# bleaching the yard??? UGH! Worms...



## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

Not sure where we picked up the worms again, but we're worming again...

I've picked up all the poop and taken the windex outdoor window wash thing and filled it with bleach, hooked up the hose to the hot washing machine hook up, and sprayed the heck out of the yard. For good measure, I threw around a 50# bag of water softener salt (salt dries stuff out - I'm hoping wormies are victims...) 

The upshot here is that we already have a yard of mud, with no grass, so ruining a beautiful lawn is not a concern. 

Does anyone have any other ideas to get the worm eggs in the soil to die? (short fo cementing the whole yard, which I am considering...)


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Wow, you have to bleach the yard! I know diatemateous earth is suppose to kill worms and their eggs so perhaps sprinkle that? I rally don't know though so you should wait till someone better informed than I. What a bummer.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

What kind of parasites?


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## Meo'smom (Jan 3, 2013)

These worms are the larvae of June bugs in french we call them "barbots". They come out in June early July just to be sure it's called a June bug! If you had lots of junebugs last year, you'll have lots of worms this year! It's a vicious cycle. The worse thing is...not much you can do...some people soak their lawns trying to drown them...mostly your only shot. We have this here, they eat up all the grass! I also think you have to "get them" at a specific stage in their life cycle. One year, there was an epidemic where I live, people would just shake their heads! nothing to do! AND if the neighbor has them...you will too! sorry I don't have the magic solution!

Just to be sure...these worms are plump and white right?


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

he pooped out a tapeworm (segments of dead worm from the last worming, I think, since it was brown and not plump and white, but definitely the flattend corn pops looking segments...) and a bunch of eggs (rice looking things), with some of what looked like small roundworms in there, too. not whipworms - they look like threads....

Who knew *I* could ever have such a vast ability to distinguish various poop malfunctions? UGH!!!

I've got him on a broad spectrum wormer, and we'll check with the vet in a week to be sure we got them out of the body. Now to just sanitize the yard and the toys...


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## Meo'smom (Jan 3, 2013)

HAHA! Thank God I was wrong! I thought you meant worms in the yard...but not doggie worms! Sorry if I freaked you out!


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

they say the eggs can live in the soil for YEARS, so we likely pick them up on walks, but I'd like to kill everything in my yard! (including the voles and repel the squirrels and skunks would be fine with me, too....) we do live on a little creek, so we get a vast array of summer bugs, including mosquitoes!


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## Apres Argent (Aug 9, 2010)

Tape worm usually comes from a flea but can come from drinking larva infested water also. The one thing that is really important is to make sure you worm again in 20 days for 3 days depending on what you are using, doing so will make sure you have killed all the eggs that hatched from last worming. 
I hate worms!


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## AngelsMommy (Nov 3, 2012)

I am sorry to hear about dealing with tapeworms. Make sure that you get a wormer that is also good for the tapeworms as many are not and you may need a separate one for tapeworms, which are from flea bites. 

These links have good info: Flea Tapeworm Life Cycle Information. 
Common Tapeworms: What you need to know


This link is about other worms as well as tapeworms: 
Controlling Roundworm, Tapeworm and Hookworm in Dogs 

I hope it helps and you get rid of these pests easily.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

There are some really pretty yards these days with tile instead of grass and accents of pea gravel or larger landscaping rocks, with the only plants/trees in large pots...maybe you could do something like that? The tiles would be easy to bleach.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

I'm thinking of doing something exactly like that! Deck, tiles, gravel - no grass... That does not clean up the beach paths, but it does deal with here, except for the river, which he plays in during the day and the wildlife visits at night... High rise life looks better and better every day! 

Good to know about the 20 days! I'll mark the calendar, and what we have is supposed to kill/control 4 kinds of worms, including tape, hook, round and whip. safe-guard 4 canine dewormer from petco.

Is bleach really effective in destroying the eggs or cleaning the yard, or am I really just the crazy dog lady, bleaching my yard with hot water (because there is still snow and ice, or there was, anyway)...? Is any other product more effective? I also sprayed the bug free back yard stuff from OFF on the yard, because I found it when looking for a spraying container...


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

sarahmurphy said:


> Is bleach really effective in destroying the eggs or cleaning the yard, or am I really just the crazy dog lady, bleaching my yard with hot water (because there is still snow and ice, or there was, anyway)...? Is any other product more effective? I also sprayed the bug free back yard stuff from OFF on the yard, because I found it when looking for a spraying container...


Wow you still have snow and ice and you're flooding your yard? You know what we call that in Canada...hockey


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## Oreo's Mommy (Dec 18, 2012)

If you find out you are crazy for bleaching your yard...let me know because I do it too! Oreo has an outdoor area that I fenced off for him to potty in and I bleach it. I don't allow anyone to walk in it either. I live in a tropical climate so none of the diseases or worms or what ever die. I have no idea if it works or not...the vet said the sun will kill most things...but I am not taking any chances. Oreo likes to dig so I stop him and bleach the holes. I only do it when I am sure it will be totally dry before he needs to go potty again.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

reading online, it appears 91% isopropyl alcohol kills bedbugs, even... I'll mist that over the yard as soon as the current concoction settles....

We'd call it hockey here, but our yard is on such a slope to the river that winter, once the snow turns to ice, resembles one of those olympic ski jump training ramps into the river... (every year we have at least one child end up in the river while sledding, at least once... sometimes more than one at a time, sometimes, more than one time per child.... the river moves all year, so it never is "dry"...)

and yes, it's okay to laugh.


