What to do with dog waste?

[Allen]

Hi,

In a couple months I'll be getting married and my fiancee will be moving into my house. Part of the package includes her 2 dogs. That's ok with me... I've known them for a while and like them, and they like me. My question is a practical one: what to do with the dog waste that will soon be accumulating in my yard?

Currently she disposes of it in a burn pile in her backyard, but she lives in a small town where backyard burning is still permitted...I can't do that in the city where I live. It's also illegal to put it in with the regular house garbage to be picked up.

So what else can I do? I've never had dogs before, so I don't know what most people in my situation do. I guess some people just let it pile up, but I don't want to do that.

I've done a little research and I know there are such things as dog waste toilets or composters or digesters, or whatever they are called. Do these things really work? How about in the winter (it gets really cold here)? Some require digging a deep hole, and some are just a container that sits on the ground...is one better than another? Would one that just sits on the ground work in an area that can have zero-degree temperatures in the winter?

I can read the advertising propaganda, but I would prefer hearing from people who have had real-life experience with these things.

Thanks,

Allen

[Jack Lime]

Personal experiences? You got it:

[Sal Malva]

I live in a large city and throw the dog's waste into the regular trash. If that's illegal, it's news to me.

Allen wrote:

[Wade Lippman]

Mail it to: Arraa Movsesien

6340 N Gentry Ave Fresno CA

(Actually I toss it into the pachysandra. Hasn't done any harm in 10 years.)

[Desert Traveler]

I live in a city of a million plus. I put blue 2 Walmart bags inside a 5 gallon bucket, then toss the doodoo in there. When about only 1/3 full, I tie the bags and toss them in the trash cans. Never a protest from the garbage men. Of course, occasionally when I am out there, I toss them each a soda or a cold bottle of water. A little bribery goes a long way. Hell, I think if I gave them a sixpack, they would haul off a body.

Just do it until someone says something. Bag it up and tie it up. They don't really look that closely.

And what about baby diapers? Doodoo is doodoo.

Steve

[JimC622911]

In Seattle it used to be illegal to place dog waste in the trash can. I understand that it is now OK. I keep a post hole digger handy and every once in a while I dig a 4 foot hole. When it is close to full I fill it with dirt and dig a new one. I use the grass cap from the now hole to cover the old hole. I have a few persnickity friends who actually collect the waste and flush it down the toilet.

[mark Ransley]

put it in a bag and in the trash, thats where disposable diapers go...

[Kyle Boatright]

How big is the yard? I have a 100' x 50' natural area in my back yard (in addition to the lawn), and have taught my dog to poop in the natural area. Works for me.

KB

[Ron]

If you go to rec.food.cooking you can probably find someone that will give you some recipes to make a meal out of it for yourself.

Otherwise just toss it in your toilet and flush...... (DUH)

PS. You gotta be a blonde !!!!

[Rotcetedeloha]

I'm pretty sure Old Arty Boy will take it. I've been feeding him crap for going on

2 years now.

[Bob Bowles]

[F.H..]

[Desert Traveler]

I got a Labrador/Rottweiler mix. Sometimes I just wince when I see the size of those logs. Man, that's gotta hurt! Bring them in and flush them? DUH, DUH. (double duh)

You must be a natural blonde. ;-)

Steve

[Union 134]

you could sell it on e-bay Mark H.

[Phisherman]

[ArBy]

as "Sound Garden" says "The grass is always greener where the dogs are sh*tting"

fertilize your lawn. and make a compost bin.

think of the money you will save. buy the new neighbors a bottle of wine.

[Patch]

Two solutions come to mind. 1. get one of those "super dooper pooper scoopers" pick up the poop & fling it into you neighbor's yard. 2. box it up, gift wrap it with a pretty bow on it, set on the front porch & I'm sure someone will steal it!

['nuther Bob]

Where do you live, NJ ?

bob

[donald girod]

If you are going to be carrying this crap around in walmart bags or other receptacles, why not just flush it down the toilet???? They can't really tell the species it came from by the time it gets to the waste treatment plant.

[Patrick Riley]

I have a Doggy-Doo digester which consists of a green plastic garbage bin-like container about 18 inches in diameter with a cover and in the middle of the cover a hole about 6 inches round with a hinged lid. Inside there is an overflow pipe on one side which is open at the bottom and comes to about 3 inches from the top where it's also open. The whole thing is sunk up to the level of the cover in a pit about 3 feet deep. The cover and the lidded hole are above ground. You pick up the poop using whatever you like (I use a two handled pooper-scooper), open the lid and dump it in the Doggy Doo. About every week in warm weather you add a biological agent (available in pet stores--cheap) and water which causes the poop to froth up and form bubbles--I presume there some sort of bacteria eating the stuff. From time to time (I do it about twice a year) you deliberately overfill the container so the stuff at the top will go down the overflow pipe into the pit below.

The manufacturer says that it won't work below freezing but I generally ignore this and, provided it's not covered by snow, I just continue to fill it year round. It seems to work OK and doesn't smell unless you leave the lid open when it smells like they're working on the sewer line in the street.

In my view it's a lot more convenient than either the toilet or the garbage both of which would require me to track through the house. You just walk around collecting the poop and end up at the Doggy Doo where you open the hinged lid with your foot and dump it in. The pooper-scooper leans against the fence beside the Doggy Doo.

BTW, IIRC correctly it comes in various sizes. You may need a bigger one that the dimensions I gave above.

-- Patrick Riley