Yard Cleanup

[Veronica]

What do you use for solid waste yard cleanup? Do you have a system that works well?

We have recently expanded our fence and need to find a better way to keep it all clean.

Thanks!

[Rerun]

Yes..I scoop it, and it goes out with the trash.

Ok, in all seriousness, I don't use one of the in ground systems although I find them interesting. I just don't think they can handle 4 big dogs and the compost systems seem like they'd be stinky and a ton of work.

So I use a typical rake and scoop, gather it all up several times a week and into a trash bag it goes. During the non-hot months I just tie it tight and toss it in the trash which we keep out front off to the side of the house. But it's in sun and when it's hot and/or sunny it would get way too stinky though the week. So spring/summer/fall it goes into tight bags, which go into our lawn storage shed at the back of the yard in 100% shade. Then every Sun PM trash goes out for Mon AM pickup.

I haven't figured out a better system.

[s14roller]

Would it make sense to take them out during bathroom breaks and then to clean it right up? After that, they would be able to just run around and you would know they wouldn't need to go anymore.

[Liesje]

We moved from a huge yard (1 acre) to a postage stamp. At my hold house, I scooped poop a few times a day and kept it in a large bucket in the back corner of the yard. When it filled up, I took it back into our wooded area and dumped it (separate compost area for dog poop and other yard waste). Now in our tiny yard, there is nowhere to dump poop. Bagging every time is unrealistic and would create such a smell in our trash bin it would bother us and the neighbors. I decided to try a dooley system and we made our own. So far, so good! Super easy, poop goes out of sight out of mind, haven't had a problem with smell (and I use no additives but water, just let the insects and nature to the job). I have three large dogs (and Pan poops a lot!). The only thing I do is occasionally add a few gallons of water when it hasn't rained and sometimes some grass clippings to help the composting process. The first day, I added a bit of Rid-X to get it going but now there are so many insects in the hole I'm just letting them do their job.

van Kelder Dogs

[Rerun]

Liesje, I was wondering about that system. Did you need two for your dogs? We have 3 adult GSD's, and one Malinois. So a lot of poop each week.

Also, we try to do potty breaks - especially poop breaks - in the kennel which has mulch on the potty side. So no real way to get the poop without mulch coming with it too. What would this do to a compost system?

[Liesje]

I have one right now and three dogs. I suspect that eventually it will fill up, mainly because of where we live, the composting process will halt once the permafrost sets in. I'm assuming I'll have to move it in about a year, at which time I will probably dig deeper and use a larger barrel (the one I made was sort of a spontaneous decision and I found that old trash bin in our garage). What I learned from my research is that drainage is very important. Luckily, we have nice soil that basically turned to sand about 2-3 feet down so that is ideal. This will not work at all in clay soil. I also added some sand from our sand box and some pea gravel to the bottom. Also, it needs to stay wet. I have a large water trough for the dogs and re-fill it every day, so I take an ice cream bucket and use that to dump the old water into my dooley and then refill the trough. Some of my poops do have mulch with it since the dogs sometimes poop on the mulch. I just toss it all in. Honestly, I'm happy to dig a new hole once a year than have to bag every poop!

I've used mine for over a month and the poop is not even to the bottom edge of the waste bin (my hole was deeper than the bin). It is breaking down, but not as fast as I'm adding it I don't think.

The smell has not been an issue for us. Mine is placed behind a shed. The cover has a small hole so it's not like the poop is in there stewing with no air. The air helps the composting process and also allows the bugs to go in and out. I'm not using any additives, as I don't want to interrupt the life cycles of the bugs since I think they do the best job.

[Kris10]

We use a small pail with a foot pedal opener like the one pictured that uses 4 gal. bags. The cover is tight enough to control odor, and we keep it on the side of the house away from the patio. The bags are sealed and put in the regular trash receptacle every few days.
I wanted to get an in ground container, but the water table is high here.