Will fresh compost poison my puppy?

July 25, 2023 9:32 AM

A couple of years ago I got a hot compost bin, and I'm very pleased with the results - producing mature compost within a month or so. However, I now have a 5 month old puppy and I've noticed a few sources mentioning that you should keep dogs away from compost, due to potential toxicity from mould.

I can't work out whether this means that you should keep dogs away from compost bins where the active composting is happening, or whether I need to completely avoid spreading the mature output of my hot compost bin in my garden where my puppy can access it? If the latter, how do gardeners manage?

posted by amerrydance to Pets & Animals (10 answers total)

Best answer: Dogs love compost. Keep them out of the bins in particular, but I also had to "dig in" or scrape away some surface soil so I could dress plants with compost and then cover it up again, and even then I had one dog who would dig to get into it. I managed with fencing and roadblocks to keep the dogs out of the plants in general - they'd also eat certain seedlings and lived to pee on my tomatoes.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:42 AM on July 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

(can you rec the bin you use? I'm looking for one.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:03 AM on July 25, 2023

Best answer: I think the correct emphasis is not so much "compost is super toxic to dogs," as "some dogs love compost and (like animal corpses, poop, and other unsavory-to-humans things) will roll in it and eat it if you let them."

When I was young, my family definitely had a dog who, if not closely monitored, would sneak out, break into the compost bin, and eat huge volumes of recently composted, semi-rotten vegetable scraps. We were probably lucky that our dog didn't suffer any serious consequneces (barfing, mostly), but I can absolutely see how this could be a health risk.

You'll probably quickly develop a sense for whether your puppy is going to do this, and whether you'll need to secure your bin and any beds where the compost has been spread. Also, this will probably track closely to whether you have to watch your dog like a hawk on walks to prevent them from scarfing down roadkill.
posted by pullayup at 10:12 AM on July 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

The amount of compost that your puppy will eat is directly proportional to its cuteness quotient. This can only be determined by posting a photo and letting us assess.
posted by hydra77 at 10:19 AM on July 25, 2023 [9 favorites]

Response by poster: I can't believe I forgot the puppy tax - please forgive me!

This is our hot composter - would fully recommend. You need to get the ratio of materials right to get the temperature up, but once it's high enough you can compost meat, baked goods, dog poop, etc.
posted by amerrydance at 10:45 AM on July 25, 2023 [9 favorites]

Best answer: My community garden has some compost bins made of 2-x-4's and chicken wire. My community garden also has several dog owners, all of whom have regularly brought their pups to visit (my current favorites - 3 hyper dachshunds, one of whom is named "Barley" and I forget the others, and a Great Dane named "Goose").

At no time have any of the dog owners been advised that the compost was toxic, and Barley's dad is even our head compost overseer.

I think if you have a more closed-off system like that, you're fine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:05 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think the correct emphasis is not so much "compost is super toxic to dogs," as "some dogs love compost and (like animal corpses, poop, and other unsavory-to-humans things) will roll in it and eat it if you let them."

Cats have catnip and dogs have dead fish, etc, poop and compost. Both animals tend to get the zoomies upon exposure.
posted by y2karl at 3:13 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have no help on the compost, but OMG those eyes.
posted by kathrynm at 4:37 PM on July 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

My cat loves digging up and chewing on half rotted veg from the compost, her favourite being carrots... Maybe she thinks she is a dog? She also likes sleeping on top of the compost heap (it is not covered but i always keep hay as the top layer).
posted by 15L06 at 4:47 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you throw cantaloupe rinds on your compost heap, cats will dig them out and chew on them with gusto. Cats love love love cantaloupe because the volatiles in its scent derive from amino acids as in proteins as in meat. So, cats love cantaloupe because of its rich meaty aroma -- at least as far as cats are concerned. Every cat I have ever lived with has done this -- if I had a dollar for every time in my life that I sauntered into the kitchen to find a well punctured cantaloupe rind on the floor, well... there would be rent.
posted by y2karl at 3:03 AM on July 26, 2023 [2 favorites]