What To Do With Dog Poop In Yard (8 Healthy Things To Do)

Anything that eats must poop, from plants to animals and humans; there are no exceptions, including man’s best friend. While we have a system (toilets) to deal with our waste, most animals are not so fortunate, including dogs, and so they poop all around, especially in the yard.

As a responsible dog owner, it is only right that you dispose of any poop your dog leaves around. You can do so using doggie-doo-doo disposal like flushable waste bags.

You, however, must be mindful of how and where you dispose of this poop, ensure it is Eco-friendly and does not constitute a Heath risk to you and the people around.

Importance of Disposing Dog Poop Properly?

Dog poop is a lot of things. For starters, it is a gross and messy eyesore in our backyard, a human health hazard, and an environmental pollutant. When you leave it on the ground, it will decompose and eventually get washed into water bodies, polluting them.

It is common knowledge that fecal waste from dogs carries pathogens that cause diseases that can be transmitted to humans, including worms like roundworms that easily infect kids.

Other bacteria like campylobacter, salmonella, parvovirus, and E.coli affect both adults and children, and some of these infections are life-threatening.

In cities, the problem is compounded by rats and other rodents. Dog waste is often a leading food source for rats in urban areas. Rat urine and feces have been linked to many diseases that can easily be passed to humans, including leptospirosis, typhus, and salmonellosis.

You might not see the issue of properly disposing of dog doo-doo as a big problem until you understand how much dog poop is released into our environment.

There are about 89.7 million dogs that are found in the United States alone, and each of these dogs produces about 4 pounds of poop weekly. If you do the math, you will see a dog releasing about 208 pounds of poop yearly.

When you multiply this value by the almost 90 million dogs in the US, we have about 18 billion pounds of poop produced by dogs yearly. This amount is too big not to constitute a big problem.

If it is not cleaned up, dog waste typically washes into your town’s watershed, which can pose a severe problem. A lot of the bacteria in local water systems are caused by dog waste.

This is not to talk about the fumes from the poop that pollutes the air, which can get people sick due to the released bacteria.

What To Do With Dog Poop In Yard

There are several things you can do to dispose of your dog’s poop; however, as environmentally conscious people, we are concerned with how you will dispose of this fecal waste so that it does not pollute the environment.

Here are some ways you can properly dispose of your dog’s poop in an environmentally friendly way:

1. Trash The Poop

This is an obvious thing to do with the dog’s poop you find around. Still, you must remember that the most common plastic bags you put this poop in before you throw them in the trash are not biodegradable, which means they will remain in landfills, polluting the environment for a long time.

So your best bet is to go for more biodegradable bags; these matches are made of materials that easily decompose into almost harmless substances.

These bags are made partly with organic materials like cornstarch and partly with plastic which does not decompose. Even though these bags are not completely safe for the environment, they are much better than your everyday complete plastic bags.

If you are getting these biodegradable bags, you better get one labeled: compostable because they are more easily decomposed than others. Secondly, it is best you double bag the poop so that if the poop accidentally falls on the floor, it will not make a mess.

You can also use a poop scooper to put the poop on a big bag or can (in a bid to use less bags) that you put the poop daily into and then safely dispose of them weekly or so. This means a lot of poop will sit in your house before you dispose of it.

2. You Can Bury The Dog Poop

This is another way of disposing your dog’s doo-doo; all you need to do is dig a hole 1 foot deep and bury the feces. The hole will keep the bacteria from the poop from getting to the soil surface, where it can constitute a problem.

This disposal method has the snag that you will be concentrating a lot of bacteria in a spot in the soil. You, however, must ensure that you do not bury the poop near your garden so that dangerous bacteria do not get into the food.

Before you start digging to dispose of your dog poop, ensure that you do so in line with your city council rules to ensure that you don’t expose any buried line. This method also has the problem of rain washing some of the waste into your local watershed.

3. Flush The Poop Down the Toilet

With the right tools, you can take advantage of our modern plumping to do away with your dog’s feces and flush it down the toilet. However, for this to work, you need the correct bags.

