it is compostable, but I think folks usually don't because of the possible of spreading parasites/disease - you could always have a seperate compost setup dedicated to just/primarily that, and use it only on decorative beds, buried well

Bill

Compost. I keep a special container for things that will compost that you aren't 'supposed to' compost. Also since my dogs get heartworm/flea/tick/whatever treatments, I'm not too sure how that will treat my herd, so there's another reason to keep it seperate.

Here is one way to deal with it. Take a 5 gallon bucket, dig a hole and plant the bucket. You would want to drill lots of holes in the bucket first. Then put a layer of carbon, sawdust, leaves, straw, in the bottom, an inch or more, then add the dog poo till you have a layer then again carbon. It will digest. Depending on size of dog will depend on how many of these you will need. Dig these in the ground in an out of the way corner of the yard. Plant a bush near it, a couple feet away, and let it do its thing.
This is the same idea as the Green Cone which is in the link below.
I just have two small dogs and I take the hose on a walk with me every few days during the summer and wash the poo into the grass.
Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: green cone

Some use it, some don't. You really have to make your own decision regarding it.

There are very real risks regarding parasites that can affect human health, but you know your dogs better than anyone else in terms of their health and their care.

What I would suggest is that if you compost it and use the compost in your yard either don't use it around edible plants, or make sure anyone who is given any of the produce is informed that dog manure was used in the soil the crop grew in.

It may seem silly and completely odd to inform someone that you used dog waste in the soil around the edible, but the way I look at it is it's the responsible thing to do. In the very unlikely chance that there is a parasite on the item and the person gets ill I would hate to think that they were not afforded the opportunity to make an informed decision.

I have a dog and have used the poop around shrubs and such, but only in gardens I never grow edibles in. I consider the risk very low, but not really any reason to take any risk at all.

Oh, and I also once tried composting it in a 5 gallon bucket (no holes) by layering poop and wood chips. I don't know what I was thinking. When I opened the bucket after a month of it sitting in the sun I was almost overcome by the fumes. My neighbor had his window open and came outside asking if the sewer had backed up ;-) It was awful, probably the worst smelling thing I ever encountered.

I apply cat poo to my bamboo groves. I make a little hole in the mulch then cover again. The bamboos are ornamental, I don't eat the shoots. My compost pile is vegetarian, I enjoy working it with bare hands.

I have two dogs and I compost their poo.

There are risks involved with composted carnivore poo, but they are not so insurmountable that it keeps me from composting dog poo.

My dogs are healthy, they have no parasites or diseases, I know what they are eating.

And whenever a thread brings up composting poo, I like to provide a reference to the humanure handbook. If this guy can compost human poo, certainly I can compost dog poo.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Humanure Handbook

Cornell Composting, Mary Tynes at the Master Composter site, Florida online Composting, Rodale, no one I know of that really researches composting recommends putting pet manure in your compost piles. The potential for passing on disease pathogens is simply too great. Your pets are carriers of many diseases and parasitic worms to make taking a chance worthwhile.

Your pets may carry many diseases and parasitic worms, but mine don't. :-)

I have been reading these questions and answers since perhaps 1997. Most animal lovers I know have the pet in the house, in the car, in their faces, often literally.

A great mystery to me is how does one figure they may get parasites from the carefully composted pet waste -- but, not from the pet?

People do all the time. That you do not read about it in the news indicates that this is so common that it is not news. Veterinarians are finding pets that need worming every day and physicians are finding people, especially children, with parasites from pets frequently.

I put mine under shrubs that I never dig around. I wouldn't put the doo near anything that I grow to eat or in beds that I work in.

How many people do you know have pets and how many of them have gotten a disease from their pet?

Just because none of your friends has admitted to getting a parasite doesn't mean it hasn't happened. A close relative of mine, a very fastidious adult, got pin worms one summer. She always wore gloves in her garden, but the doctor said the eggs of these creatures are so small, we can inhale them & become infected that way. We NEVER compost pet doo, but there are loads of stray cats around, occasional stray dogs, as well as the wild creatures passing through our yards - squirrels, fox, coyotes, etc. Certainly some, or most, of those creatures are dropping infected feces in our yards. Why add to the potential of inhaling parasite eggs by messing around with pet poop? I suggest we bag it & put it in the trash can. People DO get parasitic diseases, but aren't likely to tell anyone. Just trying to warn those who haven't been through this.

I did not say that it was not possible to get a parasite from a composting pet waste. I believe if you read my first post I said there are risks. But the risks are to be understood and then one should make their own judgement about whether to compost poo.

Pinworms are very common, but are passed from people to people and not from pets. And the fact that they are even mentioned in a thread about pet waste is typical misinformation. We are much more likely to get a disease or a parasite from other people and poor hygene, than from our pets.

I find it best to use my own brain, learn the facts, and then make my own decision, based upon what works best for me; rather than having someone else make my decisions for me.

Thanks for informing me about pinworms. The doctor told the person I mentioned that pinworms came from animal waste in the garden soil. Apparently, the doctor was misinformed.

