I was watching one of those shows on either Animal Planet or National Geographic and it was about training dogs. I think it was “It’s Me Or The Dog”. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t recall all the details. I was on the couch watching by myself when all of a sudden my 3 dogs came up to me and decided they wanted to make a puppy pile. I drifted in and out of sleep for a good two hours

The episode was about a husband and wife with 2 young boys and two dobermans. The dobies were confined to a room in the house for the better part of the day and the family really didn’t assert any authority over them. One of the key points of the show was the importance of removing dog waste from your yard or during your walks.

The husband and wife slacked off when it came to picking up after their dogs. When they switched scenes to the back yard for training it was an absolute disgusting mess. Dog poop was everywhere. It was like someone decided to recreate the opening scene from ‘Saving Private Ryan’ but with poop.

And the adult owners adamantly refused to clean it up. There was so much crap in the backyard that when a pet waste removal service came by to do the maintenance they literally filled two large, outdoor garbage cans.

Let’s review why it is important to pick up after your dogs, especially in your own yard.

• dog waste left out attracts various types of insects, worms and other creepy crawlies, several of which may potentially carry disease or be parasitic
• if you are entertaining guests is that why you want them to remember you?
• if you have children will you let them play in a yard covered in feces?
• when you let your dogs out to do their business they will invariably walk through their own refuse. Even if it is only trace amounts it will be brought into your house, onto your floors and possibly on your furniture and clothes
• it just isn’t healthy

There are several ways that you can dispose of it. Technically, you can use dog waste for composte material. It should be noted that this composte can only be used on non-edible plants. The average time for the waste to turn to composte is about 2-3 years. I have heard of a German company that has created a machine solely for this purpose and the time to mature is reduced considerably.

Another creative way to recycle dog waste was seen in a garden shop many years ago. The novelty was a small animal statue called a ‘Poop-ette’. You would take take the animal – a frog, or turtle, or rabbit – and place it next to the inedible plant you want to fertilize. Slowly the Poop-ette’ would provide added nutrition to our plant. You would know when the ‘Poop-ette’ was done when it would turn all white and brittle.

Finally, if you really are either squeamish or turned off by the notion of picking up after your dog then maybe you should contact Woofie’s. They have a pretty new service that is being offered where they will come buy and ‘do the dirty work’ for you. You supply the disposal receptacle and they’ll do the rest, no muss no fuss. Call Amy and Leslie and ask for details if you think you would like to take advantage of this service.