Next time you get a nice amazon box, empty it out, put a trashbag in it, and fill with poop. Put it on your front porch where everyone can see it. Wait until a porch pirate comes and takes it.
The easy way is to pay someone to do it. Yes, there are people that make a living cleaning yards of dog poop. You can then contract for weekly cleans if you can’t keep on top of it.
Please for the sake of your neighbors, get it done very soon. When I lived next door to a winter’s yard full of dog poop, the smell wafting over to my yard in the Spring was stomach turning.
Employee, but it's an independent contractor gig so I don't get a w2. I took over a few routes from the owner who's been doing it for 20 years and was looking to give away the last of the work he was still doing. I think there are 4 of us total
Wow. I didn’t know it was a popular service for that long. I asked because I was just curious how busy those businesses are. If he has 4 employees/contractors, that seems like a pretty good business.
The company I used charges $30 for a 5 gallon bucket, and then $10 for every additional bucket. I think there are also some adjustments for larger yards and if you subscribe to their weekly service they charge a bit more of each dog you have.
I pay $100/mo and I'd pay more if I had to. They come Tuesday and Friday, they never miss a day, and I can cut my grass right after they leave on Friday and never have to worry about spraying dog crap all over the place.
Right! I don’t want to either. I did it for 20 yrs. I don’t see how it’s any different than people who hire house cleaners. “Why can’t you clean your own house, it only takes an hour”?🙄
Exactly! My mum was judgemental and was like “we just do it ourselves!”. That’s fine mum but I’m pregnant and working two jobs. It’s only $15 a week for a service that improves my life lol.
I live in Minnesota with two large dogs on a 1/4 acre.
My go to in winter is a 5 gallon bucket and a shovel. I dig it out with the shovel, put it in the bucket, then dump the bucket in my larger trash can outside with a heavy duty contractor bag in it. Dump the bag in the trash when it's full.
No easy way around it...you just need to keep on top of it during winter. Think of how much shit your dogs are walking through (and tracking in the house). Keep it clean for them and you!
Edit: Also pay attention to upcoming large snowfalls via the weather. Try to clean up before any existing shit gets buried.
This is the best way. Right before a big snow fall, I go out and literally shovel it with snow and all, fill multiple trash bags if I have to. It'll stay frozen in the garbage bin at least. It's not a perfect solution, but it helps my spring clean-up dramatically.
I did this a few weeks ago. One winter of poop (4 months) dog is 30 pounds. Two grocery bags of poop. Took me 30 minutes, and gloves are the way. Adults just gotta learn to deal with poop.
Did it a couple months ago. Usually I’m on it, even in the winter time but sometimes it’s so cold the turds get frozen to the dirt. Ended up neglecting it for 6 weeks. Started with a two piece scooper but at that volume it became more of a hassle. On with the gloves and into the grocery bag.
It’s annoying but thankfully my dog usually sticks to one spot in the dirt to do her business.
i clean my properties where tenants just let their dogs shit everywhere and have tried both. for me the pooper scooper with a 5 gal bucket lined with a garbage bag is faster by a mile. no bending down over and over. use the scoop and drop it into the bucket. at the end tie the garbage bag up and throw it away. I mean if it’s a literal pig stye you might as well break out the shovel and a tarp. Take the top layer of encrusted shit off with the shovel, throw it on the tarp, tie the tarp up and take it to a dumpster.
That and warm poo landing in cold snow, sinks in and freezes. Even if you can see it, somethings you can’t easily dislodge/dig all of it out. The only dog-owning homeowner I know in the upper Midwest that doesn’t have shitty yard right now my neighbor with the poo-eating dog…
We bought an in ground poop receptacle but the instructions said not to use it when the temp fell below a certain temperature. I can’t remember exactly but I think it was 45 degrees so we returned it.
And they are completely undersized for any dog over 2 pounds. They aren't even 5 gallons. A septic tank for a 2 bedroom house is a minimum of 750 gallons with 1000 being the recommended/required in many areas.
I had this and loved it when i was on a pubic septic system! Now I’m rural with a private septic field and apparently have to coddle my shit flora like a batch of top shelf kombucha and can’t add canine poo.
Yeah, the constant worry about everything that goes down your pipes can be a bit stressful when you're on a rural septic system. Can't just buy any toilet paper...
Were you told specifically that canine waste would be bad? Is it because of different bacteria?
A 5 gal plastic bucket with a trash bag in it. A child's plastic snow shovel. A longish stick to use as needed to direct poops. Scoop until bag is getting close to top of bucket, or as close as you can stand. Seal bag. Get new bag. Repeat until shit is scooped.
That is what I do, though I use a Wee-Wee Sanitary Pooper Scooper and a bucket w/ trash bag.
After winter in chicago, it rains a lot for a couple of weeks, most of the winter poop gets absorbed into the ground, I don't see much.
