[mikey9863]

First of all i would like to say HI! to everyone as this is my first post.

just about to convert a peice of wasted garden to make a vegetable patch. problem is that the old family mutt has been using it as a toilet for he last couple of months. how should i go about preparing it and would it do any harm to our health if i just cleared the site and planted the new veggies.

thanks for looking

[muntjac]

rotavate it now and leave till spring then plant ...

[Sally A]

Suggest you bag and bin the poop you can find, firstly can't be too healthy, secondly, nothing worse than putting your hand in something squidgy when you get round to planting.

[muntjac]

it would be gone by spring i reckon if its dug over now   , but your right about the squidgy bit  

[mkhenry]

First of all i would like to say HI! to everyone as this is my first post.

just about to convert a peice of wasted garden to make a vegetable patch. problem is that the old family mutt has been using it as a toilet for he last couple of months. how should i go about preparing it and would it do any harm to our health if i just cleared the site and planted the new veggies.

thanks for looking

I know that you do not wish to hear this but if you have young children then I would strongly advise against using an area used as a doggy toilet to grow food on. Until you are sure that it is sterile.
Toxocara canis can cause blindness in children.
It invades the soil waiting for a host to come by.Dog faeces is one of the main causes of this. In summer months the soil becomes free of infection in as little as 2 weeks,but in the winter it takes as long as 4-5 months.


Your dog may be free of the round worm but can pick it up at any time because the infection goes around and around.

It would be worth your while seeking information on the web.
I do not want to cover this unpleasent subject too much,but the info is there for you to check for your self.Once you have read it you can then decide how long to wait before you start planting.
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I could not just stand by without at least giving you the facts so that you can make up your own mind.

[WG.]

I totally agree Henry.  It is reckoned that dogs in the UK produce 1000 tonnes of faeces every day!  Yuuuck.

See http://www.armillatox.com/tox.htm

[Sally A]

Hmm WG, and the cats do just as much but they can't weigh it cos they hide it - usually in my flippin seed bed.

[muntjac]

the winter will kill any worm in the soil as they cannot live long without a host and having reworked pasture that horses roamed on id have no wories about turning it over to veggies .

[Aunt Sally]

This is probably the best web site for toxocara:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/zoonoses/toxocarosis/geninfo.htm

The HPA was known as the UK Public Health Service.

The main points from this site are that it is mainly puppies who shed eggs and that older dogs produce much fewer.  To put human infections in  context there is only around 10 cases of human infections in the UK reported each year.  Hand washing and washing vegetable is importaint as a means of infection prevention every where as there is probably more risk from foxes than dogs.  

If your dog has been regularly wormed there should be no serious problem.

PS  OH is a diagnostic parasitologist and says the site given above is excellent!

[mkhenry]

the winter will kill any worm in the soil as they cannot live long without a host and having reworked pasture that horses roamed on id have no wories about turning it over to veggies .

I do not want to disagree with you Munty,but the round worms can survive for up to 2 years.
I will try to find some scientific evidence to back this up.
Its been a while since I needed to have this all in my head.

[muntjac]

they probably can mate but i dont reckon they would live in the ground where its been turned over with natural predators and cold to kill em

[mkhenry]

This is probably the best web site for toxocara:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/zoonoses/toxocarosis/geninfo.htm

The HPA was known as the UK Public Health Service.

The main points from this site are that it is mainly puppies who shed eggs and that older dogs produce much fewer.  To put human infections in  context there is only around 10 cases of human infections in the UK reported each year.  Hand washing and washing vegetable is importaint as a means of infection prevention every where as there is probably more risk from foxes than dogs.  

If your dog has been regularly wormed there should be no serious
problem.

PS  OH is a diagnostic parasitologist and says the site given above is excellent!

Every thing you say is as always correct,but none of the information concerns growing on a patch of soil that has been used as a dogs toilet over a period of time.

If the dog also uses other places then it could at sometime have picked up the round worm and not be showing any symptoms whatsoever.
Even if a dog has been wormed reinfection on a contaminated site is more than posibe. :?
We are not talking about a big park where catching an infection is like a lottery win,we are looking at an enclosed piece of land used presumably at least once per day. :?

I am only asking for a little time to go by and a little studing of the situation before anyone starts to grow in a possibly unsuitable location.

[muntjac]

ok mk u got it .. now for the cruncher i have 4 dogs n used jeyes to sterilse and clear a bit ground that they dodo on .. and it produces great runner beans      but i agree it has its risks for mikey  

[shaun]

jeyes fluid would do the clean up just great and lime will kill most pests aswel

[mkhenry]

ok mk u got it .. now for the cruncher i have 4 dogs n used jeyes to sterilse and clear a bit ground that they dodo on .. and it produces great runner beans      but i agree it has its risks for mikey  

Prevention is always better than cure you will have broken the cycle,no problemo