iv looked every where, for ideas to keep the dogs and cats out of my flower beds and veg garden . i dont have any pets but the neighbers do and they all let them out , we are in the country so they live close but they dont have to follow the rule of being in town,like collar and leash. i love amimals but they are really starting to get on my nerves now! i dont want to hurt them but any help would be greatly appricated. i tried to use the powder you bye but it cost alot and only worked for a day or two.

I may offend some people here, but to keep pets out of my garden (even my own pets) or from digging under the fence, I use a solar powered electric fencer. It's quite costly for the initial investment, but pays for itself in the long-run. Yes, it hurts when you hit it, but the animals (and humans) learn quite quickly not to mess with it. Since you live in the country, I see no problem with ordinances. If put up right, it will even keep raccoon and deer out of your sweet corn. I don't even have to hook my fencer up, I just string the wire and the dog knows to keep away. If she begins to question it, I hook it up for a day and she has been re-trained.

thats a good idea. i dont want to kill them or any thing mean like that ,but if i have to pick one more pile out of my beds i will scream. it looks worse now the ground is covered with snow ,but they still know right where the beds are.

I remember seeing a water sprinkler in one of the catalogues. It had a sensor and any time an animal of a certain size came near it aimed and hosed them down. That would surely work on cats but maybe not all dogs. I can't remember which catalogue though.
Electric fence is definitely easier to find.

k-bear,
You know, don't feel bad at all about the electric fence idea. I have one in my yard surrounding my veggie garden. You can get pet-grade chargers that emit a smaller shock than livestock-grade ones. They are economical and effective. Personally, it don't think they are cruel and unusual by any means. It is Pavlovian, and the animals will learn. The brand we have is Parmak Precision, www.parmak.com. They also sell solar units. Mine plugs in. What I like, too, is that you don't get zapped if you brush past the fence if you wear rubber-soled shoes since they will ground you. Good luck

Another more teporary option until you can get an electric fence put up is to lay chicken wire or woven wire fencing of some type over the problem areas. I had problems with dogs laying in my raised beds and ended up throwing hog panels over some and the mesh stuff they use to build rabbit cages over others. It doesn't look great, but it does do the trick.

In the fall, before the winter snow covers the ground, I lay my chicken-wire trellises over my moss garden to keep my neighbours' cats from pooping on and pawing it up. I hang my washing over that bed of moss, see. The rest of the year, I whirl citrus rinds in the compost blender, and scatter them over the moss bed. The moss likes the acidity, and the cats don't like the citrus oils. I have to resprinkle pretty often, just like those powders you buy, but since I buy oranges for food, I don't see why I can't use them for pest repellent, too.

We have bylaws about roaming animals (not cats specifically, but I'm sure everyone has cats in mind when they think about it) in my town -- it's rather anal in the bylaw department, but I hate discovering that cats have planted "bulbs" right where I was about to. :|

My garden is also pretty small. When I plant seedlings and seed rows, I plant bamboo skewers along those rows, less than 2" apart, to discourage cats from using the freshly-turned, raked, and fluffed earth as a litter box. Cats don't like to thread their way through that stuff; they use their whiskers as a space gauge, and if both sets of whiskers touch the sides of their tunnel, they generally don't believe they will fit. As the plants fill in and cover the earth, I remove the skewers. I can also add mulch after the seeds have sprouted, which cats don't particularly like, either.

I'm not sure what would work for dogs -- I'm betting they don't like citrus oils any more than cats.

Chicken wire is probably your best bet to keep animals from pooping in your veggie area for now, until you can get an electric fence or some other permanent solution installed, and maybe they'll get the idea that their feet will hurt if they walk on that particular patch of ground.

Good luck.