We have about 15 dogs that we've rescued over the years. This past year, we built nice new kennels, bought a furnace for their building, and fenced in an acre for them to run in. (These are dogs who are either handicapped, were viciously abused, or were starved...they deserve a little extra comfort!) Anyway, I've been looking for a dog waste disposal system, like the "doggie doolie" in the pet catalogs, the in-ground container septic-like thing that you put the enzymes and water in and it makes the poo dissolve and seep harmlessly into the ground(?)...but I can't find one that is suitable for the number of dogs I've got. The catalog systems are for one or two pets. I've looked under "kennel supplies" on the search engines, with no luck. Anyone know where I can find a septic system for multiple dogs?? Thanks!

-- Shannon (gratacres@aol.com), April 16, 2000

Answers

It would seem to me that a 1500 gallon household system with 200 feet of leech line would do the trick. It would cost about 1500.00 dollars installed or about 500 dollars if you get get a backhoe yourself.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 16, 2000.

Shannon,

First, bless your heart for caring about those doggies.

We only have 5 dogs (4 of them rescues) and they have large, fenced areas to run in. For us the poop pretty much just dissapears naturally over time, but then we're in a very dry climate at high altitude. If we start to notice a smell we scoop it an throw it on the burn pile. (Those ashes don't go on the garden, BTW.) We have also thought of digging a seperate septic system just for the dog pucky. It could be done way cheaper if you were able do the labor yourself.

My friend Sharon has 18 rescues and considerably less area fenced. She just got a couple of those 5-dog capacity Doggie Doolies and has started using them. I'll let you know how they work for her.

Have you ever heard of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary? Sounds like you should be part of the Best Friends Network of animal lovers who help one another out all over the country. If you'd like more information I'd be glad to e-mail you a link to their site or answer any questions.

Jorja The Haphazard Homestead and Glendale Plastic Bird Sanctuary

-- Jorja Hernandez (jorja@color-country.net), April 16, 2000.

TRY CONTACTING THE MUSHING MAGAZINE IN ESTER, ALASKA. THEY SURELY CAN PUT YOU IN CONTACT WITH MUSHING RACERS WHO HAVE LARGE DOG LOTS AND WHO MUST HAVE A SOLUTION THAT YOU CAN USE. ALSO THE MASTER GARDENING CLASS GAVE A CLASS ON DOGGIE MANURE COMPOSTING. (Tanana Valley Extension Service in Fairbanks,Alaska.)

-- Norma LUCAS (trooper806@webtv.com), April 17, 2000.

Off topic, but Pasado's Safe Haven (has a website) is a great resource for the rescue of FARM animals, not just pets....they work their ***ses off and can always use a donation or two.

Just passing it along as well.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), April 17, 2000.

Shannon, just had a nice chat with my vet about this. His first thought was compost it. He feels as long as you run a hot pile there won't be any problems. Some of his other ideas, treat the yard the some way horse people do their pastures, at least in the summer. Let the piles dry in the sun and then use either a lawn mower or harrow to break it up and scatter it for fertilizer where it lays. He also suggests you could dig a pit, throw in manure until there's a nice layer, cover it with some dirt, throw in more manure....Just make sure you fence or cover it so nobody falls in. A septic field would work, but as far as we could figure out you'd probably need to flush the manure into it somehow which would take a lot of water. His thought on the doggie doolie is that it would work, but you'd need a lot of them. Something he suggested that I'd never heard of was instead of buying their enzymes, you could use the stuff for human septic systems-Rid-X is what he thought it was called. Since you have to keep adding enzymes, that might help a lot with the cost. Amazing what you can learn in a short period of time, although the dog with the impacted anal glands would have prefered we had had this converstation over the phone.

Over the years we've made two "harrows" that you might be able to copy to save some money. One was basically a chunk of chain link fence. Bolt some steel or heavy wood (4x4's or better) on top across two opposite ends, add some eye bolts at one end. Scatter some chunks of cement block or rocks on the fence for weight if needed. Fasten rope or chain into the eyebolts to tie onto whatever you're pulling with. Or make a channel iron frame (think old bed frame)and weld some toothed things I don't know the proper name of. Look like lengths of pipe with heavy wire wrapped around and extending out in a long "finger" I assume they're out of some sort of thresher pick-up. Weld them across the frame fingers back and down. Check at auctions and junk yards for the finger things. Also check auctions and junk yards for junker dog tooth harrows or anything like that and cut them down to something you can pull with whatever equipment you've got. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), April 18, 2000.

Shannon, yesterday I went to visit my friend with even more dogs than you have. She has three of the largest capacity Doggie Doolies for her crew, and has been using them for several weeks now. Looks like they're working pretty well for her. It was a very warm day, and we spent some time making contributions to all three. Definitely less trouble than hauling the stuff to the dump.

-- Jorja Hernandez (jorja@color-country.net), April 24, 2000.

This may not work for Shannon due to the number of dogs she has, but I discovered several years ago that pill bugs, also called potato bugs, eat dog poo! Had a dog when we lived in the city who would sometimes get into our raised bed veg garden and poo, and I would see these bugs eat it gone! These are the little gray bugs that curl up into a tight ball when touched. Perhaps they could be used in conjunction with a composting system? I know they may be a pest to have around though for some gardens - we never had any trouble with them as a pest though on our plants.

