Calling all homeowners..

[Amy & Albee]

Well, in exactly two weeks, our little family of three will be moving into our first home! We keep telling Albee what this means for him, and clearly he has no idea that apartment life is about to end.

I've done a little bit of research, but there are only so many poop discussions one can read until needing to ask the question to all of you poop-picker-upper-pros..

I'm the type that likes a plan, and I often over think things.. But I am wanting to know how you all handle the yard cleanup of dog poo?

Here's my potential dilemma- I would prefer to keep a clean yard. I like to walk around barefoot and would really like to avoid the small brown mines in the backyard. But I imagine that if you're picking up poop daily, your garage/trash cans would begin to stink, right?

I also am environmental conscience and would like a practical, low budget way to handle this chore.

So share your routines with me! I would like to have something put in place from the start!

Thanks!

[Amy & Albee]

Maybe I could put him in cloth diaper and get one of those high power pooper-rinsers =) Ha.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Yup...we always use bio-degradable bags. I know Target sells them.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Not sure but I seem to remember in another discussion that the flushable bags were not good for people with septic systems.  I may be wrong but suggest investigating that first if you have septic instead or sewer.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

First of all, congratulations on your new house! How exciting!

When we got Monty, we always took him out on a leash so now he does his business on the side of the house where there are rocks, rather than on the grass. Auggie is a different story. We did exactly the same routine with him, but he never got it. We are at least at the point where he would go pee just wherever he finds fit, but the brown mines are being left on the side of the house, never in the middle of the grass. You might want to start a routine to take Albee out on the same spot on a leash and hope for the best. If not, clean up right after he goes. Our trash can is in the garage, so I keep a bag in the backyard where I put all the poop. I put it usually at the side of the house where the "doggy bathroom" is supposed to be. Our trash gets picked up on Tuesdays so that's when I tie the bag and put it in trash. Otherwise the garage would be really stinky.

[Amy & Albee]

Thanks! We're incredibly excited! I guess we'll also be welcoming advice about keeping Albs off of the new couch :) Maybe in another post!

I think we'll do this as well. Containing the poop is probably the first step for our process. We have a neighbor behind us and to the side, so we need to add another side of the fence in the spring (as it's getting colder by the day). Not comfortable letting him out on his own just yet- so this will help us train him on his little area!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

LOL...not too worry. Albee will have you trained in no time at all! ;)

[Julie and Charlie]

My city only has trash pickup every two weeks, and thus I decided poop wasn't going to sit around in a garbage can anywhere around my house, garage, or yard that long.

Charlie is trained to poop on a bed of rocks that I do not go barefoot on, and are easy to hose off or dump a bucket of diluted bleach water on if for some reason it's too soft. But for regular old poop, I just pick it up with a piece of toilet paper and flush it down the toilet. On walks, I do use the bio-degradable bags and toss it in the garbage can at the park. Works for us.

[Kyoko]

I go out when they go out with poop bag. I just simply pick it up as they poop. I have a small trash can in the yard just for the poop bags.

[K and Racey]

During the summer we have a small area gated off so Racey can only pee and poop there. I clean up her poop EVERY day. We got a 5 gallon paint bucket from lowes with a lid, I put a trash bag in there and place (not secure) the lid on; this way the stink is at least contained.

[Sally S Miles]

Every time the dog poops, we grab a bio bag and pick it up, then tie it shut and it goes into the "s--- can'. Period. No waiting, no guessing, not problem.  The can then gets bagged tight for garbage haul.       The scooper was more hassle, the bags are easy - we buy them in bulk from Amazon.    

Best wishes in your new home!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

How stupid am I????? Never even thought to buy the bags from Amazon! Just went and bought 600 for $20 something. And Amazon Prime to boot! Thanks for the idea!

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I see that you have plenty of answers already but I will weigh in anyway.  We pick up immediately, I don't want the dogs running through it accidentally and then coming in my house.  At night I use a headband flashlight like a runner or hiker might wear, it frees up my hands to run the pooper scooper.  We use to bag and toss in the trash but the bags that decompose are pricey and we now have two doodles.  We built a home made doggy dooly system in the yard, it is made out of a 50 gallon trash can, mostly buried and the lid lifts easily.  It works similar to a compost system and you can add sprinkling of lime to hold down odor (only odor when you open because it is buried), you can add worms to speed decomposition.  There are people that clean them out and use for great fertilizer on their flower gardens (never on a food garden) but we have not had ours long enough to have tried that yet. No matter what you use you will want to pick up as it happens.