It's very common for people, especially children, to get worms from pet waste. BUT, mostly this happens with kids barefoot in the yard and kids playing in sand and dirt piles that cats/dogs have used for a toilet. Some worms can migrate through the skin of barefeet. Others have eggs that can be injested by children not washing hands. I don't want to overthink this, but one would suppose that the compost pile would be a safer place than the grassy yard or the sandbox since kids seldom play in compost. Don't remember how long different parasites are viable. Maybe the 'experts' think people will handle the compost without washing hands afterwords. I personally wouldn't be adding dog/cat feces to my tomato garden.

It's very common for people, especially children, to get worms from pet waste.

Define common. How common?

Here is a list of diseases that one could get from a dog.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/dogs.htm

Now if you read the vector of transmission for these diseases, almost all of them include poor hygene as playing role in the transmission.

And I tend to agree that it is safer to put the poo in the compost bin than to leave it in the yard.

But there are alot of people who won't put pet waste in their compost. And that is fine, but But I do think it is because of the "ick" factor more than an actual "risk" factor.

joepyweed, you're right of course. It is a hygene issue. But who wants to go on record advising people you don't know to do something that my make them sick--depending on their hygene. You know your pets don't have parasites, I know mine don't. Neigher of us knows about anyone else's pets. So if we say go ahead and use dog feces in your compost, what if that feces is full of roundworm eggs? My 2 new rescue cats were full of worms when I got them (it was disgusting), so I would error on the side of caution at least and tell people there may be risks, be aware and use common sense. I'm gonna draw the line at telling people to wash up, not my job;~)

according to the CDC:
In the United States, an estimated 10,000 cases of Toxocara infections occur yearly in humans. 700 cases involve the parasites intering the eye. Ewwww. (Anyway, that's a lot.)
As the CDC mentions, some kids eat dirt. (Who knew?) Ya just don't know what might happen so advise people thay can use poo at their own risk.

10,000 seems like a big number, however the population of the United States is about 300 million. So for 10,000 US cases, then the percentage of toxocara cases is about 0.000033% of the population, through the eye is 0.0000023%. And if you wash your hands and your food and you don't eat dirt, then I would imagine your chances of contracting toxocara, go down significantly from there.

"But who wants to go on record advising people you don't know to do something that my make them sick." -- which is exactly why all the books and professionals say not to do it, because they don't want to be liable if there is a problem.

And I don't think anyone on this forum recommended anyone to compost poo, without understanding the risks.

However a few posts stated that infections were common and the risk was high, and that was the only information that I was questioning...

Joe--I think your math may be off. If there are 10,000 cases in a population of 300,000,000, that's .000033, which is .0033%, not .000033%. It's still not a big percentage, but it's 100 times as common as your figure suggests.

2 questions, what exactly makes dog poop more dangerous to compost than say horse manure or cow manure?

Anyone here compost their dog's poop and feed their dogs on a raw diet?

OK my question of the day on this. I know in my yard I have lots of wild life visiting every day. Wild bunnies, birds, raccoons, possums, groundhogs, turtles, frogs, snakes, and who knows what else. I am thinking I have a larger risk of getting something from them than my pets that see a vet yearly. So do you all agree? Yes I feel washing produce good before eating it is a must. Not because of my pets but because of the wildlife visiting. A couple drops of bleach in the wash water makes me feel better, guess it helps to kill off a few extra germs. I agree on good hygene is a must when working in a garden.
Sandy

oops, bpgreen is right ... I forgot that I was expressing those in a percent, I should have multiplied by 100. (I was thinking in probabilty but typed percent.)

The bleach probably isn't necessary to wash your food, if you have good clean water. And if you are on a public water supply in the US, you already have disinfectant in your water.

Oh, and I also once tried composting it in a 5 gallon bucket (no holes) by layering poop and wood chips. I don't know what I was thinking. When I opened the bucket after a month of it sitting in the sun I was almost overcome by the fumes. My neighbor had his window open and came outside asking if the sewer had backed up ;-) It was awful, probably the worst smelling thing I ever encountered.

I laughed out loud when I read that. My experience was not quite so bad...

I decided last summer to compost dog poop and dump the compost at the end of my lawn near the street. Every day I went on "poop patrol," and put the poop in an open-topped 3x3 foot plastic compost bin. I covered each layer of the poop with dead leaves.

This was a good idea that didn't work. Talk about flies! And maggots! Gross!

So now the bin is sitting there, buried in snow. I am hoping that this spring will bring good results, since I had temperatures of -39 F.

Now my problem is what to do this year. I'm willing to try composting the poop again, but I don't know....

In my compost, dog poop is only a very small portion of the pile. And sometimes I will hit a pocket of poop smelling compost which I know needs to be mixed back in for some more decomposing.

My pile is mostly shredded junk mail and landscape waste, some kitchen waste and some dog poop (but not much).

And I feed my dogs a particular premium food to specifically create small dense stools that have little odor. The type of dog food that they eat has a significant impact on volume and odor. When I pick up stools, I can always tell when someone has been feeding my dogs too many treats or people food.

