Dog Poop Disposal

I found a great blurb from Housetraining for Dummies about what to do with dog poop. It is important to properly dispose of this waste.
The link for the full article is http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1467.html
But I've paraphrased it below:


"Curbing is the polite term for a canine waste disposal method that really should be called the Shove-It-Into-the-Sewer approach. A curbed dog is one who's been taught to poop in the street, right by the curb, so that the next rainstorm can sweep his deposits into the nearest gutter. Once in the gutter, the poop and lots of other waste wind their way through a city's sewer system and, eventually, into nearby creeks, streams, and rivers. Those final destinations are one reason curbing is a questionable canine waste disposal method.

Scientists have discovered that dog poop is a major cause of water pollution, and that such pollution poses a significant hazard to human health.

Canine waste contains lots of nasty bacteria with almost unpronounceable names: fecal streptococcus and fecal coliforms are just two examples. In sufficiently high amounts, these bacteria can make people sick — sometimes very sick.

Dog waste also contains other not-so-lovely disease-transmitting organisms such as roundworms. These parasites can cause their human victims to lose their vision temporarily, as well as trigger coughs and fevers.

Never thought your dog's doo could do so much damage, did you?


Bagging it
The quickest, easiest way to get rid of a dog's poop is to put it in a plastic bag and either drop the bag in a trash can or flush the bag's contents down a toilet.

You might think that this method would have a high gross-out factor. And it does — if you use the wrong size bag. There's nothing more disgusting than using a teeny-tiny bag to pick up a great big piece of dog poop and having some of that poop end up on your hand instead of in the bag. But that doesn't have to happen. There are two keys to effective bagging: using the right size bag and developing the proper bagging technique.

For all but the tiniest dogs, a sandwich-sized bag or smaller just isn't big enough to pick up poop. It's far better to choose a larger size, such as an empty bread bag or the plastic bag that your morning newspaper was delivered in. Both these types of bags also carry a second advantage: They're oblong, which greatly eases your ability to get the poop into the bag instead of on yourself.


Before you use your bag, though, check to make sure that it doesn't have any holes. Picking up a bunch of dog doo only to have it hit the ground again is a surefire recipe for frustration.

After you have a large enough bag, it's easy to gather up the poop. Here's how:

1. Pull the plastic bag over one hand like a glove.

2. Pick up the poop with your bagged hand.

3. With your other hand, grasp the open end of the bag and pull the bag inside out.

The poop will now be inside the bag.

4. Knot the bag and drop it into the nearest trash can.

Alternatively, take the bag inside and flush the contents down the toilet. Throw the plastic bag in the trash.

Of course, if there's no trash can nearby, you'll need to carry the bagged poop until you find a suitable receptacle. But take heart. Soon, not even the thought of having to tote your dog's poop around town will gross you out. It'll just be a fact of life.

Scooping it
If you simply can't bear the idea of handling your dog's poop — even if there's a bag between the poop and your hand — you may want to consider using a pooper-scooper.

Pooper scoopers are a good choice for owners whose dogs confine their defecating to their own yards. Even though pooper-scooper laws don't apply to dogs who eliminate on their owners' property, it's still a good idea to pick up your dog's doodoo. That way you'll avoid stepping in it while you're gardening, mowing the lawn, or running to catch an errant toddler (and the toddler won't step in it, either). However, scoopers aren't as good as bags for owners whose dogs potty while walking, because the scoopers are relatively cumbersome to carry."

dog poop, pets, dog,