Dogs

Spring Cleaning Your Dog Run

It is almost that time of year again when we all venture outside for the next several months. This weekend in Minnesota we had a thaw, and Skye and I got to go outside and play ball. There is no grass growing yet in Skye’s dog yard though there is old grass from last year, which is about a quarter of an acre.

While we were playing ball, I got an unpleasant surprise. The snow may have begun to thaw, but the ground has not. So we have frozen ground, with a layer of ice on it in places and standing water on top of that. While Skye does not go potty all over her yard, as she picks the fence perimeter in a few spots, it was still not a very nice sight especially after racing through it while chasing her ball.

I have been picking up dog poop and putting it in a compost bin over the winter, because I can’t use our doggie septic tank. So now I have liquefying dog poop around the yard where it had frozen to the ground before I could get to it. I’m sorry but I’m only human and I refuse to go out at 1:00am in a Minnesota winter if Skye wants to go out; to pick up poop in my nightie, especially when it is 20 degree

s below zero F. There isn’t any smell to speak of yet because it is now mixed with water and draining away, but it made me wonder what the regular dog owner does. What does someone with multiple dogs do? So I thought I would share some of the tools that I use when cleaning my dog yard.

In one of my recent articles I mentioned Odormute™ and how good it is to use on skunk odor. Well that isn’t the only thing it works on. I have used it since the mid 1970’s when I first discovered it; on cat litter boxes when they need to be cleaned, on cement floors that smell musty, to clean garbage cans and in my dog’s yard as well as anywhere else I needed a good deodorizer. It is non-toxic and non-caustic and is made of natural enzymes and salts. You can make three different strengths depending on the strength of the odor you are dealing with. It will not harm plants, pets or humans, and that is why I like it so much. I mix up a bucketful and spread it

around the dog yard to deal with the odor issue. Odormute™ is now marketed by Hueter Toledo as well as the other product Ryter made called Lim’nate™.

Lim’nate™ is a sanitary digester for using in a doggie septic tank, which you can either make yourself or buy at a pet shop. In the spring after the temperature rises above about 40 degrees F, you put water in the bottom of your doggie septic tank, add Lim’nate™ and add your dog’s poop, and put the lid back on. The Lim’nate™ does the rest, digesting the poop you put in, and there’s no smell because it is underground. Depending on the weather conditions, all you have to do is add more poop, water and Lim’nate™ from time to time. The only thing about Lim’nate™ is that the digesting enzymes don’t work under about 32 degrees F. Other than that it keeps your yard odor free, which is a plus when you are dining al fresco or having a garden party.

All dog owners know how to scoop poop and dispose of it, but with these tools on hand it can make your job easier and you and your pets can celebrate a nicer smelling summer.

Ruthie Bently

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Dogs