Having spent a decent number of years in places where bilharzia (worms that enter the skin, grow, and then finally leave, picked up by wading in or drinking contaminated water), Onchocerciasis (aka 'River Blindness', from fly bites), Falciparum malaria from mosquito bites), those little worms that dig under your toenails (forget the name) , 'bot' flies, the ones where the eggs stay on wet laundry, so you have to iron everything or else you have a worm larvae burrowing and growing along the bikini line, then Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness, from the tsetse fly; they sure love it when you go in the shade). I honestly wouldn't worry about domestic poop from your domestic dog, I mean unless you just let him devour stray, stumbling and obviously sick rodents and 3 week old road kill for his main source of nutrition.

Where I live now, I have about a half cubic yard (bit of poetic license) of raccoon poop, in the summer, all over the place. Its disgusting. Like owning 34 German Shepherds on laxitives. This stuff I am pretty wary of, and depending on location, I either take a shovel and toss it over the fence into the pasture beyond, or bury it in-situ.

I have become allergic to furry pets, so I can't keep dogs anymore. That limitation does not stop me from offering advice (obviously).

As you can see there are people on both sides of this issue that will not be persuaded to change their minds no matter how persuasive the facts are.

I have enjoyed reading all of the comments on this topic. I had 5 bassethounds several years back and my neighbor came by and asked could she have the poop. Of course I said yes since she was willing to scoop up all those mounds in my backyard. She said it was great for her roses and she did have pretty rose bushes. Well when she moved and I was left with mounds of poop I decided to dig and hole in the corner of the yard where nothing grows anyway and just rack the poop in there. when it filled almost up I covered the hole. WOW what pretty grass grew there. So I just started making poop holes in problem spots of the yard and it was wonderful. I did not have a veggie garden at the time so I can not speak of that but as for other plants they are poop lovers. I have a 3LB fully grown dog now with very little poop to enjoy so it just fades into the soil.

So Poop is good for something.

I was wondering about the contamination of lawn grass by my dog and other animals. I know there is always a chance of something getting into the compost pile.
Is the problem when the vegetatables come in contact with the bacteria. I don't have room for many edibles and I plant mainly tomatoes, which I keep off of the ground. The plant can't pick up anything through the roots and transmit it to the food can it?
Wouldn't the main concern be root vegatables and things that grow in contact with the ground?

thanks,
Parley

Yes, the problem for fecal related contamination is soil surface contact, which is easily corrected by washing not only hte food but your hands too, before you eat. Keep in mind some things like lettuce are hard to wash in all the crooks and crannies.)

There are other types of contamination that can be in the the soil, that the roots uptake and in grows into the tissue of the plants. These types of contaminations are chemical or inoganic materials, typically heavy metals and not related to biotic (bacterial, parasitic or viral) contamination.

If you read the label on most dog food bags you'll see that it is largely composed of some kind of grain by-products. Usually corn meal or something similar. So your dog's poop is no different than cow manure, horse manure, sheep manure, etc. The only difference is it is shaped different due to the different digestive system of the particular animal.

Barnyard manure has been used for ever as a soil amendment for added nutrients and organic mater content. And don't think farmers hesitate to treat their animals with any chemical they think will help with their production or animal health. So I wouldnÂt worry about the chemicals you use on your dog.

SoÂÂ.. dog manure, cow manure, horse manure, humanure.... no different when properly composted. And all ok when used as a soil amendment (when properly composted) for ornamentals or vegetables. I wouldnÂt recommend making a compost tea from it to use as a foliar spray on your vegetables.

And for those interested in to how keep manure from smelling, make sure your compost is well aerated. You will only get a smell from composting manure if you allow it to go anaerobic.

As I've been reading through the thread I've been wondering when someone was going to say "Yeah I compost my dogs crap, and when I'm outside by the compost pile and nature calls I **** in it too".....

harleysilo, you need to check out the link that I posted on the top of this thread. Its about the sixth or seventh post from the top... some people do compost their own poo...

There is no need to compost dog poo if your dog is fed an appropriate raw diet. My female chocolate lab's poo composts in place in just a few days. A raw fed dog's poo is vastly different from your typical kibble fed dog's poo. My dog's poo turns white after about two days in the sun, after another day or two it is completely dry and just crumbles to dust when stepped on. It turns white and crumbles to dust because it is mostly just bits of undigested bone/calcium. A kibble fed dog's poo stays soft and squishy and has a half life of around 50 years, due to all the synthetic preservatives mixed in to keep the food from going rancid while sitting on the store shelves for months at a time.

Besides the fact that a raw fed dog's poo composts in place very very quickly, their bright white coloring makes spotting them very easy. :^)

{{gwi:265852}}

I certainly agree that the quality of the food one feeds their dog has a significant impact on the size and how quickly the matter degrades.

However, I have had up to three large dogs at any given time, its too many dogs and too many piles to leave on the yard no matter what I was feeding them. (And I have been fed raw in the past and I started feeding raw again since the recent pet food scare.)