Environmentally Conscious Dog Walking

In a best case scenario, walking your dog is a healthy activity for both you and your pet that does not effect the environment. For the purpose of preserving our sensitive ecosystems and environment, it is vital to collect your dog's feces while hiking or walking.

Myth: dog waste fertilizes plants near the trail - Feces is known to be a fertilizer so leaving it near a trail maybe beneficial to plants. Further, if wildlife feces is acceptable then leaving my dog's feces near a trail must be acceptable too. Finally, collecting and disposing of dog waste requires additional work that can be justified as nonessential.

Problem: dog waste causes native plants to be replaced by non-native plants  - Since dog food and treats are chemically-engineered, dog poop can contain a high level of nitrogen not found in wildlife poop. In many places, soils naturally contain a low concentration of nitrogen and, thus, most native plants thrive in a low nitrogen soil. On the other hand, many non-native plants and weeds thrive in high nitrogen soils. Thus, leaving your dog's waste to decompose near a trail increases the soils nitrogen level and ultimately increases the chance that non-native plants will replace native plants. A reduction in native plants results in a loss of food source for local wildlife and insects because non-native plants do not provide as valuable a food source. What's more, wildlife search for unnatural sources of food such as human garbage, pets, and gardens when native plants are destroyed. Finally, native plants typically do a better job of inhibiting erosion than do non-native plants.

Solution: collect dog feces in pet waste bags - It is advocated to pick-up your dog's litter using biodegradable and disposable waste bags for the purpose of minimizing your impact on the environment during outdoor recreation. Picking up your dog's waste can help preserve the land and wildlife habitat for enjoyment by future generations.