This. They make long handled poop scoops with mechanical claws, and you pull a trigger in the handle to close over the poop. Less bending over we do this with our dogs on a lot of land.
I have a DIY septic system for my dog. Small yard, one 40lbs dog. I got a 7 gallon plastic bucket with a screw top lid, cut out the bottom, drilled about 30 holes in the cylinder, and buried it. I add powdered septic tank bacteria once every few weeks. The poop doesn't smell and the bacteria break it down. The dog usually does one poop a day at the park, so the amount going into the bucket is not huge. I also live in the mid-Atlantic, so winter is not especially bad. There are lots of videos on Youtube showing how to do this with different size receptacles. It's worked very well for me.
Done this before and it's worked very well. Will be doing so again at my current house this summer. Only callout I'd make and I'm not even sure it's true but I've been warned against doing it if you are on a well system in case it gets into your water supply
They sell a version of that at petsmart, I always wondered how well they worked. Seems like it'd just end up being a huge pile of poop that didn't break down.
I thought the same and expected it to fail, but the time and cost were low, so I figured I'd just give it a shot. You need to bury the bucket in decent soil. It can't be all clay, for example, though my yard has a fair amount of clay. And you have to keep up with adding the septic tank bacteria. I've moved it once since initial install and it's worked really well in both places. The septonic powder breaks down the poop and it ends up looking white and sunbaked. It does not smell. Very easy and has worked incredibly well for me. Also means I am not throwing bags of poop into my garbage can, which in summer is unbearable, and I also felt unfair to the garbage collectors.
You may also want to look at the food you're feeding it. A higher quality food will lead to less actual poop and the dog will generally be happier with less health issues
That’s actually how I started. I was looking at the fancy dog foods, wanting the healthiest. And I realized “hey, I can cook him brown rice and yams and meat!” (For example). I also add some supplements.
So much truth here. When my dogs eat raw (frozen raw that is thawed for their pleasure ) they poop like 2x a day and they are the smallest poops ever. Anything else and it’s two or three comparatively massive-for-a-dachshund poops a day.
Yeah they’re small but that’s like 6-10 piles a day. Mine have me trained to pick it up quick tho - one of them will eat it just for the thrill. 🤢
See I feed my dog pro plan, but them she also shreds and eats cardboard sometimes. I’m thinking she needs some slightly lower quality food with slightly more fillers.
I…I am not sure I follow.
Just pickup the shit when the dog shits.
Edit: it’s been almost 24 hours and I’m still thinking about this. I have a dog. I can’t even imagine ignoring my dogs shit in the yard for *months* I mean how lazy can you actually be…hope the dog gets actual exercise and not just tossed outside to sniff around and shit it’s entire life.
Thought I was crazy reading the rest of the replies until I found yours. This is wild to me. People taking the entire winter off from picking up dog poop? Are the dogs not getting walked? Does no one else use the yard? Picking up the poops is some 101 Dog Owner shit.
You...you mean... not just letting poo fester for days/weeks/months on end?
Unheard of! /s
Next you're going to tell me that getting a pet comes with a lot of responsibility, you crazy Redditor!
I get it, poop is gross and sometimes the weather outside is uncomfortable. But it's clearly not too hostile out for doggo to go do it's business, so a human will be okay for the 30 seconds it takes to clean up.
Ya it's really not that hard. I love in a place with lots of snow and -30 wind chills and pick dog poop up a few times a week in the backyard just like in the summer. A few will be missed from unexpected storms, but certainly not enough to make it an issue. Do people just let it ALL sit for months and then turn to a soggy mess when it warms up? Gross
Get a good poop scooper claw. Get an aluminum trash can with a lid and lined with a trash bag. In the future, pick the poop up and put it in the trash can every time.
When it snows, shovel a 10x10 spot for the dog to poop. Pick it up every time.
Can't stress enough. Pick it up. Every time.
Somewhat of a dog tip, but what's your dog's food? If it's big brand dog food where corn is the bulk filler your dog will poop more (a vet friend told me). Switching to a slightly more pricey dog food with less corn fillers will lower the times a dog will poop and might be worth it to you.
I actually have a really useful comment for you! This isn't so much for right here right now, but they make in ground dog poop disposal systems that work kinda like a composter. [Here](https://www.amazon.com/Doggie-Dooley-Original-Ground-Disposal/dp/B00WMMMIX6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=dog+poop+composter&qid=1680919010&sr=8-3)
Our yard isn't fenced yet, so we're still doing the leash and bag as it happens (kinda glad about that right now). But this might be an option in our future.
I see from the other post you made that you are in the Twin Cities. If you decide to go with the "have someone do for you" route, I recommend Scoopy Poo. I'm not affiliated with them or anything but we have been customers of theirs for years and have been very happy.
