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?

lots of interesting ideas here!
my dog's hobby appears to be pooing - he poos on every walk (sometimes twice) and then also 1 or 2 at home.

MaryBleedinShelly - I agree - Short grass is the key. Getting poo out of long grass its when you get leftovers.

So, on top of work, a constantly moving baby, walking the dog, picking up poo, I also have to keep the grass short!!!! oh, that should be... dh has to keep the grass short

oooh sorry. bad use of the term 'leftovers'

Short grass and regular picking up seems the easiest way to go.

It's soon going to be too wet and muddy anyway and by next spring your DS will hopefully be on his feet.

mmm i agree bunnyhunny, adding poo patrol AND mowing the lawn to our vvvvvv long list of chores on top of looking after moving baby - acheivable ?? NOPE !!

DP get your ass in gear

although seriously, it does worry me - ds is 7 months so will prob miss out on crawling on the grass. however our garden is weeny & only 1 lawn. Dog is 7 and wil ONLY poo on grass. going out for 2 walks a day, especially early morning is Unachievable. So I'm going to have to do the sectioning off thing.

At the moment, she works her way around the garden - will never poo in the same spot ! so often if you haven't cleaned up for a couple of days... and she's been working clockwise... makes for a nice afternoon in the garden ! YUM !!!

And don't tell me i'm the only one that doesn't clear up straight away... cos I know I can't be ...

mowed our lawn today - had to spend ages picking up poo before I could start! ds is 3 now so I can tell him when not to go on grass if it's not in pristine condition. when he was crawling age he obviously couldn't be left alone anyway so i used to take him on the front lawn where the dog never goes. you could try getting a playpen type thing you could put on a clean area of grass to keep the little ones in the best bits. stops the dog chewing the baby toys too. Roly took a beating today

We have a bit sectioned off for the dogs so ds can crawl about on his bit and they can poop on theirs. It's pretty impossible to clean up every one the minute it hits the ground - I'm sure mine do it to scent mark as they manage several a day and still did when they were on super expensive dry food only.

BTW if you get free bones from the butcher and give them to your dog it keeps their teeth clean and makes their poop go white (little nostalgia trip - you hardly ever see white poo these days) and it makes it easier to find!

the way to "train" dogs to poo on walks is in fact the other way around. you have to train yourself to walk them when they poo. most dogs, if fed regularly, will poo regularly. work out when and take them for a walk.

When we used to have a garden, we also had a paved area and trained the dogs to go there. Much easier to clean up than in the grass, would wash it down with biological washing powder mix once a week.

Now we have a back yard so there is no danger of a grass-based accident!

Puffy, "And don't tell me i'm the only one that doesn't clear up straight away... cos I know I can't be ..."

You're not the only one, I clear up once in the morning and if it's not chucking it down once in the evening too. And I only bleach the yard down once a week in the winter as I usually find the rain does a good job!

We've got a fenced off area in the garden so our lawn stays poo free.

ooh mossy you do well, once daily ! once weekly in our house

puffy - I am with you! clearing it up in the morning and evening IS straight away to me!!

whats the longest you've ever left it ? i think we left it 3 weeks once - my god, i've never seen such a bag of shit. and this from a small to medium spaniel !!

now you see why i don't want LO crawling on lawn

think i need some kim and aggie tips and a spanking from responsible dog owners

before we had kids, I reckon we would easily have left it for all winter . Now, try getting soggy, old poo out of long grass - THAT is why the grass-cutting suggestion seems so good!

Now I have a baby,I have been pretty good at picking it up every few days..

bunnyhunny ROLF at "leftovers"...the thing is, we ALL know what you mean!!
We do similar to handlemecarefully -the dogs are only allowed out to poo in the front where there is a barkchipped bit. We have a small garden, and that is our kids area. However, when the dogs go there (ie in the summer when the doors are open), they seem to LOVE poo'ing there. Little buggers. They also love going on the high street...
They do get 2 walk a day though.

My dog usually goes on his walks, but does some in the garden, on the grass, when dd was crawling I would only let her crawl on a picnic blanket which I put on the lawn and pick up as quickly as I can, at least once a day and straingt away If I see him do it. Its also not true that regularly worming your dogs will guarantee they never have worms. You can worm your dog one day, get rid of any worms he has and he could pick them up the next day from something he eats or sniffs out on a walk. I had a panic earlier in the year when my puppy had worms, event though he'd been wormed every month, he still picked up lots of roundworms. And the eggs that cause the toxacara blindness can lay dormant in the soil for years. Its not a myth (like swans breaking arms) I do know of someone who has had this, fortunately it rarely causes blindness, most of us pick up the eggs at some point in our lives anyway, and they don't cause problems. Lots of handwashing for my dd when she's been playing in the garden though!

Not read the whole post but Vacua re your "dangers of dog poo overrated" view I had a job as a teenager gardening in a garden where the owners let their dogs "go". I ended up with a really really bad eye infection - have never had such a thing before or since. So would be wary of understating the risk of dog poo...

Our dear neighbours allow their staffordshire terrier to poo in our garden (despite us paying for a high fence to keep it out). We have a toddler. It just drives me wild.

ok, getting rid of the lawn in favour of gravel - you've persuaded me !!!

Our neighbors only have gravel and their dog still poos on it! My daughter used to try and eat gravel as a crawler too, so not sure that would be your best bet! I'd keep the lawn just pick up lots, it'll be better when your little one is older.