A Doggie Dooley for the Loomis Family

By Claudia Loomis

As I walked around the yard to pick up waste from our three family dogs, I got to thinking that it would be nice to recycle or compost the waste instead of bagging it up and putting it in the trash. Plus, I figured that the sanitation workers would appreciate not having to pick up those bags in addition to our other garbage we leave at our curb. It would also reduce the load in the local landfill. I did a little research and found the Doggie Dooley which is sold at Cherrybrook.com. The concept seems simple enough; the Doggie Dooley is buried in your yard and works like a mini septic system for dog leavings. With the help of natural digestive enzymes, which you add to the Doggie Dooley, and a bit of water, the Doggie Dooley converts the solid waste into a harmless liquid that will leach out and be absorbed into the subsoil.

So I brought the family a Doggie Dooley. Because we have three dogs, I purchased the larger unit that is shaped liked pyramid. I have to admit I am feeling pretty good about this decision because it is a good choice for the environment, as well as the local sanitation workers.

Step One: Read the directions and instructions.
This is probably the most important step. The instructions were very easy to follow so I quickly decided that this would be a good project for our 18 year old son.

Step Two: Dig the hole.
The hole has to be pretty big and the instructions were very detailed on the dimensions of the hole. Since we have 3 dogs, the directions also suggested digging a smaller hole deeper down from the center of the hole that will house the doggie Dooley, to allow for better drainage. Started using a shovel and then switched to a hoe to try to get the walls of hole even.

Step 3: Assemble the Doggie Dooley.
This was pretty straightforward, just needed a screwdriver. The Smaller version of the Doggie Dooley does not require any assembly, so folks with one dog or two small dogs get to save a step here. Putting the Dooley together took about 10 minutes, so it was not big deal.

Step 4: Place the assembled Doggie Dooley in the hole.
Oops! A little problem here, the hole needed to be a bit bigger than specified. It took about 30 minutes to make the hole wider by about 3 inches and straighten the walls. If we had assembled the Doggie Dooley before we dug the hole, we would have dug the hole to the proper dimensions to start with. So, you live and learn.

Placed the Dooley in the bigger hole and we were soon to be in business.

Step 5: Place in 2-3 days worth of feces and fill the Dooley with water.
This took us 4 attempts to get the soil saturated to the point where the water would stay in the Dooley. I think that we could have, and should have, loaded in more waste to start with as it may have helped with the absorption.

Step 6: Place a few Tablespoons of Enzyme into a bucket of warm water.
Let it sit for 10 minutes to activate before adding it to the Dooley. The Waste Terminator acts as the catalyst that gets the decomposition started.

So now we are all set up, I merely have to pick up the poop in the yard, dump it into the Doggie Dooley, add water every few days to make sure it is covered, and add Waste Terminator once a week.

A few words of caution, the Dooley works in all soil types with the exception of clay type soil which, unfortunately, is common in New Jersey where I live. Also, once the ground is frozen the Doggie Dooley will not break down the waste and you will have to scoop and dispose of it in the trash. Once the ground thaws in the spring, you can start the system up again by repeating steps 5 and 6.