Sorry to hear.

My dog loves compost and pukes all over when he eats it. When I turn or empty my compost I have to put up cages around the ones he can get to. Even if he cant get in the composter, he licks the outside. Then after a few days he leaves them alone until I turn it again.

I'm very sorry about Teddy. I have always been pretty careless regarding my dog and her compost eating hobby. Thank you for sharing your sad lesson. My dog came very close to dying once after she found a dead mouse in a five gallon bucket of water and carried it around for an hour or two. Her kidneys and liver shut down from bacterial infection and she very nearly died. It's a hard job to keep them safe. My sympathy, Lizzie.

thank you. i sure hope it helps. i had no idea it could be deadly. i think for my poor teddy it was the timing of his compost eating being so green and ripe.

So sorry to hear of your story. Know that Teddy is watching over you and your garden(s) and will bring you wonderful memories.

:( Sorry to hear about this too! That's terrible. I caught my lab eating it a time or two. But managed to shoo her away in time. I wonder what it is that is so harmful?

I've also heard of people being sickened by the bacteria in the air that gets into the body. So important to wear some kind of mask if you're prone to problems.

sorry to hear about your dog
with all the things pets can get into, I wouldn't have thought compost was something to worry about except for the mess.
Thanks for the warning

I am so sorry to hear about your sweet dog. I will keep my compost bins covered since we have a dog next door who could get curious.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

Wow...that's so sad, Lizzie. So sorry to hear about Teddy. I've often wondered if there were any concerns about my dog getting into the compost pile, apart from her creating a mess. I will be a lot more cautious and think about Teddy as I set up some more protection around my composting area.
Best,
Don

Oh no... That's really too bad.

Thank you for sharing your story. I had no idea about this danger and am grateful for the warning. I'll try to keep my three woggles from eating the garden compost.

Rest in peace, Teddy. We will really miss you.

-Paul

I'm so sorry to hear that, and thank you for the warning. I'm just getting started w/ composting and was wondering where I should put the bin. Now I will be sure to place it somewhere my two Labs can't get to it. The older dog's nickname is "You Who Eats Poo" because he'll eat, well, anything.

My dog got into compost yesterday, thank you for this.. he is going to the vet in the next hour.

lizzie, thank you for that information! I would never have thought of compost being toxic!

Now, after having a little dog chomp down an aspirin that my sister dropped, I learned that you can make an animal puke by giving them a dose of hydrogen peroxside ! The vet told me this after the fact, but I've always retained it in case of future poisonings. This is not for things like licking antifreeze off the ground or other things that will go through the system again with the puking process!

Nancy

When spring thaw comes, I would check my yard for introduced poison.

The original post was pretty old but I thought it was worth mentioning: the best way to avoid a stinky anaerobic pile of food scrap in the spring is to layer that stuff with browns all during the winter. The OP said that in spring they would mix the food scrap pile with last fall's leaves. So they had leaves handy. I would recommend keeping a bin/pile/bag/wire fence circle full of leaves next to the compost bin. Whenever you add kitchen waste during the winter, add a generous layer of leaves. This will balance the C:N ratio and moisture, and may actually allow some aerobic decomposition to occur during the winter (although it may be slow). The pile will be farther along toward be done in spring, and with the leaves allowing air in and balancing the high N, it will be less likely to stink and be toxic to pets come spring.

Basically, what you should do to make a good balanced compost pile applies any season of the year. No reason to let your pile be anaerobic in the winter.

Pet owners need not only to keep compost and all fertilizers and chemicals safely stored but remember that "organic" soil amendments also can be dangerous. I was planting bulbs one fall afternoon when our neighbor's dog wandered over. I turned around to find her trying to wolf down bone meal from the bagful I had! I immediately took her home and told the owner what happened in case she wanted to check with the vet. The dog was OK, but from then on I was much more aware!!

Blood meal also would be very attractive to dogs and (I expect) cats, they all being carnivores. So sad when our furry friends have no idea of what can be so hazardous!