Turflon Ester Ultra has an LD50 of 3.2 gram per kilogram. A 22.5 kilogram dog would need to ingest and retain 72 grams of concentrated product. Normal application rate of Turflon Ester Ultra is ~20 grams or 3/4 oz per 1000 sq ft. Dog would have to eat and keep down over 3500 sq ft of grass. I know what happens to a dog that eats a few mouthfuls of grass herbicide or no herbicide. Impossible for toxicity to occur. Triclopyr is also not a known or suspected carcinogen.

 

Good point, Greendoc!
Thanks for your help with the calculations.
What about Tenacity (mesotrione)?
LD 50 about 5000 or maybe more.
Rate is 4 to 8 ounces per acre.
I converted the 50 pound dog to 800 ounces, and calculated 4 ounces needed to kill the dog.
I concluded he would have to eat about an acre of treated grass to approach a lethal dose.
Probably a half-acre if the 8 ounce Tenacity per acre rate was applied.

Anyone else have a favorite low-tox broadleaf herbicide in mind?

 

Quicksilver and Octane have similar toxicology profiles. In fact, most weeds in a cool season lawn could be handled by a combination of Triclopyr, Tenacity, and Quicksilver or Octane with minimal hazard to dogs.

 

It also appears that sulfentrazone as Dismiss or Dismiss NXT would be useful as a low-toxicity herbicide. The LD50 is 2084 mg/kg.
The NXT version includes Quicksilver ingredient, carfentrazone.
The odor would probably be very low.

https://www.domyown.com/msds/Dismiss-Turf-Label.pdf

And you have the additional benefit of killing nutsedge.

 

Cornell has a great tool to help you determine which pesticides are least harmful for the environment, applicators and property owners.
Environmental Impact Quotient .

https://nysipm.cornell.edu/eiq/

https://nysipm.cornell.edu/eiq/calculator-field-use-eiq/

 

Cornell's hazard calculator works swell--however--how do you enter 2,4-D?
And how do you enter Weed-B-Gone?
Or Trimec?--unless you consider them the same.
Is there a way to enter ester as opposed to amine?
When applying a mixture--do you add the risk factors together or average them out?

 

Those are all good questions. I'm still learning.
Another factor that come into play is how effective is the active ingredient? While one ingredient require 3lb/k another might require 5lb/k. The University of Wisconsin. Can't find the link right now.
By combining the info from both sources you can figure out which products work best with he least negative effects. It's not that easy to figure out. Hopefully there will be more training on how to use the info.

 

Tenacity was one of the lowest one. we did a webinar that Berry put on here learned a lot

 

Yes, I like Tenacity because it is effective and has a low EIQ.

 

I do not only look at acute toxicity. I also think about chronic toxicity of products applied to turf. Primary one is no 24D on turf that a dog or cat lives on. Not talking about a dog that is let out and goes back in. I am talking about the dog or cat that basically lives on the lawn. In a warm season region that is a common situation. I also have non phenoxy options for that kind of weed control. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267855/

But I also treat grazed areas. Difference between a cow and a dog or a cat is the cow is probably going to be exposed only once or maybe twice in a lifetime vs every single year of its lifetime.

 

Still, if Fido licks a lawn that you treated, then takes a runny dump in that same lawn, expect to be sued to the hilt. This is my number one liability fear in this biz, somebody falsely claiming you messed with their mutt.

 

Naturally, you want to have good insurance.
And naturally, you want to follow the label very carefully. The label is the law--and if the government thinks it is OK--and you followed their regulations--you are in a better position.
Of course, keep data on the safety of the products you use handy.
Have the Cornell environmental impact calculator at hand, and also the link.
Be ready to show the customer how many square feet of grass would have to be eaten to hit the danger point for a 50 pound dog. Print it out on a spreadsheet and keep it in your truck--if you feel the need-- 40 pound dog, 30 pound 10 pound.

If you use low-tox, earth friendly products with the correct application method, you can probably argue that your treatments are safer than store-bought bottles and bags of weed and feed products. Maybe apply only products with an LD50 of 2000 mg per Kilogram or more.

If you can apply organic fertilizer--chicken pellets, Milorganite, or Screamin-green--so much the better. Products that actually enrich the soil. Good for the worms. Do you include humic acid and sea kelp? Did you take the course Barry mentioned?

Drive an electric truck--if you want to be sure. Or maybe propane truck with propane mowers, and electric blowers. You are more green than your customers, right?

Potentially, you can claim your treatments are odor-free and environmentally sensitive as compared the, "the harsh smelly chemicals my competitors use."

 

I tell the truth. On the rare occasion that I am applying something with known hazards, pet owners are warned and warned more. Goes back to my days of applying now banned Organophosphate insecticides and nematicides to lawns. People appreciate the concern. That I warned them rather than they coming back to me after the application was already done and their family member exposed. The protocol for such products is no pets or children on the grass until the product has been watered in. Most lawns that have applications made to them at least in the continental US have no irrigation. Therefore many products present excessive risk and are now no longer allowed on residential lawns.

 

There are risks in every business. The company's I worked for always asked customers to keep their pet's inside on the day we scheduled their treatment.
All they had to do was to ask us to call the day before. Our applicators were trained to scout the yard first for pets and food & water bowls before treatment.

After thousands of applications we never had a bonified claim of any pet getting ill.
That's not to say there weren't a few complaints. But that's just part of life.

 

There are risks in every business. The company's I worked for always asked customers to keep their pet's inside on the day we scheduled their treatment.
All they had to do was to ask us to call the day before. Our applicators were trained to scout the yard first for pets and food & water bowls before treatment.

After thousands of applications we never had a bonified claim of any pet getting ill.
That's not to say there weren't a few complaints. But that's just part of life.

Yes. Water and food dishes turned upside down and not in the lawn. Doggy balls and toys removed from the lawn. SOP when I was spraying Diazinon or Turcam on lawns.

 

And potentially you can use an organic fertilizer like Chilean nitrate.
OMRI listed.

https://norganics.com/index-12/index-11/fertilizers/chilean-nitrate/

Maybe organic product fertilizer like feather meal.
When I first hear about this--I thought to myself: "No way! Feathers would never spread properly with a Lesco rotary spreader." LOL!
I understand now--at least I think I do.
Barry, (Phasthound) can explain it. And here is the link to the organic landcare course.

Get Accredited - NOFA Organic Land Care

Home > The Organic Land Care Program for Professionals > Get Accredited Enroll in an Accreditation Course The Accreditation Course in Organic Land Care is offered in multiple formats to meet the needs of our wide professional audience. Courses in all formats lead to accreditation. Online...

nofa.organiclandcare.net

https://www.epicgardening.com/feather-meal/

I am not sure I have confidence in corn gluten meal as crabgrass control. It could be mixed with a fairly safe conventional pre-emergent, potentially.

 

Here's how you spread bird feathers.

 

I cannot answer the toxicity question. However I have two voracious grass eaters. They don't get down much over a small handful and they are barfing. I have heard many answers to why dogs eat grass and have come to the conclusion, they eat grass because they like to.

 

There are 2 good tools to determine effectiveness and environmental impacts of certain pesticides.
1. https://turfpests.wisc.edu/TurfUsage.aspx This site rates the effectiveness of pesticide products.
2.https://nysipm.cornell.edu/eiq/ This site rates the impact of active ingredients on the environment and human health.

By using these tools you can determine witch products perform well and are the safest to use.