[Geezer (OP)]

Our puppy had an accident at our friend's house. I was going to flush the evidence down the toilet, but he insisted it went in the trash can (dustbin). Does he know something I don't know?

[RD]

higher clog factor apparently ...

High volumes of hair and ash, not normally found in human waste, can interfere with septic system functions and clog drain fields

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/stormwater/municipal/MUNIdocs/PoulsboPETwasteFAQ.pdf

[CliffordK]

Escherichia coli
Survival: Up to 4 months in ruminant (cattle) feces.

Ouch.
Does that mean that I should go around picking up all the cow pies too?

Remember, there are several types of E-Coli.  Enterohemolytic E-Coli is the one that is dangerous to humans.  The much more common Enterotoxigenic E-Coli may be more of an issue of acquiring local immunity, which wouldn't be a problem with one's pets.

It's not a bad idea to regularly de-worm the pets, and thus one would be less concerned with the feces carrying worms.

Anyway, in a city, it is pleasant to get rid of the dog poop.  In the country (where one is most likely to encounter septic systems)...  it sounds overrated. 

[RE.Craig]

Our puppy had an accident at our friend's house. I was going to flush the evidence down the toilet, but he insisted it went in the trash can (dustbin). Does he know something I don't know?

I think your friend has reservations [justified reservations] about sharing his loo with a dog. Do you let your dog crap in your own loo? Gross if you do!

[menageriemanor]

you can train cats to use human lavatories, but they don't flush.   

I'm on acres, and have sunk a roughly 1 foot diameter, 4 foot long scrounged piece of pipe next to an ornamental tree, a distance from the house.  It's buried roughly 2 foot into the ground, and dog poo is chucked into that, with a very rare extra of food scraps, off milk, and once a week, I pour a bucket of water in, and put a flower pot over the top, so no animal can fall in, and the pipe internals are dark.  The local worms make a beeline for it, and if you set it up right, the worms break down and spread the digested stuff, and you can keep tipping stuff in, and it never fills, and the tree  is v happy.  Just don't put the poo from newly wormed dogs, for a week.

[RE.Craig]

Clever idea menageriemanor , my grandfathers thatched 300 year old cottage has no indoor toilet, only an "out house" of the "bucket & chuck it" variety. All the contents are buried in deep furrows between his rose beds, and I can tell you that they really thrive. After centuries of occupancy [ my ancestor built the cottage ] the soil around the cottage is unbelievably rich. The ashes from the fire are also added to the earth. I think our ancestors could teach us a thing or two about sustainable living. 

[menageriemanor]

I read that the traditionally grown Chinese vegetable gardens had human waste put in their soil.  I prefer 2 keep poo away from root veg & leafy veg, but have no problem with it buried - or my system of pipes, around fruit or decorative trees.   If a larger family, have more pipes, top with sawdust, return more rarely.  Tho enough contributed to keep worms hanging around & interested

The only thing I pause over is the drugs so many people take, these days, for health. Some might effect bacteria/worms.

Most old rural properties in Oz had a lemon tree grown against the verandah of old homesteads.  In the days when they had outside dunnies, no tv, the men, in mild weather, would sit out on the verandah, smoke & drink their beer. They always did a pee off the verandah, onto the soil around the lemon tree. Trees flourished, big crops of lemons.

MANY self sufficiency magazines have discussed using urine 4 trees, just as a mild fertiliser. Wee in bucket, dilute roughly 1 in 10, go for it!

It saves quite a bit of quality, treated water in cities, too.

Remember not that long ago, the best tweeds you could buy used traditional manufacturing methods, which included using stale urine.

Sorry for the delay in answering. I had no internet access.

[CliffordK]

MANY self sufficiency magazines have discussed using urine 4 trees, just as a mild fertiliser. Wee in bucket, dilute roughly 1 in 10, go for it!

Dilute?

Why not just go and piddle on the ground near the tree?

Grass may or may not like the concentrated stuff, but the tree should like it just fine.

I picked up a waterless urinal a while ago, and am just looking for a good place to set it up to collect some "fertilizer".

[menageriemanor]

I must admit, I very rarely bother 2 dilute, but it depends what you are pouring/peeing on & time of year.  I'm in Oz, & native trees/plants are more sensitive 2 nitrogen, etc, perhaps the warning is based on that?  Sometimes, I just fill the nearly empty bucket with water. because the extra water, in an Oz summer, is just that extra kindness, to the plant, & saves an extra trip with a bucket, some other time. I think it can knock some sensitive plants around, stale & concentrated. Suppose that too, also depends on how healthy your fluid intake is, on a daily basis AND HOW many pees 1 tree/plant gets...

I just added it here, in case someone tried it out on a beloved & sensitive plant. 1 in 10 parts wee is as safe as you can get, I gather, before you start talking amounts that could hurt plant. As in a badly drained plant position in a garden of a large family with lots of visitors with the same self sufficiency beliefs, who favour the 1 plant.

I love my plants &  would be horrified if my casual suggestion caused harm to a reader's favourite plant, so I have repeated the advice I read, fairly regularly, in my 2 favourite & trusted self sufficiency mags.

[BillBD]

I know my septic tank would not explode but I am sure my wife would.

[Bill S]

Dog poop shouldn't cause an explosion, but cat poop could, especially if it's A TOM cat!