Tuesday Topics 15 - How Do You Scoop Poop?
Anyone who knows me well, knows I like a good deal. That's why I'm a bit of an eBay junkie. I don't buy or sell often anymore, but when I do, I'm thrilled with my bargains.
I recently purchased these poop bags from this eBay seller. These 600+ biodegradable bags in blue came with the little pawprint dispenser and cost less than $23 with free shipping. We now have enough poop bags to last us until Cabana goes in for formal training. I keep a roll of these bags in my purse, in the car, in my dog-walking pack, by the front door, and by the back door.
When Cabana poops in our backyard, we immediately pick up her poop with one of these blue bags and throw it into our garbage bin. So, we go through 3-4 of these bags everyday.
But I've wondered if that's what everyone does? Maybe we're "wasting" too many bags and there's a much easier way to deal with poop. How do you eliminate your dog's eliminations? Please let me know if there's a simpler method.
Well, I leave Beau's poop out there for a few days and then I go around and pick up the piles with a manure fork. I like it better that way, but of course when we are out in public and if he has to go and he poops then I pick up the poop with a bag.
I only use the poop bags we buy for when we're out and about. I keep anywhere from 3-6 in Eola's jacket at a time (she poops 6-7 times a day! I know, food switch, lol). When she relieves at home I pick it up every couple days but just use plastic grocery bags. I clean up the backyard (she relieves in the side yard) where Teddy and Kira relieve about once a week and again use the plastic grocery bags, they're free and it makes our purchased bags last longer. Just make sure the grocery bags don't have any holes!
I, personally, have always used grocery bags. Just 'cause they are easy, and we always have plenty!
That bag is so cute! I alwas get the bags I use straight out of the pouch that attatches to the vest. We bought it when we picked up our first dog when the store was still opne. =]
Because Hobbs and Patriot both enjoy the not-so-occasional poop treat, I do the same thing you do. We go out with them when they potty, and immediately pick up the poop in a bag and throw it away.
We have a separate trash bin in the back yard for the poop (and back yard trash). We empty it into the main trash bin the night before it is picked up by the city.
Out in public, I also pick up after them with a bag.
What a fun topic! Cricket has pink bags with little paw prints on them ... possibly like your blue ones! They are scented and good for a princess on the go. When we are travelling I actually put her food for one meal in a bag then I have fed her and have a bag ready for the next part of business! Around home we have a fenced area and so at times (especially in the winter) get a little lax and it may be a day or so ... or in reality sweet Steve does it too!
I will either do what you do or I will pick it up later with our poop scoop thingy. Right now I have some green bags. I just bought 240 of them for $18 (my parents are making me buy ALL of the puppies stuff...)!!!! I'm going to bye on ebay next....
I say, do what works for you! For me, it depends where it happens. Living on a farm, we have quite a bit of area in our yard that people don't go. If she goes out there, we leave it (between deer poo, rabbit pellets, skunk dropping and a whole lotta bird poo, no one notices some added dog poo.
If she goes in the part of the yard we keep groomed, I pick it up with a pooper scooper claw and toss it in the poo can (a garbage can just for poo!)
When we walk at work - also out in the country, we bury it. I got tired of people laughing at me for bagging a dog poo sitting next to a huge pile of horse poo. So, now I bury.
Anywhere else, we bag it. I have bags everywhere. Both cars, my purse, my desk at work, and probably more than I can count in J's pockets. (Look at his pockets tonight - you will see they are as stuffed as they can be. Sigh.)
So many options for poo!
When were down to one dog, we only needed to clean the yard every 2-3 days. Now with two active dogs it gets cleaned twice a day. We bought on of those rake and pan things at petco, and will use the blue bags to tidy up. I remember as a kid having to roll everything up in newspaper, probably a greener thing to do. I have been toying with the idea of buying one of those dog-decomp things where it breaks down the waste and returns it back to the soil.
As I live in an area where it can rain heavily this time of year, I try to keep on top of it daily. My very favorite Q toy for agility is clean up bags, so a lot of the clean up bags I have are from good agility runs (usually at $18 a pop) But I love the flexibility of the little dog bone dispensers - I have one in my soccer and softball bag, one in the car, one in Chelsie's agility bag and then a couple in the garage for our walks. As they get low, I use grocery bags as well. There are positives and negatives to keeping on top of clean up - it either gets nasty and rained on in the grass, or you pass out when you put trash in the can.
Mitch - I got 150 bags from Walmart the other dat for $4.73. People looked at me funny when I said "OH SCORE" in the middle of the aisle!
I just pick up Focus`s waste daily with a pooper scooper and throw it in the grabage nightly and I use the bags like you purcased with I am out in public.
Oh! And J says "Thanks. Really, I mean it" for reminding me what an excellent place ebay is! Poppy said the same thing, only there was no hints of sarcasm in her gratitude ;)
I live in a townhouse with basically no yard, so I use bags to pick up stuff as it is coming out (I don't use the yard for relieving unless I am feeling super lazy and it is cold and wet out). I can sometimes get 2 poops in one bag when I relieve the older dogs (yay for cc'd and retired dogs still relieving on command!). On average with the three dogs, I'd say I pick up 8-10 piles in a day (one has had lifelong poop frequency issues and still poops 5 or more times a day even with a food switch)... very hard to keep up with the bags in this situation! Our newspapers come in plastic bags here, so I have a few co-workers who bring me their extra bags and grocery bags. But even so I didn't have enough and the ones at the pet store are so expensive that I talked my grocery store into selling me a roll of 500 produce bags for $2.50 once. When those ran out I couldn't get them to do it again for any price, so I found a seller on eBay for produce bags. I think I got something like 1500 bags for $18 and free shipping. I'm about halfway through those now, so I'll have to look at your seller suggestion soon since using clearish bags is a little unsightly...