5 Creative Ways To Deal With Dog Poop When Hiking!
Nobody will enjoy walking on a trail littered with dog poop. On the one hand, dog poop degrades slowly; on the other hand, its impact on the environment is unhealthy.
On the strength of that, it becomes essential that everybody follows through with the leave no trace trail etiquette. There are a few ways to leash and clean up after your dog.
One common and most effective way to deal with dog poop when hiking is to have an air-tight container for carrying the poop. It can be a bag plus a dedicated hard-sided water bottle container to house the dog waste—another simple yet very efficient way to deal with dog poop while hiking is to bury it.
Dog poop increases the risk of parasite transmission. Above it, it makes a hiking trail appear unappealing to hikers.
This article discusses 5 creative ways to properly and effectively deal with dog waste when hiking.
5 Creative Ways To Deal With Dog Poop When Hiking
As minor as the case may seem, dog poop can amount to many issues when left out in the wide open.
Apart from the fact that it impedes the enjoyment of your hike, it turns out to cause more than you’d expect.
Above all, dog poop on an open hike trail is one of the bones of contention among hikers and others.
It becomes crucial to devise a few ways to deal with your dog poop on the above strength. Most importantly, whenever you decide to go hiking with your dog.
Here are five ways to properly and effectively deal with dog poop when hiking.
#1. Using a Bag With a Dedicated Hard-sided Container
A dedicated hard-sided container is simply a custom plastic bespoke water bottle. The construction is such that the mouth of the water bottle is wide open.
The wide-mouthed bottle makes the hard-sided container an excellent reservoir for dog poop. And aside from being an excellent receptacle, the container is very portable to carry about.
You should bag the dog poop in some leather/bag and insert it into the container. Of course, you must have some covering for the wide-mouthed container.
This way, you can comfortably hang the waste container from a carabiner. You may also decide to fit the waste container in your bag pack.
Note that the bag inside the hard-sided container will effectively contain the poop and the smell. So yes, you can place the dog poop inside your bag without hurdles.
The bag and the container tackle the issue of dog poops while hiking.
#2. Use a Standard Poop Holder
There are unique poop holders designed to hold dog waste while hiking.
They come in handy, especially for long hikes with dogs. Examples include PoopPac, Doggie Did, Turdle bag, and Civic Doody.
I’ll recommend the Civic Doody for its lightweight and portability. Plus, its wall design is such that it minimizes odor. Added to the above features is that it is water-resistant.
You can opt for one of such purchasable poop holders to deal with dog poop waste.
All such poop holders have some fancy design that removes the unpleasantness of hiking with dog poop.
#3. By Burying It
Burying dog poop is another effective way to deal with dog poop when hiking. It is the most practical and appropriate option to handle dog waste.
For long hikes, burying the dog poop is the best approach to dealing with the matter. The case is such because having the waste in your backpack adds more weight to your loads.
Not to mention the inconvenience you’ll have to bear with carrying the dog poop.
In burying any waste product, you must always follow the guidelines and procedures, even for dog poop.
Here is the right way to bury a waste product, especially fecal materials.
- Dig a sizable hole (about 6” in depth).
- You must have the burying site 200 feet away from a water body.
- Proceed to put the dog poop un-bagged in the hole. It is essential to have the poop un-bagged as it is easy to decay and decompose.
- Finally, ensure to properly and completely cover the hole.
#4. Training Your Dog To Hold It
Another way to deal with dog poop while hiking is to make your dog carry the waste after bagging it.
You can double-pack the bag and make your dog carry the waste when bagging the waste. The challenging part of having your dog carry the poop is training your dog to wear backpacks.
With the twist of having to train your dog to wear a backpack and carry its poop, this method is less effective.
In addition, you’ll require some special backpacking harnesses to achieve your goal. However, to achieve this, you must worry only a little about dealing with dog poop while hiking.
Added to training your dog to carry the poop is training your dog to poop before the hike.
Training your dog to defecate before the hike is as tasking as training the dog to carry the waste material. You can train your dog to poop if necessary before going out.
Training your dog to carry the waste is a rare yet creative way to deal with dog poop. This way, you get to keep the entire waste off your side. Your dog will do the carrying.
#5. Ziplock Your Bag With a Dryer Sheet.
One of the most common ways of dealing with doggy waste materials is to bag them. However, there’s always the bother of hiking through with packaged poop.
Oftentimes, the experience is unworthy as you’d have to endure the smell of the poop for the rest of the hike.
Nevertheless, when hiking, you can have a bag with a dryer sheet to help deal with the doggy waste. It comes in handy when a regular bag does not contain dog poop and all its odor.
Also, a ziplock bag with a dryer sheet is the best method to deal with dog poop in summer.
You will observe that dog poop will freeze within moments during winter, but it is not the case during summer.
The dryer sheet helps to absorb the smell of pre-loaded doggy poop inside the ziplock bag.
Should You Pick Up Your Dog Poop While Hiking?
Of course, picking up after your dog poop while hiking is the proper thing. Dog poops here and there along hiking trails are genuinely not an appealing view.
Going with dog etiquette, it is a big deal to leave doggy waste lying along public hiking trails. Your dog poop is your concern; how much more while you are hiking with the dog.
Even though dog poop is natural, leaving it lying in the open is not OK. So yes, you should pick up your dog poop while hiking; it is imperative.
It is worth noting that the implication of allowing your dog to poop randomly around the environment is hazardous—even more than you’d ever imagine.
From everyday experience, you can observe that animals can eat other animals’ waste materials. Therefore, the chances of bacteria and parasites spreading keep increasing.
The same applies to humans, who can easily get infected by contaminated soils and water bodies.
But, alas, we still get to suffer from the simple neglect of not having to pick after our dog poop.
So, you are to pick up your dog poop when hiking and dispose of them when appropriate.
There are numerous doggy backpacks with unique designs for the singular purpose of dealing with dog poop. However, you can decide on another method to deal with the poop.
What Is The Most Eco-friendly Way Of Disposing Dog Poop In The Woods?
The most eco-friendly way to dispose of dog poop in the woods is by decomposing it. It implies you are digging and burying the doggy waste material.
Burying dog poops is one way of decomposing the facet into organic manure, profiting plantation.
Therefore, burying dog poops in the woods is an onus to the green nature of the wood. With this, decomposing dog poop is the most eco-friendly and beneficial way of disposing of dog poop.
Generally, decomposing dog poops, as it has to do with converting them into helpful manure, is the deal.
In some cities, pet waste is collectible in compostable bags, which are usable for organic fertilizers. But, again, check your state bylaw to confirm what is feasible.
Below is a brief tabular comparison of the pros and cons of decomposing/burying dog poop.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It is beneficial to plantation | It may wash off into nearby water bodies |
| It takes a short time to decompose under the right conditions. | It is only sometimes effective as it may take a long time to decompose. |
| It is an easy and modest method of dealing with dog poop. | It can constitute environmental pollution. |
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