Thursday, December 20, 2007

doggy business

I am now a proud pet owner. The object of my affections and I have just got ourselves a suitably second hand dog - an ex racing greyhound. And what a dog he is - a wonderful pet - doesn't bark, doesn't smell and doesn't shed hair. He is good natured, relaxed and generally fabulous. And big. And handsome (well, so me and my one eye like to think).

There were a couple of things I had left out of my calculations:
1. dogs eat meat (well this one likes to). I find this challenging as I don't like meat, raw or cooked. But a lot of the processed stuff sounds like it is very dodgy, full of stuff that dogs should not be eating (beaks and feet anyone?)
2. the cleaning up and removal of the other end of the meaty equation. Yep, dog crap.

Most people seem to use plastic bags to pick up their dog's output - but we have reduced our plastic bag consumption significantly and I am not about to start using more just so I can re-use them to pick up dog crap. There is something just not right about that.

Anyone have any brilliant ideas?

5 comments:

Jess E said...

I think you can get vegetarian pet food - some vegan friends found their cat actually liked it better than normal cat food. Also, dogs can happily eat lots of vegies and rice, unlike cats - though of course they probably need protein than omnivorous humans. Talk to your vet?

Anonymous said...

Petsmart/Pet Food express (and prob other stores) have biodegradable bags for cleaning up after the doggie. they even have neat little holders that you can attach to your leash so you always have a bag.

From the lion's mouth said...

You can get biodegradable bags made of cornstarch.

Or you could get bags out of the bag recycling bin at the supermarket - reuse someone else's bags.

You are lucky - I *love* greyhounds, but my cat would freak. I agree regarding the dodgy stuff in the tins, too - one suggestion is the pet food meat stall at Vic Market, where at least you can get (feral) rabbit and etc - at least that way it's not meat that's been farmed.

Taphophile said...

Dog poo disposal around our place means scooping it up with a old child-sized sand/garden shovel and a trip to the nearest garden bed. When out and about, I carry the bags that magazines and newspapers come in. If we don't have any of those, a piece of newspaper, folded in half, then twist to seal works quite well, or paper bags if available. Not as secure to carry around, though.

Anonymous said...

Facing a similar plastic bag crisis myself, I asked for some on Freecycle -- people practically begged me to take them. A lot of them were newspaper bags that couldn't be recycled anyway, so it was a win-win, as far as I'm concerned.