Corn gluten for lawns and my crazy dogs!

[Heather5]

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd see if anyone else has had this issue. I just applied corn gluten to suppress weeds in our backyard. I don't like using any regular preemergents or herbicides back there, because of the dogs, so I figured corn gluten-based pre-emergent would be perfect. The bag says it's completely safe for pets and children. However, after applying it, I realized that my dogs LOVE this stuff. I cannot get them to stop sniffing and licking/eating it! I watered it in, but there are still little pellets all over the place. I know corn gluten is often used as an ingredient in dog food, but is it the same?

Any suggestions on how to get them to stop, or is it OK that they "snack" on this stuff?

[Heather5]

Thanks, Snowmowss! I will definitely check out that link to the powder form...or maybe try a farm supply store. Yeah, I think you're right...the pellets were just too hard and took too long to break down....and it could very well be molasses that caused our dogs to go nuts over this stuff ;-)

[Snowmowss]

I have one more piece of feedback on this. I just read that some of the corn gluten products might contain inert ingredients such as bone meal or molasses!

I would imagine some pets might like molasses and go for it because of that?!??!?

[Snowmowss]

I buy my corn gluten from a farm supply place. The pellets are very soft. Maybe the product you are using is too "hard" like pet food and takes longer to break down???

[Snowmowss]

Use the fine powder form as described here?
http://www.eartheasy.com/article_corn_gluten.htm
The one I use disintegrates very quickly and easily, so there are no pellets to eat!

[Heather5]

Glad to hear my dogs aren't the only ones snacking on that stuff :-) The pepper is a great idea, but knowing my dogs, I have a feeling one of them would still eat it, and then get sick. She just eats everything. LOL! It would probably work on my other dog, though.

Thanks for replying!

:-)

[Ivywood]

I applied the Concern brand weed prevention Plus made of corn gluten, and watered it.  My yard smelled like a cattle feed lot which clearly appealed to my Jack Russell terrier.  He has been grazing on the pellets whenever we are not watching him.  Next time I use corn gluten I will add lots of cayenne pepper and maybe a little water to help it adhere, before I spread it.  I wish that the manufacturer would add the pepper to the formula or something else to discourage dogs and other animals from eating it.

[Heather5]

OMG...that is too funny! I can only imagine how bad that must have smelled. LOL!

Note to self: No fish remains in garden ;-)

Thanks for sharing! I needed a good laugh!

Heather

[Jaybay]

I have an even worse story for you.  Years ago when we had an offshore fishing boat, we dug the cleaned fish bodies into the veggie garden.  Those years were the absolute BEST production I ever had.  Then came Chica.

We already had one dog, Travis, and he never once dug in the garden.  Tell him No once, and the correction lasted for life.  We took in Chica when she was about 6 months old (another rescue) and was she ever a challenge.  She performed every "bad dog" behavior you can imagine.

We went for a motorcycle ride one day and returned home to two very smelly dogs.  It was obvious they had rolled in something dead, but a search of the yard turned up nothing.  We bathed them immediately and set about cooking dinner.  Right before bedtime, here come the stinking curs again.  Another search turned up no dead animals in the yard and we were baffled.

My husband went out of town on a 3-day business trip the following day.  Every day after work I had to bathe the dogs and STILL couldn't find the source.  The entire back yard stunk to high heaven.  I went out to the veggie garden for some tomatoes and finally found out what happened.  Chica had very neatly dug a 6 foot tunnel under the plants and retrieved the fish bodies.  She was so neat about it the hole wasn't visible under the tomato foliage.  Then I inspected the yard and those fish bodies were busted up in such tiny fragments there was no way I could pick them up by hand.

Out came the mower with the bag.  I scalped the yard (ouch!) and watered practically all night and into the next day.  DH got his ears pinned back when he returned.  He had sworn up and down to hire a trainer for Chica and I was so irate I was ready to kick her out for good.  That's the one and only time I ever considered rehoming a dog of mine.  DH had a trainer out to our house the next day.  LOL!

[Heather5]

Yeah, no more corn gluten, that's for sure :-) And I just LOVE hand-pulling weeds. LOL! They seem fine, though, so that's good. Glad it's all natural. Thanks for replying!

[Jaybay]

I have to admit this is a new one for me.  LOL!  It sounds like you're stuck with watering until it's all gone  -  and hand-pulling the weeds.  :-)