I have 2 adult pet dogs in my home who would provide daily fresh pooh littering my garden and sometimes on my concrete side walkways. Each morning when I wake up I would be greeted by at least a few piles of dog pooh.
Dog pooh really stinks and the smell and waffle in the air and travel to houses of your neighbors within the vicinity of 200 metres from your home. If you do not clear the pooh daily, your neighbors are probably gonna be resentful of you and at worst case scenario, file a formal complaint with your local council.
Here are what some folks would do:
1. Dispose it at the dustbin
They would pick up the pooh, wrap it up and bundled a plastic bag and throw it away.
2. Wash it off
They would get a huge hose and then wash off the pooh into the drain. It would be a task that needs to be done few times daily.
3. Walk their dogs
Instead of having their dogs pooh in their house, they have their dogs do it all over the roadside and the parks. They somehow trained their dogs to pooh only when they are being taken out for walks and would need to do it twice a day.
Taking out the dogs for a walk is a good way to exercise but please, take some disposable bags and clean up after your pet. No one likes to step on dog pooh while walking.
4. Let their dogs roam free in the neighborhood
Some of the folks in my neighborhood does that. They just did the easy way out and let the dogs out. In the past, my dad used to do that when he got a little lazy to walk my dog, Richie. So he released Richie out almost each day.
One day Richie went out and never came back. I never knew what happened to him- perhaps the dog catchers got to him or he got hit by a car. I went out to look but could not find Richie. I felt very sad and even though it happened when I was very young, I still missed Richie because he was such a dutiful dog that constantly watched over our home.
That is why I believe that it is not a good idea to let your dogs just roam around the neighborhood. Sometimes they get into fights with other dogs or killed someone else’s cat. I have also heard stories of a seemingly docile dog bit and kill an old lady.
In fact, years ago, our country actually banned rottweilers as one suddenly pounced on an 80 year old lady and aimed for her jugular, thus killing the lady. No one knew why as the dog had never bitten any person before in its life.
5. They just leave it alone
Some irresponsible house owners basically just leave their dog pooh all over their garden. Thinking that the pooh would eventually decompose and as the internal part of their homes are air conditioned, they ignore what they do not smell. The only thing is that they may just put up with the short trips of going in and coming out of their homes.
It is true that dog pooh would decompose on the soil/grass after a few days. But on daily basis, the scent can drive the poor neighbors crazy.
What I do with my dog pooh:
I have a fenced garden and I do not allow my dogs to go out. I have discovered a simple method that helps me minimize the smell and at the same time fertilize my garden.
Dog pooh makes good fertilizer.
I have some bigger flower pots at home. I would fill the base with a thin layer of soil. Then each day I would use a spade and scoop the pooh into flower pot and cover it up with a small layer of soil. This eliminate the stinking smell once the pooh is covered with soil. I do this until the flower pot is full and then move on to another flower pot to use.
In about a week, I pour out the contents of the first flower pot to use it as a fertilizer. By then, the pooh have mostly decomposed. By the time the second or third flower pot is full, the first pot is available.
Another final note:
Aside from their pooh, their urine also stinks a lot. I’ve had my entire iron gate rotting away because one of my mischievous dog like to pee on it to mark his territory. You need to be dilligent and at least splash water to clean up the area. Even if they pee on the soil, it also have strong smell. What I do is that if I am not using the portion for planting anything, I would pour mild soapy water (for example after rinsing my mop) on the soil to minimize the smell.