Cleaning Up Dog Poop (A Guide for a Dirty Job)

If you pardon the pun, it is your duty as a pet owner to pick up your dog’s waste. There are reasons for this beyond the usual scope of being kind. There are also proper techniques that you can deploy to make sure nothing gets left behind.

Picking Up Poop - It’s Not Just an Act of Respect!

Society dictates that dog poop should be picked up by the dog's owner, as it should. After all, there are few things more unpleasant that finding a random hunk of fly-riddled dog waste resting on a piece of grass. However, that's not the lone reason picking up waste is essential.

A huge reason cleaning up dog waste is important is because of disease control. Several common, serious diseases can transmit through dog feces, including salmonella, roundworms, and E-coli. Considering that eating dog feces is a nasty habit that some dogs have, this could be a bigger problem than you may initially think.

Cleaning up dog feces is also an essential part of keeping down the fly population. Flies of all sorts thrive on eating poop, and dung makes a rather inviting space for the insects to lay their eggs. Think about that the next time you see a fly buzzing around your house and threatening to touch down on the juicy steak you just grilled.

Picking up after your dog also helps to make your yard much more useable. This seems especially poignant if you have kids in the house or if kids are coming over if you’re hosting a party. The last thing you want to have happen is for some wee one to inadvertently squish their shoe into a pile of waste that you never bothered to scoop.

It should also be noted that several cities have ordinances on the books requiring owners to clean up after their pooches. If you’re caught not cleaning up, you could be levied with fines of various heftiness, depending on the city. If your conscious doesn’t drive you to do the right thing, then perhaps your wallet will.

The Best Ways to Clean Up Poop

One of the more common methods to clean up after your dog is with a plastic bag. While bags of various sizes will do in a pinch, there are bags on the market specifically designed to handle dog feces. These bags can be scented to neutralize odor, and they can even be biodegradable as a means to protect the environment.

The only problem with a plastic bag is that you may come dangerously close to touching your dog's waste. If you prefer a more hands-free approach, there are plenty of "pooper scooper” mechanisms out there specifically designed to prevent fecal contact. There is even a wide host of professional “pooper scooper” services that can help you clean up large-scale waste issues.

You may think that a simple way to pick up your dog's poop is to scoop it up and flush it down a toilet, particularly if you're talking about poop at home. Yet this seemingly sanitary practice is banned by many cities. Be sure to do proper research before you decide to go this route.

If your city does allow flushing dog poop, there are flushable poop bags that are on the market. These specially made bags are designed to break down in the midst of the flushing process, so they won’t clog up your plumbing. The only caveat to using these bags is that they can on the pricey side, so bear that in mind before you commit to this solution.

Poop is Gross, but it’s Part of Owning a Dog!

We all know that picking up after your dog is unpleasant, and you may be somewhat reluctant to carry out this mission when your dog does his business at home. Yet don’t complain - you signed up for this task the moment you made the decision to own a dog and give him a loving home. It is as much of a responsibility as feeding and grooming him.

Yet as these cleaning techniques demonstrate, it doesn’t have to be a totally disgusting ordeal. There are methods you can use to minimize the gross factor. They won’t make cleaning up fun, but they will make it significantly more tolerable.