When duty calls, will dog poop decompose? Potty-time on your lawn is no joy with your pup dropping deuces that damage your property. What seems to be a soft pile can make you wonder, “Will it ever decompose?”
The short answer is yes. Dog poop will decompose. But it won’t be good for your lawn. In fact, dog poop isn’t really good for anything or anyone, at least not yet. Dog feces are dangerous for humans, and these droppings do NOT disintegrate quickly.
For these reasons, it is important safely to clean up after your dog’s bowel movements. Dog poop contains dangerous parasites deemed as pollutants by the EPA (Environmental Protective Agency) in 1991. The EPA has classified your dog’s waste the same way it does used grease, oil, toxic chemicals, herbicides, and insecticides. Go here for some Dog Urine, Droppings & Dwelling Tips.
How Long Does it Take for Dog Poop to Decompose?
You stare at that steaming heap and you ask yourself, “How long before it decays? Maybe I won’t have to pick it up if it quickly dissolves away.” Dream on.
Depending on the climate, a normal ball of dog poop can take an estimated nine-weeks to decompose in moderate weather. Meantime, what happens to your backyard?
A medium-build dog expels an average turd yield weighing at 0.75 pounds per day. If it takes over two months for this fecal matter to disappear, your dog will have contributed a whopping 47.25 pounds of feces to your yard by the time the first pile is finally gone. Better to bend over and pick up that mess! Or perhaps you’d prefer to scoop or rake it up using a non-stick, easy to clean surface spade to keep from squatting.
Does Dog Poop Decompose in Snow?
In colder climates, the time of decomposition increases to an entire year! Imagine the amount of dog poo stacked-up, hidden in the backyard snowdrift, possibly, the same snow your children play in! That frigid dog doo-doo is full of nasty germs that will make your kids sick! Better to use a jaw scooper to get the job done quick and easy in that cold and then get indoors ASAP!
Is Dog Poop Good For Your Lawn?
It is a somewhat popular belief that a dog’s waste is actually good for grass.
But what’s the dirty truth?
Dog poo is NOT good for your lawn! You may have assumed it was because cow and chicken manure are good fertilizers. But not all animal feces are equal!
Your pup’s diet has everything to do with the damage to your grass. Your dog is a carnivore. Most dog foods contain beef, chicken, and other high protein foods. These foods are good for your dog, but when they break down during digestion they become highly acidic, making them destructive for your grass!
Is Dog Poop Dangerous to Humans?
Have you ever left your dog’s excrement laying in your yard, at a dog park, or anywhere else? It wasn’t that big a deal you thought, right?
WRONG! Dog poop is ABSOLUTELY, positively, HORRIBLE for the health of humans!
A single gram of your dog’s waste can carry 23 million fecal coliform bacteria. These bacteria can contaminate water and soil, making people sick.
Whipworms, hookworms, ring worms, salmonella – dog poo has ‘em all and more! If you leave your dog’s excrement on your lawn and later you step on your grass barefoot, dangerous parasites like ringworms that lay eggs on your lawn would have survived in the soil for years and you’d be getting exposed to it via your naked feet. You could be gardening and become infected with parasites!
This is no small reason to use a naturally-based enzyme solution to break down bacteria and viruses that also cause bad smells and stains from animal waste in your yard, as you keep it free of dog poo that won’t decompose unless you pick it up.
How to Properly Dispose of Dog Poop
The most common method of dog poop disposal is the use of a pooper-scooper and bio-hazard dog waste bags. Scoopers are especially beneficial to people with limited mobility, as you won’t have to bend down to pick up the feces. But doggy poop bags are a must for everyone interested in health and cleanliness.
When your dog finishes its business, simply flip your poo baggy inside-out over your hand like a glove and pick up the waste. Keep a firm grip on it and then flip the bag right-side-out around the poo.
Tie the baggy up, trapping all dangerous bacteria, and place it safely in the trash to be sent to the landfill. At the landfill your dog’s waste will be incinerated, ensuring the death of all bio-hazardous materials.
If you want easier carrying of your bags, you can use a bio-hazardous waste bag holder to comfortably fit your bags on your person, minimizing your hassle.
Other Creative Ways to Dispose of Doggy Waste
There are various other methods to disposing of doggy waste. One option is to pick up the waste with your scooper, bringing it to your toilet and flushing it.
You can put in a dog waste septic tank system easily accessible in your yard. Some people use an ‘earthworm farm’ to dispose of the poop. You can place the poop in an outside bin and fill it with earthworms. The worms will have a field day feasting on the excrement.
You can also attempt to compost dog waste, but it has to maintain a temperature of 165-degree Fahrenheit for five days to properly sterilize the manure, which is unrealistic for many backyard compost systems since dog poop carries disease anyhow. Thus, you’re left with picking it up yourself, which you need to do on a regular and sanitary basis, especially if your dog poops when you go for walks.
So, at the end of the day, it seems that the safest way continues to be to scoop the poop into a bag and then double-bag it before disposing of it in the trash can. Still, perhaps you could look into having some enterprising capitalist pick it up for you, and sell it, since surprisingly dog poop is being turned into electricity these day.
Alternatively, you could potty train your dog using a portable dog grass mat. These gadgets can be used indoors and outdoors to eliminate the hassle of having to go treasure hunting for turds around your yard. The synthetic grass material is easily cleaned with just warm water and it’s perfect for small spaces, trapping odors too.
Aftermath of Dog Poo Sanitation
ALWAYS make sure you wash your hands with antibacterial soap and lots of water! Clean your equipment (scoopers and rakes) and anything else that feces comes in contact with. Dog poop can make you sick. So, sanitizing everything is IMPORTANT for you and your family’s health!
Dog poop disposal is one of the most overlooked issues in our society. Health concerns to humans is a clear reason you should make proper disposal a high-priority task! Keep your community, water and yourself and neighbors safe from harmful dog excrement by using proper clean-up techniques.