TL;DR: When commercial products have been ineffective or proven dog-unfriendly, what are some other mouse-catching strategies when the mice hide in baseboard heaters and have learned to avoid most traps?
Context:
I bought an old home in an old neighborhood. It soon became apparent that there are mice and they get everywhere*.
Steps taken:
- I called 2 big name pest control companies. They both charged a lump fee of $350-500 then came out and put snap traps, then suggested I have a $3000-ish service come out to seal up the house.
- snap traps (my own, all over the house)
- glue traps (caught far more mice than the pros did)
- many completely ineffective repellents
- electronic sound-repllents
- sprays
- pellets
I never got them 100% gone and they keep breeding (or possibly entering from outside, but I sealed everything up as best as I could on my budget). I've probably caught 20 mice over the course of the year. Maybe more.
I had almost elminiated them for a while with well placed glue traps, but then
- They learned to avoid them (I caught all the dumb mice; the surviving generation of mice are brilliant)
- My dog got her paws stuck in the glue traps 2x despite preventative measures, and I can't let that happen again
So now their activity / numbers seems way up because I can't use almost any traps. The places where I know they go are also often places where my dog could get to and there's really no safe trap I know of for a dog.
What's a good strategy or tool for catching, killing, and/or driving out mice that's very dog-safe?
Any ideas, strategies, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
*I hate mice more than I describe to you. I've been cleaning their droppings and sterilizing everything in the house everyday for over a year.