We have two 4x8 raised beds (8-10 inches off ground). Neighbors across the street from us have 1 dog and several cats that run loose.

We see lots of rabbits at dawn and dusk in our neighborhood. Last year, when we moved in, we noticed some take refuge under our shed. We have also been told by another neighbor that deer were sighted in our yard and surrounding yards.

So I need a good remedy, whether homemade or commercial, to repel deer, rabbits, cats and dogs. Cost is not a huge issue as long as it is effective.

Disclaimer: I am not trying to harm or kill the cats, dogs or deer. I do not mind harming the rabbits but I see that being difficult without also affecting the cats and dogs.

You can go cheap or fancy, your choice. Fence the area in to a height of around 2' and you effectively stop rabbits and most cats/dogs.

Deer would get in if they wanted to, but I wouldn't worry about that at this point. If they actually start eating from your garden then you can worry about it.

If you wanted to you could make the fence higher and have it touch the ends of your beds and it would then do double duty as a trellis.

Now, there are approximately 1.4 trillion products on the market from animal scents, ultrasonic devices and a bunch of other things, but they all have one trait in common. They generally don't work for most. For every product there is at least one or two folks who swear by it with many others saying it didn't do the trick for them.

A fence is the best all around solution in my opinion.

Couple years ago (After I had tried everything else.) I discouraged the woodchucks eating my broccolli (I hate broccolli) by removing the tail (& a leg) from a fox found dead in the road and placing them next to the broccolli. They moved somewhere else. Problem solved.

This year, I bought some fox urine at a hunting supply store, just in case. Alot cheaper than I expected $3 or $4.
Ever wonder how they get that stuff?

ps. A skunks only enemies are dogs & cars. Cars take up too much room in the garden.

In my yard it keeps pests away and kills ants, scorpions, centipedes, etc. A trail around your garden's edges will keep out gophers and moles. This is the best way to have a fenceless vegetable and fruit garden.

Fencing is good.

Try putting down chicken wire on the ground around the outside of the raised bed boxes. The grass will come up through it and hide it, but most critters don't like to step on it. (Neither will you, but that's what shoes are for.)

the square foot gardening book has a suggestion. the short version is that, for example, if your garden is 4x4 feet, you make a 4x4 wooden frame that fits right on or around your box. you take something like chicken wire (from a 4 foot tall roll) and have it come vertical off the frame for 2 feet, bend it 90 degrees, run the 4 feet across the frame and then back down 2 feet. you use pieces of 2x4 foot fence to patch the sides and you have a animal resistant lid. it will let through light and water. of course that won't work for the vertical growing. this year i jumped from 2 square foot garden style boxes to 6. i intentionally planted things that got eaten up in 2 of the boxes, and will put the lid on them when the time comes. everything may get nibbled, but, for example, i did not get to eat one strawberry last year. most of my garden was fairly ok until i got a groundhog. that's a whole different story.

the chicken wire is not pretty, but that's the cheapest solution for full enclosure. obviously you can balance your preference of appearance with cost. just remember to keep it light weight so you can easily remove it for weeding and picking.

that may be a more intense cover than you need, but there are options. i personally tried some of the animal predator urine smell stuff and the other mixes and it didn't seem to do anything. maybe i got the wrong kind, or the garden was just too appealing. i will give some of them another go as a preventative measure though. they are cheap enough to try another brand.