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## sweetheartsrodeo (Sep 19, 2012)

My mother is an organic gardener, and so she uses diatomaceous earth a lot, as well as cotten seed meal... The general thought is that it makes a thick soil to stop the worms, or other harmful paracites from repoducing. A couple years ago, when fleas were a killer in TX we sprayed with nematods (spelling?) and they killed the fleas, but are like worms themselves, so I don't know if that would help or not... However, I will say you have to use rain water, as they cannot live with the chemicals in tap water. 

I wonder if you had a bug company come out and use the stuff they use for termites in the ground, if that would kill them? I know it kills a vast aray of bugs, and worms and such... 

Good luck with it  

PS, some people feed their dogs diatomaceous earth... the website says it is safe for consumption and will kill worms... IDK if I believe it or not though...


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

I'll add that to my regime, but I doubt I'll feed it to the dog...although I seem to think I have a friend who is an earthy crunchy girl, who may have fed it to her children, or maybe it was goats???


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## sweetheartsrodeo (Sep 19, 2012)

sarahmurphy said:


> I'll add that to my regime, but I doubt I'll feed it to the dog...although I seem to think I have a friend who is an earthy crunchy girl, who may have fed it to her children, or maybe it was goats???


I am so glad I was already grown when my mother started her second "hippie phase"... I am sure she would have fed it to me if she thought it was all natural and healthy...  

But I had a granny that believed that caster oil cured it all... bleh... now it is fish oil, not sure which is worse lol  (yuck)


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Have never used bleach.....but here in Calif. we have fleas all year round which also means tapeworms! When I had a yard what we used was Sevin dust(Pyrethrin) which is made from chrysanthemum flowers and is safe around pets, plants, and birds. you can use in the yard AND on your dog and cats! I also used it in my aviary to get rid of red mites! You can purchase it at any home and garden store and it's not too costly!
Also, when worming your dog, read labels cuz most over the counter wormers don't take care of tapeworm. Ask your Vet for a good wormer but remember that unless you get rid of the fleas, the tapes will return! ( Google 'Pyrethrin' for info. but what iI used was called 5% Sevin Dust) Fleas are hard to get rid of....GOOD LUCK!!! 
p.s. fleas thrive in warm moist soil!!!


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

We had a good talk abt Diatomaceous Earth last year here. Absolutely safe to ingest for humans and canines.

As a lifetime gardener, I would be just a little careful of deterrents/poisons around the little ones that u don't want to harm . . . from earthworms down to microbes. Take good care to read all instructions. 'Specially up-slope from a watercourse.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

I'm not really sure which "wee ones" I might want to not harm...

But I will read the directions, and probably call on the family gardeners (the people in our family who garden, which is not me - not the paid staff of gardeners, that I wish for some days....) and I will skip the pool filter earth, even though I can get it wholesale...


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## anagroom (Feb 26, 2013)

Bleaching the yard will not work and it's terrible for the environment! The diatemateous earth probably won't work either. It works on fleas and other bugs by cutting them up when they walk over it. It is very bad for you to breathe it in, it will do the same to your lungs. I don't think it will work due to the size of the parasites you are trying to kill. Cleaning up your yard is your best bet. We use pea gravel at our day care and that seems to work nicely for clean ups and it keeps the pups a little cleaner.


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## Mr Babykins Jasper (Dec 8, 2012)

sarahmurphy said:


> I'm not really sure which "wee ones" I might want to not harm...
> 
> But I will read the directions, and probably call on the family gardeners (the people in our family who garden, which is not me - not the paid staff of gardeners, that I wish for some days....) and I will skip the pool filter earth, even though I can get it wholesale...


I think she means pets and children. Using pesticides can often have the effect of hurting different animals in the environment. If it poisons the worms, it will poison the birds and fish too.

I understand the need to be worm free, but I am not sure that killing the ability of the soil to support life is the best answer. Perhaps your vet can assist you with the right parasite medication that will keep your dog healthy.

I know that it is frustrating and painful to have our precious dogs hurt by parasites.


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## brownlikewoah (May 3, 2012)

bleach is really terrible stuff, I rarely use it in my home and I certainly wouldn't want my pets around it, much less ruining the environment with it. Yes, worms suck, but, they have a purpose. Everything in the food chain has a purpose. I would recommend leaving your yard alone, and keeping your dog on a regular dewormer, and let nature run it's course. Remember, all that bleach you're spraying is running into that river that your dog plays in, and the fish in it that you eat.


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## pgr8dnlvr (Aug 7, 2011)

I know this forum isn't too fond of products like this, but I'd recommend using a topical product like Advantage Multi monthly for as long as you can. I give it to my girl every month and may continue for her whole life. If used for at least 3 months consecutively, enough of the dewormers build up in the dogs system that whenever they are "challenged" (exposed to worms etc) that the worms would be killed immediately. 

The only worm it doesn't do is tapeworm, however the most common method to contract tapeworm is fleas and advantage Multi's most important feature is flea control. You can deworm with something like droncit once or twice a year to be sure to knock out tapeworm especially if you think your dog may have been challenged.

Advantage Multi is also a heartworm preventative, so that feature is handy too!

If you treat for a year or two, perhaps all the eggs and whatnot you are worried about in your yard will have had time to die?

Rebecca


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