"It's one of our main complaints," Jake Anderson, Monona's park and recreation director, said of the mess players often find on the park soccer fields. "The balls are just covered in goose droppings," he said, adding the average Canada goose leaves about 4 pounds of droppings a day.

Several approaches to deter the geese have been tried, some more costly than others, but few have been particularly effective.

Now it might be time for dogs to have their day.

The city is considering issuing a limited number of permits to volunteers who would sign up their dogs to chase the geese away. Owners would commit to certain times and the dogs — currently not allowed in the park on or off a leash — would likely be outfitted with orange vests.

"I'm hoping we can do this as a community effort — at a low or no cost to the city," Anderson said.

The idea doesn't need council approval but will be discussed at a Parks and Recreation Board meeting next month, after which Anderson will make his decision.

Jake Fries, state Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist for Dane County, said it's hard to know how effective such a program would be but said it would likely discourage geese from using the area in the short term.

Monona already has tried decoys and barriers to block the geese from entering the lagoon, but nothing's really worked.

"Geese are nice to look at, but their droppings are really a hindrance to the athletic fields that we have," Anderson said.

Other communities have faced the same stinky problem. Some have resorted to using dogs, and a Whitewater company even hires out its dog chasing services.

Janesville spends about $5,000 a year on deterrents including about 50 volunteers in a "dog-to-geese" program similar to what Monona is considering.

The dogs are screened to ensure they aren't vicious, and the program has been "fairly successful," said Mike Williams, director of leisure services for Janesville.

"You never really completely address the problem to the satisfaction of many people," he said. "There's no magic wand here."

A trained border collie occasionally is used to chase geese at Madison's Yahara Hills Golf Course. While it has reduced the flock, it has "not at all eliminated" the problem, said Laura Whitmore, Madison parks community relations coordinator.

If anything, it displaces the geese somewhere else, she said.

Madison lets grass grow tall along the shorelines of parks to thwart wandering geese from walking to the water's edge and — it is hoped — discourage them from staying in the park.

"I can't say that's been 100 percent affective," Whitmore said. "(Dealing with Canada geese) is a big issue for a lot of parks divisions."

IF YOU GO

What: The Monona Park and Recreation Board will discuss using dogs to chase away Canada geese at Winnequah Park.

When: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Monona Community Center, 1011 Nichols Road, Monona.