only feed your dogs what they need and no more. They will eat it up fast and leave nothing in the bowls. My dogs get 1/2 cup of food a day (they are tiny dogs)

If you have big dogs and you are feeding them a good quality dog food, they should only need about 11/2 -2 cups a day. That will produce less **** and that means you don’t have to clean up as much.

Clean up after your dogs right away and flies won’t come around as often.

Flies are attraced to sweet things. So if you leave a glass out with juice in it, flies will flock to it and drown because they are too dumb to climb out. I don’t know about the applse cider/syrup thing but it would probably work too.

Go to a lumber yard, or saw mill and get yourself some cedar shavings or mulch. This is an excellent insect repellent and very inexpensive. Also environmentally safe.

When your dog is done eating then put the food away or throw it out dont just leave it there for the bugs to get.

for the flies around your yard make sure there isnt any water or wet muddy grass

make sure there arnt any dead animals that might be what they want so they come to your dogs food bowl

it might mostly be because of your dogs food

To cure the ant problem, take a smaller bowl and fill it with water, then set your dog’s food bowl on top of that one. Ants will avoid the water surrounding the food bowl and leave it alone.

Food should never be left available to dogs. Be sure to remove food 15 minutes after feeding and wash and clean both food and water bowls once a day. Free feeding is not healthy for dogs and leftover food can go bad and cause your dogs to get sick.

As for the flies, make sure that the yard is kept clean. Clean up dog messes as soon as possible — at least once a day. Don’t leave food out. Keep kennels, dog houses and run areas sanitized. Not only will this help with the bug problems, but it will also improve the health of your dogs. If necessary, have an exterminator spray the area but be sure that the dogs are kept in a safe place until it is safe for them to return to the yard.

The syrup mixture seems like a BAD idea. Syrup has a ton of sugar which attracts both flies and ants.

If I were you I would not free feed, particularly if you keep your dogs outdoors. As you have found out bugs can get into the food, and you are also inviting raccoons to come into your yard.

Feed yours dogs twice a day, and bring the dishes in when they are done. Obviously they should have access to water at all times, and leaving water dishes out should not be a problem. Just make sure to replace the water often and also clean the water bowl sometimes so it does not get dirty.

For the flies, all I can say is make sure you keep up with cleaning up the dog poop, it can make a huge difference.

Get your yard sprayed by an exterminator. I have finally come to realize that there’s no natural or home way that actually works.

Ants – feed inside and remove the food if the dogs are done eating.Place the bowls in a pan of water

Flies – clean the dog **** every day and water the grass to dilute urine