dog owners - what do you do about your garden, dog poo and children?

[bunnyhunny]

So our 12 year old dog has free access to the garden through a dog flap. We try to clear up the poo as often as we can, but with dark nights etc it can stay on the garden for a few days.

dh wants our crawling ds to go out in the garden while he is tidying up - he says it's ok if the dog poo is cleared up and the area has been washed down with some water. I think it seems a bit dodgy - isn't there some blindness thing to do with babies and dog poo?.

What do all you dog owners do about letting dogs/ kids in your garden?

I haven't got any tiny tots so I just warn children to watch where they walk if I haven't checked for poo - dog poo is the least of your worries with a crawling baby outside though, surely?

i have the same prob - i'm not going to qllow crawling where the dog has poo-ed. I was thinking of sectioning a special dog area off & making her poo just in that one spot

I don;t have a dog now but was brought up with them and my brother has one. and they just weren't allowed to poo in teh garden. they poo-ed when they were on their walks and it was cleared up immediately with a doggy bag.

maybe sectioning off a bit would work. It's very difficult to clear it off the garden immediately, as he has full access in the day while I am out at work, and it will soon be too dark when I get home to go poo-hunting in the garden!

I think you have to be more diligent about clearing up after the dog. The main danger with dog poo is the possibility of getting toxocariasis, which are worms which live in the intestines of dogs and cats. The eggs are excreted along with the poo and can infect a human if they pass to the mouth, by touching the eggs and then putting hand in mouth (something which crawling babies and toddlers are likely to do).

Apart from clearing up more regularly after your dog (could you do this first thing in the morning if it is too dark in the evening?), you need to have your pets wormed regularly to avoid them having the toxocariasis worm in the first place.

my dog wont even poo in our garden.... hes too shy

so if poo is cleared up asap, can a crawling child go out there safely?? I think I would rather have the whole pooing thing happening elsewhere in the garden!

If possible ,it would be better to take the dog for a walk after his meals,they usually cr*p after food...no mess in garden then.We use a safe jeyes fluid to wash down in our garden if we have had pile-ups but then we have patio...but more difficult with grass though obviously.

Message withdrawn

The dog poos, the children clear it up.

Dogs allowed free access to small section of garden. Gate access to other part of garden where dd's toys are. Dogs are allowed in both areas, but usually only in dd's bit when we are outside.

am sure the dangers of dog poo are vastly overstated anyway - like swans 'can break a man's arm' when did you ever hear of someone going blind from dog poo?

Would you crawl around on the grass just after dog poo had been cleared up there? I wouldnt. Our dog is not allowed to poo in garden only on walks. At 12 it may be a bit late to train yours. If I were you Id do the fencing thing and keep baby and poo away from each other!

I pick it up straight away or give the garden a quick once over before letting any children out there if I suspec that there might have been some unobserved pooing action.

What food does your dog eat? Since mine changed to just dry food (Burns), he only does one small solid one a day (usually first thing), so it is fairly easy to keep track of.

Make sure you worm your dog. I'm sure you do anyway if you have a baby.

I kept separate bits of garden for dog poo and crawling daughter. Now she's older she likes to race out in her wellies and locate poos, shouting "DADA Poooooooo!" and pointing sternly.

And be glad the cold weather is coming. It's easier to pick up poopsicles .

A habitual early morning walk might get dog in habit of pooing out and about (with you bringing poo-bags of course)

I got my dog 6 months ago now and I don't think she's pooped in the garden once!
I think regular dog walking is the answer to get her into good habits.

If dog is regularly wormed, there is no danger of blindness.

er, pick it up regularly? Its not that tricky to figure out.

My mums dog will only poop on her walks. Whereas my two will do it at home or on walks. But they can be trained to do it on demand. Not sure how, but i know it can be done.

My dogs aren't allowed into the back garden where the children play, only the front garden. The children know that the front garden is where the dogs soil and not to play there