Natural Fly Repellent

My sister-in-law and I are testing plants to help repel flies around her dog kennel. She has 5 Saint Bernard's. We have had a little success with basil and marigolds and just added tansy from your catalog. I also tried to order rue but was informed that you cannot ship that to the US. Do you have any other suggestions for our experiment?

No fly spray works 100% of the time. You may be able to keep flies away by hanging bunches of chamomile, elecampane, rosemary, and sage. I suspect you might also be able to make a spray of a strong infused tea of rosemary, sage and chamomile, just keep the spray away from the animal's eyes."
The first question I would ask is, "Why are flies attacking your dogs?" There are many types of flies but they typically only attack creatures who are weak or ill. Therefore you may want to look at strengthening the general health of your dogs. The easiest way to do this is through diet. Please see the work of Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst for further information and recipes. The next thing you might want to look at is the surrounding environment. Is there something in your environment that would attract flies? If so, is there anything you can do about it?"