composting leafy material exposed to dog/cat poop

I was just out in my backyard, and it is a wonderland of compostable material. Because I haven't composted before, I never really thought about it. The grass has mostly been replaced with dandelions and little green cover plants and flowers, and there are leaves EVERYWHERE, along with some small branches and even some partly rotted wood. We usually just mow over everything and let it sit there. It's very wild, back to nature, and I love that.

So here's the dilemma. I usually walk my dog every day, and she poops when I walk her. Since I've started raising tomatoes and learning about gardening, it's taken almost all of my time and I haven't walked her in a couple of weeks, and so she's been pooping in the yard. I also have two cats that sometimes poop back there. So my question is, is it safe to compost all those leaves and plants, etc. in the backyard? I'm planning on building some kind of structure/bin in which to do it. I would hate to see that treasure trove of material go to waste.

I've heard of people composting dog poop before, but I don't think it was to use in garden of edible plants.

Dig a pit and shovel dog poo into the pit.When full, cover and forget it. Be mindful of your well location.

Everything else could go in the compost pile.

Unfortunately, you really need to keep the animal feces out of your compost. Dogs, cats, and others can all carry some pretty serious diseases/parasites, without necessarily being affected themselves. No, I'm not a doctor, but I did watch a lot of episodes of House recently.

camprn wrote:Dig a pit and shovel dog poo into the pit.When full, cover and forget it. Be mindful of your well location.

Everything else could go in the compost pile.

I was actually planning on doing this (burying the dog poop) or composting it separately, and adding some microbes to help break it down. (Right now I scoop it and it goes in the trash. BAD, BAD jazzycat, I know.) But we have a pet door, and the animals go in and out as they please, so I can't keep an eye out for every time they "go." If I did a hot compost pile, would that eliminate any issues with parasites, etc. that might have affected any nearby leafy material? Is it necessary to do "hot" compost? I wasn't planning on composting the poo in the "food" compost, just all the leaves, etc. When I scoop the yard, I try to get all the nearby material as well. But I know I miss some. That's the issue.

I think the hot composting would probably kill any residual, if there was any. There is always a chance when someone has a compost pile, that a cat would come along and bury their waste in the compost pile and you would never know.

camprn wrote:Dig a pit and shovel dog poo into the pit.When full, cover and forget it. Be mindful of your well location.

Everything else could go in the compost pile.

is it safe to put the dog and cat poo in a hole and then just cover it with dirt? I do go around the yard and pick the dog poo up and have been putting it in a special trash can and setting it out for the garbage guys.

I was just reading over on the county extension service site that I should also be wearing a pair of shoes that do NOT go into the house after working outside. Has anyone else ever heard of this? I do sweep the floor every day and mop like every couple of days. Makes me wonder what kind of germs I was tracking in.

Lillyz
Maybe the extension service is promoting the prevention of nasty microbes to your home? If so I haven't read about that but I think its a good idea to keep garden/yardwork shoes away from living areas. Mine are in the garage to simply prevent indoor dirt/mud. And stinky barn boots/shoes of course never see the inside of the house.