Doo-ty Calls! Time to Spring Clean that Winter Dog Poo

Spring, what a glorious time of year! Here in the northeast it means warming weather, longer days, sun streaming brightly through windows, and flowers that are just starting to poke out of the ground. My Bella is overtaken with spring fever. There are so many smells wafting up. Yesterday, she had a bath. Today, she decided to stop, drop and roll and pick up a back full of  'glitter' from residual street sand. A girl's gotta get her "musk" back, I guess!

Doo-ty is calling you, too, Boo! It's also the time of year when we dog lovers add residual spring doogie clean-up to our list of tasks. After a long winter, thawing ground means piles of dog poop, hidden for months, burst forth, yes even if you were sure you got most of them. Your greening lawn could be where you slip and slide, victim to the dreaded shoe-poo. Who doesn't admire how fully it embeds in treads? It's almost marketable in its malleability. Nonetheless, Shark Tank will not accept your submission for useful poo-glue ideas.

Cleaning up after your dog is courteous to family, housemates, neighbors, Literally no one wants to step in it. Clean up is also important for the environment. Dog poo's real, it's bad, and unfortunately there is a lot of it laying around. It contains harmful bacteria and parasites that contaminate the soil (native plants struggle, invasive ones take their place) water supply (bottom's up!), and can sicken pets, people, wildlife.

Here are 6 tips to help make that spring dog poop clean-up a little easier:

• Start early!  As soon as the gray skies give way to the sun or the snow melts away, start looking for those sneaky piles of dog poop. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to clean. Once this shitty task is over, concentrate on the fun aspects of spring – planning your gardens! When you pull out lawn chairs and your barbeque, they'll be no need to two-step around the poop.
• Pick the right tools. If your yard is dry or your pup’s poops are still frozen hard, a stiff garden or leaf rake can be the best tool to dislodge and sweep up all those hard little turds. If snow or rain melted dropping are damp and mushy, a pooper scooper, small shovel, or trowel is your best bet. Disposable or garden gloves are extra-helpful because there are always those little poops that seem to evade capture, or sticky twigs that get stuck in the tines of a rake. No one wants to touch those with their bare hands, right?
• Be thorough. Check all areas where your dog may have gone, including the edges of your yard and under bushes. It's better to be thorough now than discover one stuck to the bottom of your garden basket later.
• Dispose of the poop properly. With large volumes of poop, it’s best to bag the poop, tie it securely, and place it in the trash. Don’t dump lots of poop in your backyard compost pile or just rake it off the edges of your yard. It will still smell, and small compost bins don’t generate enough heat to kill nasty bacteria and parasites. Check out our articles on composting dog poop, and dog poo flushing habits.
• Keep your dooloop close at hand while you are working your yard throughout the year. You will probably find an errant poop here and there. With your dooloop and a few poop bags cinched to your belt loop, you’ll always be ready to grab that sneaky doo, tie the bag, sling it into your dooloop, and banish it to the trash. Need a few extras? You can find them here in our shop! There’s nothing worse than leaving a poop for later and being unable to find it. You know it’s still out there, waiting to sink into the deep treads of your sneakers.
• Hire a professional! If you despise this chore, or simply don’t have the time or inclination to clean your yards from one end to the other, how about hiring a professional dog poop cleanup service? Let them take care of the dirty work for you!

Spring dog poop cleanup may not be the most glamorous task, but it's an important one. Not only does it keep your yard clean and free of harmful bacteria, but it also shows respect for your neighbors and the environment. 

Get that poop chore done so you can enjoy the spring season

Grab your chosen pooper scooper, your dooloop, and get it over with. Then we want you and your dog to relax and enjoy the true beauty of spring. We'd to see some pic of you enjoying the warming weather with your pup. Share them with us on Facebook!  It's ball throwing time, isn't it? We think it is!