Cleaning dog poo from lawn - help!

[crookedhouse]

We have had a lovely pup join the family but I'm struggling to know how best to clean up his poo from the back garden. Currently picking it up as I see it, then hosing it down. Unfortunately as he's happily munching through tripe it's big squishy and is a bugger to clean! My main concern is to make it clean for the children to play out. Does anyone have any advice of how best to clean it up?

[dementedpixie]

The poo should be formed and not squishy. Maybe you need to change what you're feeding him

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I agree with Demented if the poo is voluminous it might be worth changing it over & if the problem persists, getting him vet checked. I’ve fed dogs on tripe & not had this issue so it isn’t happening simply because it’s tripe.

[crookedhouse]

Thanks, I reckon it might be because he sifts out the dry food I'm mixing in. Maybe I need to scrunch it up more so he can't do that.

[dementedpixie]

Check the meat/cereal content too as too much cereal can affect some dogs

[crookedhouse]

Thanks, so you have any brands you've had good experiences with? He's a 13 week old basset.

[megsmoo179]

Mine are always on skinners dog food

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I feed Lukullus. My Goldie seems to like it. It’s not the best food around but it’s not the worst either & she likes it.

[inwood]

Ddog is diabetic and prone to pancreatitis. For that reason he is on Chappie Original. Would never have fed it to him before but it's the best for managing the diabetes as the lowest fat available, it's fish based. As a pleasant side effect he now has normal pick upable poo and we tried pretty much everything before that.

[Walney]

Fellow basset hound owner here! Ours had grain free Harringtons as a puppy which she loved and had no issues with it. She now has a mix of butchers tinned food which is gone in seconds and we vary the dry food. A lot of people will say bad things about Dr John dry food, but our basset is full of energy (not excessive) and her coat has never been shinier. Good luck with training!

Although I would be interested to hear tips re the garden as ours has been ruined and i also worry about my daughter playing in the garden. I use a poop scoop but they are very flimsy.

[BiteyShark]

My dog has had many bouts of tummy issues and we just use a watering can t

[BiteyShark]

Grrr posted too soon.

We use a watering can to clean the lawn if the poo is runny.

[Disfordarkchocolate]

We just didn't allow the dog to poo in the garden, walks were for that. Not easy I know but I couldn't stand the thought of it.

[crookedhouse]

Thanks all! He's on the grain free butchers at the moment so will stick with it a while longer and then possibly change once we're sure he's settled in. He finally did a poo on his walk today so fingers crossed he stops "blessing" our lawn soon!

[TheSandgroper]

We hope a small lawn with some shrubbery at the side. It took some time but ddawg was supervised every time she went outside. We took her straight to the shrubbery and was gently kept there until she had completed her business. Then she was praised and allowed to play. I can’t remember if we took a few weeks or what.

She now does wees on the grass as well but nearly always poos under the shrubs. It’s been years now. I still have to pick up but at least it’s not in a traffic way.

[TheSandgroper]

And I found a pooper scooper useless. I bought a cheap garden fork and trowel set that just lives in a back corner. Sometimes it needs a bit of tabasco on the handles.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I use a fire shovel much better than any popper scooper on a grain free high meat content diet you should get firm poos that are ready to pick up.
If you are feeding a grain free high meat content dry food you really don't need tripe as well.

[ThePrestonFamily]

We have a dachshund and sometimes his pop can be runny. We always use poo bags although it’s usually firm enough to have no problem, if not a quick blast with a hose pipe. I would be a bit cautious with little ones playing on the lawn if they are still crawling though.

[adaline]

Sounds like diet is the problem here - poo should be formed and easy to pick up.

[Peanutbuttericecream]

Our dog has Harrington’s dried. No messy poos.

[ErrolTheDragon]

When DD was young, we fenced off the area next to the back door - the dog was only allowed into the rest of the garden after he'd shed his load in this area. The 'fence' was simply 5 trellis panels arranged in a half octagon, tied together with those rubbery things used to tie saplings to a post. It was easy for us to step over and lift DD or the dog over, and move for lawn mowing.

Obviously this only works if the dog is small and the garden is a suitable size and shape.

[ErrolTheDragon]

That was in the era of our first dachshund, who was a fussy eater and wouldn't contemplate dried food. The current one happily eats royal canin dachshund food which solidified the output well.

[crookedhouse]

Thank you to all who responded. Just as an update, after more days of runny pops, I switched to rice and chicken, then rice with the dried food he was already on mixed in. It seems that the canned wet food was too rich for his tum as everything firming up nicely now! As for the lawn, I've been hosing it down like a mad woman and no dead patches yet, which must be a good sign!