Regular plastic bags cannot be flushed, but specialty flushable bags can be. One of the best recommended flushable poop bags on the market is by Petro.

This is another easy way of getting rid of dog poop; with the right tools, you can flush the waste into a toilet. The problem with this method is using the right kind of bag that can be flushed because your everyday bag cannot flush.

There are special kinds of bags that are flushable and are meant specially for flushing your pet’s poop. Petro Flush’ n Gone Poop Bag is an example of such kind of bag.

When using these bags, you must ensure that you tie the bag properly so that air does not get into the bag, thereby causing it to float; if you can’t stop air from getting inside, don’t tie the bag.

Secondly, be sure that it is only the poop you are flushing and not the stones or sticks your shovel picked up as you are packing the poop.

While talking about flushing dog poop, you should know that you can’t flush a cat’s doo-doo because it contains toxoplasmosis, which can cause both animals and humans to get infected. Sewage treatment does not destroy the parasite.

4. Use a Dog Poop Disposal Service

This is almost the same as a trash pickup in which you pay someone to dispose of the dog excreta; sometimes, they help you remove the poop from your yard. Some companies offer services, including DoodyCalls, poop 911, and the like.

This is a very easy way to deal with a poop-in-the-yard problem, but you must be ready to spend a little cash for their services. Some of these environmentally conscious companies even turn this poop into compost.

5. Install A Dog Waste Septic System

There is a waste septic system that you can install that allows you to wash your dog’s poop away. One such system is the Doggie Doo Drain that you can attach to your sewer, and once installed, you just put the pool in the cylinder and then use a hose to wash it down, a d the pool goes into your sewer system.

This system does not require any bag, making it more Eco-friendly than flushing the poop down your toilet. However, this method is not very efficient in very cold areas and should not be used in such places.

6. Adopt A Waste Containment System

This is a means of using natural bacteria to decompose your dog’s poop, just like a composter. This method is good because it has no harsh environmental impact if done effectively.

You can find different waste containment systems online and in stores like The Doggie Dooley 3000 Septic-Tank-Style Pet-Waste Disposal System. You add a substance called digester powder, which contains natural bacteria and enzyme cultures that will decompose the waste.

This waste containment system can be buried in your yard, and if you keep adding dog poop, it will decompose. Another option for buying a containment unit is to build one yourself in-ground.

To construct your waste containment system, you must drill a few holes in the sides of an old plastic garbage can. Cut the bottom of the can and dig a hole in the ground that can hold the can, then add some gravel and rock to the hole for drainage. Then fill in and around the garbage can with dirt, ensuring that the can is a little above the ground level.

As you put in the first poop, add some septic starter, and then wait 48 hours for the starter to start working before adding more poop.

7. Use A Waste Digester Bin To Store The Poop

This is like using an above-ground means to compost your dog’s poop. The Pet Waste Wizard BioBin is a popular product that turns poop into compostable and above-ground. The product comes with a digester, enzymes, and bacteria that you add to the poop to decompose it.

The can’s design is so that it will quickly decompose the dog poop without giving off any smell. The waste breaks down eventually into compost that you can grow your flowers and other plants with ( except vegetables that you eat raw)

8. Compost The Dog Poop

The preceding method will yield compost; however, you can adopt a DIY method of turning a dog pool into compost. Firstly, you need to get a good location in the backyard to keep a compost bin. Then add the dog poop, and Immediately add an equal amount of sawdust, chopped hay, shredded paper, or fallen leaves.

Then add a little water into the compost until the compost bin becomes soggy, and turn the mixture to aerate.

Once you have enough compostable ingredients, cover the compost bin so that it can heat up and yield compost faster. However, the fertilizer from this compost bin should not be used in a vegetable garden so that you don’t get any pathogens from the compost into your veggies.

Conclusion

With the number of dogs in our world today and the amount of fecal waste they release, it is important that we look for ways of getting rid of this poop from our backyards. Burying the poop, flushing it, and even turning it into compost, are a few such methods.

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We trust this article helped you learn what to do with dog poop in the yard. You may also want to check out What to Do with Deer Poop in the Yard?

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