Well the dogs definitely don't help you out. Feeders work real good but they have to be convenient for the deer to get to. I don't believe the deer are going to go out of their and come into a backyard that has dogs in it by your house to eat some free and easy food, especially if it is an area where the deer are hunted regularly. I don't have any tips for you since I can't see your exact location and surrounding areas, but I would suggest moving it as far from the your house and dogs as possible, which is hopefully closer to the woods where the deer roam. I would skip all the deer attractants trying to get them to the feeder, they will find it and come to it when they want to. That should save some time and money on your part. I would skip all the special deer stuff too until you actually get deer there. Just keep putting corn in it or whatever is in it.
Attracting deer depends so much on everything surrounding your area, this makes it really hard to help you on a forum, sorry.