Dogs and kiddo sharing back yard

[wyatt1525]

@the_precious_one Thanks that’s a great idea!

 

[garriston]

@wyatt1525 I've been thinking about this too! I'm glad to see someone else thinking about it because my partner made me feel like I'm crazy when I brought up my concerns with our LO playing in the yard where 3 dogs poop and pee.

I just bought some garden fencing from home Depot and I'm going to put up a small (20'x30') temporary area for just LO. It will stop him from crawling in dog pee and poop and prevent an accidental encounter with a dog. We have an inlaw apartment that family lives in with two dogs who may not be good with kids.

 

[wyatt1525]

@garriston Right? I think where I’m falling is regular cleaning, keeping kiddo covered/shoes then change, and trying to train seperate spaces. Just tricky as the yard is very small!

 

[margstone]

@wyatt1525 You can make a little mulch area towards the back of your yard and train your dogs to go on that and then they also won’t be walking in their own pee or poo and bringing it inside. You can hose off or bleach spray the mulch after picking the waste up too and just keep your toddler away from it with a little fence

 

[wyatt1525]

@margstone Thanks!

 

[margstone]

@wyatt1525 That’s what we did. We have a little side yard where the fence runs alongside the house. And I just fenced off the front with a little gate so now I let the dogs run around in the backyard and then walk them over and put them in the mulch area to do their business. I pick up their poop and hose down the mulch occasionally, I never spray it with bleach but I know that’s what they do for parvo so you could definitely do it. They know to do their business in the side yard and my toddler never goes into that area so it’s a win win

 

[nonamend]

@wyatt1525 I think this depends on some factors like the weather, the size of your yard, and how much waste your pets leave (like two small dogs could be comparable to one medium sized dog, idk)
Anyway I have a similar situation. My spouse and I disagree on how much our 15 month old should be in our yard considering the pet waste back there.

We mitigate some risks by 1. Requiring shoes in the backyard 2. Dressing to mostly cover him so that if he falls down, his skin is covered and we can rest assured he's cleaner once dirty clothes are removed
3. Removing shoes, any dirty clothes, and immediately washing hands when we come inside

You can try all the tips to get your pets to go in the same spot and then avoid that spot, but I haven't been able to make that happen.

 

[wyatt1525]

@nonamend Thanks! There’s some good suggestions there

 

[timfield47]

@wyatt1525 I am in this exact situation, and I just fenced off part of the backyard with chicken wire and a temporary iron gate. It gives me so much peace of mind knowing that there is part of the backyard guaranteed to not have dog poop or pee in it.

 

[wyatt1525]

@timfield47 Good idea!

 

[heelo]

@wyatt1525 I mean I know lots of people who don't mind but I could never. We don't have dogs though and never will because of that issue and others. I certainly wouldn't let my kids play around poop of any kind, and dog poop is a health hazard because of parasites. Since you have dogs that's probably a risk you're taking regardless though, you can wash to make yourself feel better about it but unless you wash literally everything every day it's a risk. Just like the dogs biting your kid. I would say don't worry about it since you choose to have dogs anyway.

 

[laimkid]

@wyatt1525 Omg. Let the kid play. It's dog poop.....

 

[wyatt1525]

@laimkid Oh we play heaps! Just at the park or beach or on walks. Just looking for any references on if it is unsafe. It’s still poop which is a bit gross lol.

 

[thickandthin]

@wyatt1525 Whatever risk is in your own yard will only be worse in a public park or at the beach, where there are multiple unknown dogs doing their business.

 

[nonamend]

@thickandthin I'm not assuming there's 0 chance of dog waste at the park, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that there's far fewer poop germs than in my backyard

 

[thickandthin]

@nonamend Actually, TBF, this probably does depend on your location. Where I live anybody who has a dog would almost certainly take it to a public park every day. So a lot of different dogs are using any given park every day. I'll acknowledge that there could be a different situation elsewhere.

 

[laimkid]

@wyatt1525 Of all the things we need to shelter our kids from, dog poop is at the bottom of the list. Lighten up. Pick up the poop the best you can and don't worry about it.