-- Katie (ktthegardener@yahoo.com), September 07, 2000.

FIRST OFF, I APPLAUD YOUR EFFORTS AND COMMEND YOU ON YOUR EFFORTS TO HELP THESE ANIMALS. I KNOW ITS NO EASY TASK BECAUSE I'VE DONE IT MYSELF. THIS SEEMED TO WORK FOR ME, I HAD 14 DOGS (ALL RESCUES) AT THE TIME. FIRST I DUG A PIT ABOUT 4 FEET DEEP BY 2 FEET WIDE. ON THE BOTTOM I PUT A 2 INCH LAYER OF RIVER ROCK. I SIMPLY PUT IN THE DOG DROPPINGS DAILY AND ABOUT ONCE A WEEK I PUT A LAYER OF EITHER WOOD ASHES OR BARN LIME AND REPEATED. WHEN IT WAS ALMOST FULL, I PUT A LAST LAYER OF LIME OR ASHED AND MOUNDED THE TOP WITH TOP SOIL. THIS WORKS BEST IF YOU HAVE SANDY SOIL BUT I THINK IT WOULD WORK ON OTHER TYPES AS WELL. EVENTUALLY IT ALL BREAKS DOWN. JUST MAKE SURE TO FENCE IT IN OR COVER IT SO NO ONE FALLS IN! THE LIME REALLY HELPED KEEP ODORS DOWN. YOU CAN ALSO ADD SOME ENZYMES OR BACTERIA THAT ARE MADE TO ACTIVATE COMPOST PILES. IN THE WINTER IT DOESN'T DO TO MUCH BUT DOES GO PRETTY QUICKLY IN THE SUMMER. OF COURSE YOU WANT TO LOCATE IT SO IT DOESN'T CONTAMINATE YOUR WATER. ALSO IF YOU LIVE IN A CLIMATE WHERE THE GROUND FREEZES SOLID IN THE WINTER ITS A GOOD IDEA TO DIG 2 OR 3 TO LAST UNTIL SPRING. I'VE ALSO HEARD SOME PEOPLE LINE THERE HOLE WITH 55 GALLON DRUMS THAT HAVE HOLES IN THEM TO LET THE LIQUID DRAIN OFF. A KIND OF OUTHOUSE FOR DOGS I GUESS! HOPE THIS HELPS, I KNOW IT DID THE TRICK FOR ME. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. THE WORLD COULD USE A FEW MORE LIKE YOU. BARB

-- BARB (WILDETMR@YAHOO.COM), September 07, 2000.

My mom buried the dog do in her flower gardens daily. It was the only thing she did besides water. She had one of the prettiest gardens I've ever seen.

Where I live, we have dung beetles. I have 2 different varieties on my property; one rolls the droppings in perfect balls and then rolls them out to their nests; the other is underground and pulls the droppings under ground. Don't know if these creatures can be ordered from somewhere or not.

The largest waste disposal unit I could find in my catalogs is for 4 dogs. $38.99 from Omaha Vaccine.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 08, 2000.

== instead of buying their enzymes, you could use the stuff for human septic systems-Rid-X ==

A common practice around here ~ once a month a packet of Fleischmann's yeast is flushed down the toilet. Would think it would also work in the doggie 'toilets.'

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 09, 2000.

Well I think we are both in the same boat. I myself have 14 dogs all in kennels outside. these other people who have answered you do not realize that when you have all your dogs in kennels, you need a septic type system in which you can wash all the fecies down a drain and be done with the cleaning. I have me dogs on a 10x25 concrete slab with 6ft. high fencing all the way around it. They have a tin roof which keeps them comfortable and dry. They all have dog houses to sleep in, but they don't. I myself have a home built septic system which is 2 55 gal. drums buried in the ground. The first drum has a screw off lid so I may clean it periodically. The problem I am having is when i first put the system in it worked great. Now every 2 weeks I have to clean and drain the system due to the amount of matter in the first drum. I do not have an exact answer to your question but I am looking in to another home built system that intales a concrete septic made with 8x8x16 concrete blocks 6ft.x6ft. square at least 4 ft. deep with 150 ft of drain field. I us my dogs for hunting and a friend of mine who also hunts with me who also has 14 dogs who has one just like it he built and it seem to work good. He did tell me that he has to have a septic system pumping co. come out about 1 or 2 times every 2 years to clean it out. That is my suggestion to you and I am building mine as soon as possible.

-- Cree (kf4ixr@yahoo.com), February 27, 2001.

I have seen really effective harrows made from old 'crawler' (i.e Caterpillar) tracks. Just make a 'T' shaped frame, strong, probably steel with the bottom of the 'T' to attach to the towing vehicle or animal. Law out sections of the track and wire them to the cross piece. Used one way the teeth thingios harrow the ground, turn it over and the smooth surface will roll up leaves, hedge clippings etc. Might do something useful with hay too..

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), March 02, 2001.