Last September, when my family and I decided that it was time for an addition to our family by way of a pet, we went to our local animal shelter looking for an adult dog to adopt. None of the ones we saw were compatible with kids so we ended up with a big white armful of a puppy. We named him Rebel without knowing how well that name would fit his personality.

After a few months, we realized that Rebel liked to chew on anything and everything. He would chew on our oak chair legs and would actually gnaw on the corners of the wooden baseboards.

Realizing that we needed help and fast to stop the destruction, we headed out to find a product that would do the trick. A friend had recommended a product called Dog-Away.

The Repellent

We found the Farnam Dog-Away Indoor-Outdoor Dog Repellent at a local pet shop. The clerk said that this product, along with another brand, were popular choices for stopping the destruction we described. Because of our friend's recommendation, we decided to purchase the Dog-Away.

Dog-Away comes in an eight-ounce white and blue pump spray bottle. The manufacturer claims that this product is a training aid for your pet, will repel dogs and cats for up to 24 hours when applied daily, and keeps pets away from furniture, carpet, trees, shrubs, garbage cans, bags and other "forbidden areas".

The active ingredients are 1.9% Methyl Nonyl Ketone, 0.1% related compounds and 98% of "other ingredients". I personally have no idea what those ingredients are but do know, based on the warning on the bottle, that this product must be kept out of the reach of children and can cause anyone moderate eye irritation. This product is also flammable and is not to be used in any areas where there is heat or an open flame, including pilot lights. The warnings continue, cautioning users not to spray on food or near food preparation areas. The bottle also states that this product may stain or soften some furniture or plastics and that testing a small area is recommended. You are also advised to wash your hands after every use. It even goes as far as to tell you to replace the cap and wrap the bottle securely in newspaper when discarding.

After reading all the warnings, I was thinking that maybe some chewed up baseboards weren't such a terrible thing!

My Experience

We followed the directions and sprayed the baseboards and the chair legs lightly until they were just slightly moistened and then we waited too see what Rebel would do.

There is a very light ammonia scent to this spray but nothing daunting or strong. We weren't able to smell the repellent after about a half an hour after application but am assuming that the dog could.

When Rebel approached the first delectable chair leg, he stopped, took a long sniff, and turned around and walked away. Hooray! You would have thought we just witnessed a miracle by our reactions. He took a little walk around to each leg of the chairs and was no longer interested. The same happened with the baseboards. A slam dunk ... or so we thought.

About four hours later, Rebel decided to take another walk around the table to check out the chair legs again. As we watched, he began to start chewing the chair leg again! The manufacturer claims that the spray is effective for up to 24 hours and then a repeat spraying is necessary. Feeling let down, we, of course, gave the dog a stern NO and redirected him to a chewy bone. We resprayed the legs and baseboards again, thinking maybe we didn't spray quite enough. This seemed to do the trick for about another four or five hours and the dog was back at it again.

We were disappointed with how short acting this product was considering that four hours was nowhere near the "up to 24" that was claimed by the manufacturer.

After about a week and a half of the treatment along with redirection, Rebel stopped his bad habit. I believe that the abrupt ending to Rebel's chewing habit is result of a combination of the Dog-Away and our redirection to a "good chew". Or it could have simply been the end to one of his puppy phases.

We only used this product once outdoors on the picnic table legs but that was about when Rebel was tiring of his habit so I don't feel I can give a truly informed opinion about the product's effectiveness on items outdoors.

Final Thoughts

Although the end result was positive, the fact that the manufacturer claims that this treatment will only need to be reapplied after 24 hours and our experience shows that it needed to be done after only about four or five hours, I cannot say we were completely satisfied with this product. In addition, the cautions, hazards, and numerous warnings are enough to make me reconsider purchasing this item again.

I did a little a research and discovered that most dog and cat repellent sprays have the same ingredients in them. If I had to buy a repellent again, I would look for something with more natural, less dangerous ingredients for both people and animals. The label doesn't say that ingestion will hurt animals but I certainly can't imagine it could be good for them! Luckily, Rebel never got close enough to taste the product.

I most definitely would not recommend this product to anyone who has very small children, especially those who crawl due to the hazardous ingredients. Because of the reasons stated above, I give this product a three star rating. This may have worked - or it could have been a combination of redirection and passing of a phase Reb was going through. I know for a fact that it doesn't last anywhere near as long as the manufacturer claims it does and that leads to reapplication and possibility more danger.


Recommended: No