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Dig a do-it-yourselfer using a spade, plastic basin, a plastic garbage lid or wood plank and a package of septic starter (available in most supermarkets for $2 to $3). Choose a well-drained, slightly out of the way place, not too near tree roots which might grow up into your "septic tank". Dig a hole about half a meter deep and 30 centimeters in diameter. It should be big enough to contain the plastic basin at the bottom. (Our head gardener, Sharon Slack dug a hole about 18" deep and sunk an old garbage can in the ground with no bottom).

Collect the dog doo and drop it into the basin. Sprinkle two of the packets of septic tank starter on top of the dog doo and add a litre or so of water. Cover the hole with the lid. Within 48 hours, the septic tank starter, which is non-caustic, and promotes natural bacterial growth will have begun its work and you can add more dog doo. You can then begin to add it daily.

Give the system a bucket of water a week and a packet of starter once or twice a month. The dog doo turns to liquid, most of which washes into the soil. What remains is a humus which should only need to be collected once every two or three years. There is no smell even in the warmest weather. Even the Vancouver Health Department declares them safe.

Now if we could only train the dogs to lift the lid and make their deposits directly. Still the males would probably forget to put the lid back down when they were through!

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