I am just curious and to what other mom and dads think. I know of someone who thinks the backyard is their dogs toilet and will not let her kids play there. I also have a dog who goes in the backyard but I still let my daughter play there. Of course this is after cleaning up after the dog. And if you agree with the yard being the dogs toilet, how do you feel about your child playing in parks and other open areas where other animals (birds, racoons, squirrels, etc) do their duty
Thanks for the answers. I agree that the backyard is technically the dogs toilet but I do not stop my daughter from playing. I just make sure everything is cleaned up. I am not going to discourage my daughter from playing outside because of a little dog poop that I can clean up. But now I can't help to imagine what my friend will be thinking when we have them over for a bbq outside, in the dogs toilet. lol
Victoria- I never thought of it that way either until my friend mentioned it. My dog and cat are part of our family and we even allow the dog on the bed. lol
Well...my hubs is in charge of "back yard toilet" cleaning. We have a huge deck so mostly they stay on the deck. Unless they convince me to sit on the deck so they can jump on the trampoline.
Mostly though they are bike/scooter riders so we play in the front (we have a corner house so they have tons of sidewalk room.
So it's not because it's Abby's toilet that they don't...it's because we just prefer other outside activities.
dogs and kids can coexist :)
I have never considered it. But then, I don't consider my backyard as my dog's toilet, either. Our dog is part of our family and lives in the house with us. She sleeps beside my bed. Yes, she poops outside. It gets poop scooped once a week. Our kids know where she tends to "go" and they watch out when they play in those areas.
The park? Umm... like anything else... if it is outside, you have to be aware of your surroundings. But I don't approve of people who take their dogs to the park and don't clean up after them.
I'm not really sure what the point of your question is?
Do I allow my kids to play outside? Well, yeah....
When we had a dog - I would go out everyday and clean up after it before the kids could play in the back yard. But with 3 kids and one on the way it got to be to much & we found the dog another home. Now that I have 5 kids at home - I'm not planning on getting a dog anytime soon... it's enough work trying to keep up with the kids.
Does your friend not like cleaning up the backyard, or just not like the kids playing outside? There is no reason not to let the dog & the kids outside in the same area as long as the poopoo is cleaned up before the kids go out to play.
We live on a farm, and the dog has her own fenced area, and the pig has his own fenced area. The kids get the rest. Of course, the dog runs wild with the kids much of the time, and if nature calls, well . . . We also have tons of wild animals that also roam our yard like you mentioned, and I don't give it a second thought. None of our friends do either. We're all just happy to have our kids enjoying the great outdoors. :)
Our dog is in the backyard but he has a pen that is fenced in so his "toilet" is in a contained area where the kids don't go. The rest of the yard is basically taken up by our pool and patio. We live in the desert so we don't have grass at all. Our kids go to the park and know to "look" for droppings. Your friend probably doesn't pick up after her dog so thank God she doesn't let her kids play back there.
Well, technically the backyard is the dogs toilet - it's where they poop and pee. BUT it doesn't have to be and shouldn't be ONLY the dog's toilet. Pick up and poop on a regular basis and the toilet turns into a playground!
I never really thought about bird, racoon or squirrel excrement when at a park, but I do think about cats pooping in sand so I try to stay away from playgrounds that have sand.
Our dog died in August. He was 11. My son is 9. We picked up the poop every day or every other day and/or right before playtime in the yard.
We have a dog and we have 2 kids. The backyard is for everyone in the family (kids, dog, adults). I pick up dog poop twice a week. I just tell the kids to watch for poop when they go out to play. They haven't stepped in any yet and the dog usually only uses one area to poop. I always have them check their shoes before they go in.
I taught my dog to go in a specific area in the back yard so only a small portion of the back yard is a toilet.
You are right. We have lots of animal visitors to our back yard. And they go where ever they want.
Good luck to you and yours.
Part of our backyard is fenced in for the dogs, kids roam freely and play in that area (steering clear of poop) and we hang out on the porch and eat dinner. The dog stuff gets cleaned up regularly, but not every time it happens.
The rest of the yard is free of our dogs, but we have all kinds of animals roaming through it (deer, rabbits, moles, groundhogs, stray cats, escaped dogs, etc). Kids roam that as well.
Dogs are fairly territorial so they will poop in approx the same area w/in a
certain radius.
I pick up dog poop daily.
When we go outside, I spend the first 5 or 10 mins picking up dog poop.
Our yard could be technically described as having "different zones": sand box (eww about the cats...I do check that too), a swing set, patio, grass area, garden etc.
I have him check & wipe his shoes each time before entering.
Then we always take our shoes off once inside.
Does that help?
