To want to burn our puppy poo garden

[alwaysalwayssomething]

We got a tiny puppy a month ago - first dog, two smitten children, both under ten. We have a decent garden - the puppy wees at the side but has been pooing randomly in the garden and we just pick it up immediately.

Which I now realise was totally stupid as this is where the children play every day and now there are probably all sorts of nasties in the grass now just from the poo being there. I made a mistake of googling this and almost vomited reading things like worms lasting years in the soil that can cause blindness etc.

Full disclosure that I have severe OCD - ironically my therapist recommended the dog as helping from an exposure perspective. Instead, I now just want the kids to stay out of the garden for the next two years!

Can anyone please talk me down and / or give me some advice on whether this is a relative normal concern or just pure OCD? Even a handhold would be great. Thanks very much!

Thank you all so much - I really need to hear this and you’re right, my kids are active and in playgrounds, gardens etc most days. Also my garden couldn’t be ‘clean’, we live rurally so there will be foxes etc. Am just annoyed that we unnecessarily added to it with weeks of puppy poo.

Also, thanks for not going to a default ‘regime the puppy’ advice.

Why would your puppy have worms ? Find a place for the dog to go and take her there when it's poo time will stop her free ranging, but if you are picking up then there isn't an issue, your grass was never clean even before the dog.

You can get lawn cleaner for artificial lawns which are anti bacterial - I wonder if something like that is available for normal grass you could use? I assume the ones for artificial grass would damage real grass.

Real grass will self clean! Artificial “grass” won’t.

We have a disinfectant cleaner that is dog safe we don't.have grass but we spray on pee spots over the garden to clean it and stop it smelling, maybe you could spray the area after you have picked up ? You have to let it dry obviously for it to be safe.

@alwaysalwayssomething do you have any methods for calming your anxiety around this before the thoughts start to spiral?

i felt like you op , so we made a small paved area with a low picket fence round it and little gate and my dogs knew to poo there then they'd be let out.

I had an out door tap and would give the area a quick hose after picking up the poo.

Once a month or so is chuck down a bit of fairy liquid or something and go over with water and garden broom. Was always spotless.

Well yes but OP is obviously concerned and it would perhaps reassure her, no?

Loads of wild animals could've pooed there.
As long as you teach your kids not to pick the grass and eat it, and to wash hands before and after garden play, it will be fine.

Though maybe you need to train it to go in a specific place. I guess you know the signs of when he'll go, so just move him to the correct position hopefully just before he does it? Obviously that relies on observing the dog quite closely for a while.

OP it's fine. You are picking up every day. You are worming your puppy. Let your kids in the garden. It is fine.

You need to stop obsessing about worms, I've had 4 dogs as an adult none of them have had worms because they are given worming tablets. There is no need to get your pup vet checked for non existing worms.

There’s only worm eggs if your dog has worms.

Treat for parasites in line with veterinary instructions, no worms (or eggs).

Just always have a watering can handy to rinse after you've picked up. Obviously works for wee too stops the yellow patches.

The therapist recommended getting a dog.

Just keep the grass really short so you can always see any poo. We had a dog for 13 years and my kids never hot sick from playing in the garden

In your shoes I would get a small patch of garden turfed with fake grass, teach puppy to go there. Then wash that with a hose/warm water after picking up., whilst it’s not necessary it will make you feel better about it.

Why have you jumped to that as a course of action, when posters have been reassuring you and giving you normal strategies? I think it's true that any worms your dog does have will stay inside it while they're alive and you're worming him, so any it poos out will have been killed by the medication. If he does poo out any live ones, they'll be dying already and won't live long in the open air anyway, even less so in the kind of heat we're having at the moment. Don't go making a ridiculous fuss at the vets - a vet who likes you and your pet is to be treasured and will stand you in good stead through the years but they're busy and don't take kindly to time wasters. I know you have OCD, but please don't let it run your life for you, and more importantly, don't let it affect your children's lives. If you're going to get rid of the puppy, which it sounds like might be where you're heading, do it now rather than later for its and your children's sakes. If you have diagnosed OCD, then I think you've been given appalling advice when you were told getting a puppy is a good idea. That's in the same school of therapy as telling someone with depression to "snap out of it". I'm totally sympathetic to you, I know how awful true OCD can be. I have a cousin who lost her children when they were very small (5 and 3) because of it. But please, please don't let it affect the life of your kids or the poor puppy.

Don’t take the dog to be tested for worms, unless you have seen symptoms which make you think it might have worms. The problem is your intrusive thoughts, not the likelihood of the dog having worms. Getting the dog checked by the vet won’t help if the problem is OCD because your next thought will be ‘what if the test came back wrong?’ or ‘what if the dog has picked up worms since being tested 24 hours ago.’ You are doing everything right and the risk to your children is so minimal it is almost nil, the issue here isn’t that there is a high risk of them coming to harm, the issue is your anxiety/ intrusive thoughts. You need to continue to get help (eg: through extra therapy, increased medication) to hopefully manage the thoughts, not start restricting your children from normal activities or subjecting the dog to extra vet visits. You need to change your thought processes (easier said than done I realise) and not your behaviour around this risk, you are already doing enough by picking up the poo quickly and worming your dog.

This. Mine won't poo in the garden. As long as you take them out for morning and evening walks at good times, dogs are more likely to wait until then.

Our dog has pooped in the garden for 12 years. She’s never had worms, it’s always picked up right away, no one has ever become ill from it. My kids are out there for hours and hours playing.

Don’t keep the kids out of the garden. Kindly, this is how your own issues will start to rub off on them. This isn’t a dog issue, this is your mental health condition rearing its horrible head again.

Please dont do this.
A very won't test for worms if you're worming them
There is absolutely no need to keep your children indoors.

You need to address your OCD my love.

I’ve never been overly concerned, although obviously if there’s residue left then I would hose that area. But I have friends who do worry about this and some have fenced off the children’s play area so dog cannot get in, others have put slabs in the dog area so it can be easily hosed off (one evening bleaches that area), another poo picks and sprays an eco-friendly antibac. I just wander out with a roll of biodegradable poo bags. We have a pedal bin round the side specifically for poo bags (lined with a thick bag) which gets emptied regularly.
I worry more about cat and fox poo - at least having the dog should warn these off!

@alwaysalwayssomething I find fears are easier managed if you understand the details a bit more!

Looking at the responses, I realise now that a lot of this is the OCD so thanks for that. Have let the kids out to the garden this morning, will be more vigilant on the hand washing.

just treat the puppy for worms with a preventative tablet, the kids will be fine! Let them play in the garden. I guess you're the same OCD person who decided not to return the puppy to the breeder in the end...