Question
I have been battling ringworm on my dogs' paws for a while now. I have been rubbing antifungal topical medications on their paws and that has helped a little. I am looking for something that will kill the ringworm in our yard. Our yard is quite muddy now,  thanks to tornados and rain. Is there anything that i can put in or on the ground to kill the ringworm?
thank you very much in advance

Answer
Pet questions would normally be answered in the Pet Department here at AllExperts, but you ask such an interesting question, and being a New Yorker I do have an opinion on everything.  And I actually think I have an answer for you.  Because we gardeners, myself included, battle with this very problem all the time.  Many don't know it, but being up close and personal with this much dirt, and this much Fungus, is bound to cause problems sooner or later.

First, let me point out that Ringworm for those of you in the rest of the world has NOTHING to do with worms.  Big relief.  This is strictly a Fungus.  Epidermophyton, Microsporum or Trichophyton Fungus, to be exact, which live off the keratin in Fur, Skin, Nails and Hair.  Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum or Trichophyton mentagrophytes are usually the Fungus that attacks Dogs and Cats.

Of course, Jennifer, you already knew that.  But millions of people are going to be reading these paragraphs, so we want to set the record straight.  Because most people naturally would logically assume 'Ringworm' has something to do with parasitic worms.  Not even close.  I hope I have made that clear.  A few simple paragraphs on the subject was set up by the Directors of Health Promotion and Education at their website:

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/ringworm.html

Now, some Fungi that belong to the Microsporum species live naturally outdoors in the soil.  We call them 'geophilic' Fungi.  Other Microsporum live on pets ('zoophilic') or humans ('anthropophilic').  Some are BOTH geophilic and zoophilic.  The Fungus causing your Dog's Skin problem MAY be a combination geophilic/zoophilic Fungus.  Or it MAY NOT be.  If it is Soil-borne, good luck ridding your yard of it.  However, you may find some relevant research useful.

Scientists at one research center in Australia studied the effects of a chemical extracted from the tropical Tea Tree for use against a long list of Fungus species.  They selected the Tea Tree because this is a plant that has a built-in defense system against Fungus diseases.  Tea Trees don't get those, period.  Something in their leaves, 'Tea Tree Oil', is the reason.

The scientists concluded at the end of their tests:

'Tea Tree Oil has activity against a wide range of yeasts and dermatophytes and that the Oil has both an inhibitory and fungicidal activity....Data were generated for many species for which no currently exists.

The study references past research with Tea Tree Oil products.  HIV patients successfully treated oral Fungus attacks with a Tea Tree Oil Mouthwash.  Toenail Fungus ('onychomycosis') was sometimes cured in one study of people treated for 6 months with Tea Tree Oil; another study concluded that success depended on mixing the Tea Tree Oil with 'Butenafine', a skin cream sold in drug stores under the name Mentax.

If this were my dog, I would copy the study that combined Butenafine with Tea Tree Oil, and treat my dog at least 6 months.

My own experience -- mind you, I am not a dog -- found that ongoing baths of Tea Tree Oil appear to have solved any recurring Foot and Nail Fungus problems I have dealt with.  I am not usually one who reaches for odd cures like this.  But because I am familiar with the Fungal Kingdom and the Plant Kingdom, the idea that Tea Trees ward off Fungi by producing this chemical makes sense.  A lot of sense.

And for me, it worked.

The studies mentioned above are posted on the internet:

http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/TTO/01-11.pdf

Killing all the Fungal spores in your Soil is unwise, but also unrealistic.  Because Fungal spores are simply not vulnerable, so far as I know, to much of anything.  Even Tea Tree Oil.  It's the 'hatching' spores you're after.  Please keep me posted.  Your followups welcome.  Thanks for writing.