I'm the mower. I don't bag so that the leaves and grass clippings provide a low-grade fertilizer.

I have never picked up a piece of dog poop in my yard - EVER - because it will decompose into organic matter for the health of my yard.

The only negative I can think of is if your dog is sick - you could have the fecal matter in the yard and then potentially expose yourself to it. But, if you take care of your dog (we do) don't you remove that concern?

Birds leave droppings everywhere. Whyat's the big deal?

Someone give me the correct answer.

There was a spot next to my J. Maple in the front yard my dogs would tend to do their business (of all freakin' places!!) anyways, since i've had to fence them in that problem is gone, but that little area has beautiful thick turf. but i'd rather not walk through dog poop just to have a nice lawn.

IF you have space for a compost pile, i'd say compost it. Once I had 4 dogs (aka poop factory) and I laid hay down in the businness area of their dog lot. when it was soiled enough I would load it up into a pile, and believe me, it doesn't have to be a very big pile to create plenty of heat, so the bigger the pile the hotter it gets, the more security you can have knowing the heat is killing any possible problems in your pooch's poop. some say it doesn't matter but i still say don't use it on plant you plant on eating

I remove mine, I have a major house fly problem in the area and the more flies in the back yard the more chance they have to get in the house. I have one 25lb dog these days.

With our first dog (60 lbs) we didn't scoop, DH just mowed it it. If we were having people over who had children, we'd scoop just so they didn't step in it if they ran around the back yard. With just the one dog, smell wasn't an issue where we lived (and I think that varies with your climate as well).

When we got 2 labX puppies who grew into 80-90 lb dogs, we had to scoop. Even when we had an acre lot in AK we had to scoop once in a while (mostly in the spring). In the dry climate we're in now, if I didn't scoop, I'd have a petrified poop yard (and there's no grass out back yet, so it doesn't even get mowed in).

If you don't have kids running around, if it's not creating an offensive odor and it doesn't bother you to mow it, I don't think it makes much difference.

For all of us involved in water quality, please scoop the poop. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Dan

Karen

If Mr. Jenkins can compost his family's poo, then I can compost my dog's poo.

My dogs are fed premium food, vaccinated and given monthly de-wormers. If my dogs are ill, they are taken to the vet.

If you are not comfortable leaving poo in the yard, or composting it, then toss it in the garbage.

I toss the dog poop in the compost pile and cover it with a layer of dried stuff ... by the time I break down the compost heap, it's gone. No smell.

BTW, apartment dwellers and their dogs share an amazing amount of "intestinal flora" ...

Dig a deep hole, same size as a 5 gal bucket. remove bottom of bucket, place in hole. small amount of leaves or shredded paper, put dog doo in hole, cover ea time w/ carbon (leaves/paper) add redworms or wait for them to come on their own. Keep lid on bucket or a flat rock will do the same and look more natural. Keep carbon source near by. People claim that it takes years to fill up, it breaks down w/ the leaves, worms eat it. BSFL even better!

For my own pets, I'd be more inclined to go for composting worms with a side of EM, but I'm a cat person, and the household feline has so far refused to switch to a compostable litter. But for the neighborhood dogs, whose people don't scoop, I do have a separate BSFL unit, a bottomless lidded container buried (hidden) among some ornamentals. Works amazingly well when I can bring myself to stick a bag on the end of a shovel and clean up the pathways.

DSF
http://bookashislope.blogspot.com
...and there was rejoicing in the tower, for the wriggle had survived the heat!

When we lived in the city the dog poo went in the garbage or we used the bottomless bucket dug into the soil system. Here DH dumps it out in the forest. Maybe it keeps the coyotes away.

There are approximatley 68 million dogs in the United States... 40 million households own at least one dog. Thats a lot of dog poo that needs to be properly disposed.

Bacterial source tracking studies in a watershed in the Seattle, Washington area also found that nearly 20% of the bacteria isolates that could be matched with host animals were matched with dogs. This bacteria can pose health risks to humans and other animals, and result in the spread of disease. It has been estimated that for watersheds of up to twenty-square miles draining to small coastal bays, two to three days of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria and nutrients to temporarily close a bay to swimming and shellfishing (US EPA, 1993).

Pet waste can also be a factor in eutrophication of lakes. The release of nutrients from the decay of pet waste promotes weed and algae growth, limiting light penetration and the growth of aquatic vegetation. This in turn can reduce oxygen levels in the water, affecting fish and other aquatic organisms.

Animal waste collection programs use awareness and education, signs, and pet waste control ordinances to alert residents to the proper disposal techniques for pet droppings. In some parts of the country, the concept of parks or portions of parks established specifically for urban dog owners has gained in popularity. With provisions for proper disposal of dog feces and siting and design to address stormwater runoff, these parks may represent another option for protecting local water quality.