pooper scooper?

[KShep]

So.....serious question about dog ownership. Does anyone scoop the poop in the yard or....you know.....let it degrade?

[hheldorfer]

Scoop, definitely. I don't like it on my shoes. It doesn't degrade as fast as you'd think.

[tomatosandwich]

I have kids, so I definitely scoop. I shiver to think of the horrors of not scooping and letting the kids run in and out like they do. Also, I'm the one who mows the lawn, so I much prefer to not have to worry about encountering stinky piles.

BUT I don't bag it. We have a natural brush, leaves, poop pile in the far corner of our yard that we dump it in. I'm thinking of getting one of those mini dog poop septic tank systems this summer, though, but I'm not sure I really need it.

[KShep]

So, what's the best way to do this. A scooper and a bag?

[jo_]

Scoop immediately. I seem to be a poo-magnet so best to pick it up before I step in it! Good ole fashioned hand-in-bag.

[hheldorfer]

Save your small plastic bags - newpaper sleeves, produce bags from the grocery store, etc. - and use those to pick it up. I no longer use a scooper. It's easier to just stick your hand in the bag, pick up the poop and then tie the end.

[Tuesday]

Murphy refuses to poop anywhere in our yard. We live in a greenbelt community (green space behind all homes) and are lucky to have no neighbors on either side or across the street. He usually sticks to the outer edges of the property, but really prefers to be under cover of some sort. I don't really like him doing that, because we live in Florida and you never know what kinds of critters are hiding in bushes.

When we first moved here, we rented a house w/ a chain link fence around the back yard. He would play out there for hours and hours on end. I saw him one day back up to the chain link and do his poopy duty, ensuring that the poop wasn't in his play area.

To get to the answer of the original question though, I only pick up when we go on walks, and I use those little bags that clip onto the leash. They work really well and you can get thousands for a few bucks at Pet Smart.

[Idaho Cairns]

We live in a condo with extensive "common areas" so, in order to be good neighbors, we clean up after our dogs and all the dogs in this part of the complex--if the other owners don't beat us to it. Around here, we use a spring loaded pooper scooper that works very well. Our cars and coats are loaded with plastic bags--either regular dog poop bags that the city provides at the parks or regular plastic grocery bags. We spend some time walking along the byways of Pocatello with little bags of poop until we can find a proper garbage can to deposit the bags in.

I feel it is my responsibility to clean up completely after my dogs and we are religious about doing so and hold any dog owner who does not do the same in very low esteem.

Nothing is more likely to get my dander up than seeing someone not clean up after their dog in a public place--we have had some tense moments with careless owners over the years about this very thing. So far, so good--I have all my teeth and my nose is still straight.

[KShep]

I have the bags, and I always pick up after my dog in public. It is the responsible thing to do. Before she was house-trained, I would use the bags with the puppy pads (all poop was scooped!). I bought a pooper scooper and I think I will do weekly yard maintenance. It just never occurred to me to do that until I noticed, as Hheldorfer said, that it wasn't degrading quickly at all. So, we'll try that for now! Sorry for such an unpleasant topic, but poo happens!

[Dempsy's Mom]

Demps is usually on schedule in the mornings and I run out and pick it up with a bag asap or else I will be washing a little furry butt or at least four little paws. He always does his business where he likes to travel or sit.

[hheldorfer]

I have the bags, and I always pick up after my dog in public. It is the responsible thing to do. Before she was house-trained, I would use the bags with the puppy pads (all poop was scooped!). I bought a pooper scooper and I think I will do weekly yard maintenance. It just never occurred to me to do that until I noticed, as Hheldorfer said, that it wasn't degrading quickly at all. So, we'll try that for now! Sorry for such an unpleasant topic, but poo happens!

Poo happens, indeed. This is just my theory, but I think the reason dog poo stays around for so long is because of the meat in a dog's diet - whether it comes from the table or from the meat in dog food. Being a student of poo for many years I've discovered that rabbit and squirrel poo, for example, degrade rapidly. The difference, I concluded, is that rabbits and squirrels are vegetarians. Maybe there's a scientist her who can shed more light on the subject.

[janis]

Bagging in a public place is just the right thing to do! When we go out to our mini farm we let it fall where it may. At the house, depends on where it landed, way out back or right in the walk areas.

[Jeff N Oscar]

I used to let it degrade on it's own when we had just Jeff... he wasn't out in the yard much and we don't have young kids... so unless we were having company or mowing the yard it wasn't an issue..... HOWEVER we recently adopted our second Cairn, Oscar and I discovered that he will eat the poop if I don't pick it up. SO now I scoop a couple times a day :\ We use the plastic grocery bags and keep the same one for a few days, just lay it on top of a plastick container we have in the yard in between scoops.

[josie&holly]

Hand in bag method here - I pick up in garden or on pavements round here and wish everyone else did!!

However, when we go to ountry park for walks if Holly does a job off the beaten path we either "stick and flick" so it is into deeper undergrowth or cover with leaves - but if on pathway it gets picked up.

And it gets taken away - here some folk think that if they hang the bags on tree or just leave it by path that is alright but the bags do not degrade!

[cairnsby3]

My pet peeve is places such as parks an motels, that want you to pick up, but don’t have a trash can in sight.

[pindrop]

Fortunately we live in a forested area on 3 1/2 acres and not a neighbor in sight - so we go off the beaten path where she can do her business. The only exception to this is in the depths of winter when these areas are inaccessible and then out comes the poop shovel and we fling it off to a distant unusable area. Knew I loved the country for a reason!

[Tami]

My husband and I use the poop bags .. usually we'll both have some in our pockets. I'm forever doing laundry and then discovering that I forgot to take them out and find them in the washer or the dryer.

My pet peeve is seeing all the poop that no one picks up at our neighborhood park - which also does double duty as the school playground from morning to 4pm weekdays. Yuck! And also lately there's been someone in our neighborhood who hasn't been picking up after their dog ... and it's been left on our front yard. Ugh!!!

There are more and more nice walking paths in the south bay that forbid dogs and I'm convinced it's because of the lack of responsibility some dog owners show in public. So our motto is to always pick up after your dog.

[Hawkeye]

We pick up after our guys and toss it in the woody area of our backyard. Otherwise it's like a magnet and DH will step in it. When we take our walks we pick it up with plastic bags - newspaper or grocery and just put our hand in the bag like glove. Gross...I know but we all do it.

[KerryJayne]

I live in the worse town I've ever lived in for poo it's disgusting no one picks it up and the council actually come and reguarly clean the paths rather than catch the people that do it !!! We live in a very tourist area so I'm really shocked !!! I always pick up but it's so frustrating when you're picking up next to a pile someone has left :-( if you have a dog it's yur responsibility that's the way I see it :-)