Thanks for all the garden fencing suggestions - except you, Jake. I don't think peeing around the perimeter is in our plans, but maybe as a last resort. We'll see...

We decided to go with the Liquid Fence. It looked fairly harmless in the store, and the price was right. However, the smell of it was so strong that I could barely breathe. I am certain that we will have no visitors - mailman included - until the next big rain. I stumbled around spraying the important stuff as fast as I could and rushed to get back inside the house. TJ had been awfully quiet this whole time. I turned around to bring him inside, and there he was, happy as could be, delicately licking the sweet taste of rotten eggs and garlic off the coneflowers.