discretion when it comes to snacking on found “delicacies”. I tell my wife that our Welsh Corgi, Maxie gobbles up anything that looks or smells like it just might be food, knowing that if it turns out that it is not food he can always throw it later up on our carpet.

Since the waterfowl poo can carry Salmonella, E-coli, and Listeria it may cause gastrointestinal problems if ingested. Eating the poo can make your pets very sick and in the case of very small dogs like our neighbor’s Maltese mix, it could even kill them.

Another unrecognized danger comes from the graceful and beautiful swans everyone loves to see. These are huge birds that may try to protect what they consider to be their territory. They often drive off ducks and geese and have even been known to attack boaters and swimmers. Luckily the swans seem to stay out of yards that have dogs.  

The danger comes from how they float just off shore in what appears to me to be an attempt to get the dogs to jump into the water after them. Since they are very powerful birds they can easily drown a dog that is foolish enough to be so provoked.

 Waterfront owners go to great lengths to try to keep the ducks, geese and swans off of their property. You will see ropes with dangling mylar strips, low fences stretched across waterfronts, and strategically placed whirlygigs. Some owners shoot off air guns, or spray the birds with garden hoses. None of these methods are very effective.



    (I am waiting to see how the fake coyote is going to work out.)

We feel that we have the best solution in our Corgi, Maxie. Before Maxie was a year old I taught him that the words “Duck, Duck, Goose” meant that he was to chase the ducks and geese out of the yard and into the water. Since Corgis are herding dogs it really didn’t take much effort on my part. Maxie take his job very seriously and sits on our second story deck watching for any potential waterfowl trespassers. Thanks to Maxie our yard, seawall and dock stay almost entirely poo free.

To read more about Maxie check out my previous blog entry “Duck, Duck, Goose”. For more information on controlling geese go to link below for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources at http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/9/pdf/pub408.pdf Take note that in the list of hints it specifically advises that you stop fertilizing your yard and that you do not feed the geese.