Composting Dog poop?!

[Vince_Grave]

I am the owner of 3 dogs. These guys produce alot of poop!!
I heard it was possible to compost it. But that it wasn't recommanded to use on any plant you may eat.

Does anyone here compost dog poop?

I would have a couple questions regarding how to proceed.

Thanks

Vince

[ElizabethB]

Hi Vince, welcome to the forum.

Feces from carnivorous animals is NOT recommended for composting. Unless you have a perfect compost pile (few of us do) that gets hot enough to kill all pathogens you run a risk of contaminating your soil and anything you grow in it with nasty stuff.

I use no carnivorous waste or meat scraps or meat by products in my compost. I have 2 cats and their waste and litter is bagged and tossed in the trash bin for pick up.

It is your compost and you can do what you want. I would NEVER use dog, cat or human waste in my compost bin. If you do use the dog feces in your compost bin and use the resulting compost in your garden do not invite anyone over for dinner.

[Vince_Grave]

I was not planning to use it in my garden.
I wanted to actually start a separate compost bin.
1 for the garden, without dog feces.
And another one for everything else : plants, trees, grass, etc.

I'm just wondering, would that work? would it still be dangerous even if it's in a separate bin?

[rainbowgardener]

Probably still not a good idea, but there is a solution:

https://www.doggiedooley.com/

It's basically like a little septic tank for dog doo. Uses enzymes and bacteria to break the dog poo down until it is safe and harmless and just leaches the remains out into like a little septic field.

It just gives you something to do with all the dog poo that would otherwise be all over your yard, without making it someone else's problem in the landfill. And eventually the nutrients do wind up in soil.

[ElizabethB]

RBG - you are amazing. Where do you find this stuff? If I had dogs I would have that system. Great idea. I hope Vince takes your information to heart.

[Vince_Grave]

I did see that system. While it seems to work well, I was hoping I could re-use the compost to grow some grass like people would do for their garden.... mix it with soil and pour grass seed on top of that

I guess it's not a good idea afterall...

[applestar]

If you were to put the Doggie Dooley upslope of your lawn, the overflow from the system would feed the soil. It's basically a septic tank and "grass is always greener"

But I think you do want to be SURE about who will be using the grass and I would research about what ends up coming out of it. I don't have a dog but I have always thought that I would consider getting one of these if I ever do.

[toxcrusadr]

I think it would depend upon the situation. If kids were playing on the lawn, probably not a good idea. For more remote areas, or as a side dressing around plants and then covered with mulch, it could be OK. I would be rather cautious with it. In a 'suburban yard' scenario, there might not be a place to put it that's far enough away for my tastes. You might want to do some searching on 'pet waste composting' and read about pathogens. There would be two types: bacteria, such as e coli, and parasites. As far as bacteria, they show up in cow manure too, and aerobic composting will knock down their levels to insignificant. Also, we don't eat compost. Parasites are a little more tricky - they can live in the soil for a couple years, I think. Ringworm or some other worm comes to mind that can be caught by humans walking in bare feet around pet manure. Of course, if your pet is healthy and parasite free it's not going to be a problem. But as you can see the whole thing is a little more complicated than composting plant wastes.

[rot]

Geez,

It's certainly not something to be done casually but it's doable. Be careful about what you're dealing with. Be responsible. To keep life simple - don't tell the neighbors.

https://humanurehandbook.com/store/THE-H ... DBOOK.html

Did it for 3 or 4 years with 3 big dogs. Oddly, it wasn't a major disaster.

Cold and slow method on a cycle where it composts for about a year.

to sense rot

[Free Zucchini]

Purple earth worms and plenty of carbon. I use wood chips and pine cones. It goes on the front lawn, but after fall harvest I'll use it on the plum tree.

Dunno, but stuff like this doesn't scare me. Must be all the rabbit dung on the rhubarb when I was young.