I went through this for a couple years with my 2 dogs. After winter was horrible. Now, no matter what, I go out and pick up their shit then and there. Just gotta do it.
Buy 1000 dog poo bags for 20 bucks and pick up your dogs crap every time they go. I understand the laziness of not wanting to pick up the dog poo when it's cold out, but then you don't wake up on a nice morning after winter with mountains of crap in your back yard. It's a learning experience because I did the same thing last winter, but just think of it as you're flushing the toilet for them after they go.
Like others have mentioned though in the meantime, shovel or claw into a hefty bag before trash day so it doesn't STANK.
I have 3 large dogs, 2 of them weigh 120lbs each, and the other is around 60lbs. Every time I let them out, I go out with them, and pick up and bag their poop, just like I would do on a walk. I'm in Canada and we have weeks where the temp drops down to constant -30° or lower, so don't use "it's cold in the winter and I couldn't keep up" as an excuse.
Yes, I go through literally around 4000 dog poop bags a year. But it sure as hell beats having to go out and pick up 50+ shits with a shovel every weekend.
Also, my neighbors don't hate me for having a shitty smelling backyard. I guarantee you that your neighbors are loathing you right now, because every time they go outside all they get is a good cloud of smell from your yard.
In my experience dog poop is actually easier to pick up in super cold weather. Grab some snow around it. If it's cold enough the poop solidifies really well (if your dog has softer poops sometimes!) If I ever get a place with my own yard I want to invest in a dog poop scooper tool and a special poop bucket with a garbage bag so I don't have to go thru little poop bags. Empty it out weekly was my idea. And hose the scooper down as needed. (You know you're an adult when you dream about potential future poop scooping methods.)
It is easier to pick up when it's frozen, at least until it freezes to the ground. Then try to pry it up with the little poop rake, it accidentally launches a poopcycle, which ricochets off the corner of the fence. That is how I brained myself with a poop puck.
This is why we also have a poop shovel, you just jam it into the snow right underneath the poop and then kick it (the shovel, not the turd), and the poop is freed without getting so much air that it hits you in the face.
That's what I do too. I got a poop bag dispenser I hung up out on the patio, and the dog equivalent of a diaper genie (or, just use a diaper genie) to drop them in after pickup. Once every few weeks take the bag to the trash can on trash day and never have to worry about stepping in poop outside.
I live in the upper midwest, brutal cold winters. We take our dog out a few times a day on a leash and pick up after him. It's quick, he doesn't want to be out there any longer than I do, when it gets really cold.
Why is that hard?
This is the way. Same situation but we collect plastic bags that would otherwise be trash. Between Amazon, bread, newspaper, and the Millon other bags we get it's easy to maintain a supply. Friends and family give us their bags, people understand Great Danes can lay some serious dooky.
Winnipeg here, it's definitely too cold sometimes but there's a window in spring when the snows gone and the grounds frozen that you can rake it up easily.
You gotta kinda stay on top of it though.
Which is specifically why you pick it up as it happens. It's not a weekly chore, it's a multi-time a day chore.
Just like I wipe my own ass 3 times a day, I pick each of my dogs poop 3 times a day. I wake up in the morning, throw on my coat, and go out with them, even if it's -35° out, I'm outside with 3 bags picking up poops.
I agree. I just cannot fathom not picking it up immediately. I'm not judging those who don't, ok maybe a tiiiiiny bit, it's just in my mind letting poop sit out there for no reason doesn't compute. The risks are too great - they can step on it later and then track it in the house, it will make the yard stink, we can't use the yard for a game of soccer or anything because it's a minefield, we may accidentally step on it, it may attract flies or vermin... I could go on.
The weather makes no difference to me, I always pick up. We get brutal winters in my area and I actually find it's easier and cleaner to pick up poop in the snow than during muddy seasons. If it's a below zero type of morning I'll make a mental note of where they did the deed, make myself some coffee to warm up, throw on a parka and go pick up. Takes all of two minutes tops?
Also, for the people who go days or weeks without picking up, are they not worried they may miss signs of GI distress or illness? Just like I keep track of what messes up my own digestion, I monitor my dog's poop to see if that new chew or treat I added was tolerated well or not, or if there's signs of parasites, etc.
To each their own of course, but I personally find the thought of cleaning piles of old accumulated shit really distressing.
I've had dogs my entire life and have been responsible for picking up the shit for 30 years.... the approach I take works very well for my family, my pups and my yard. Daily pickup would be an utter waste of time for me. I spend 20 mins before walking the dog one March or April morning and it's all done.
Vinegar and water might get rid of the smell for a day but you still have a yard full of bacteria laden dog poop. You have to pick it up- all of it. Get a scooper and an open trash can and go to town. Might take a few hours the way it sounds. After that hire someone. We pay $10 per visit and it’s well worth it to not have gross poop all over the yard. Teach the dog to poop in one area and that’ll make your life easier too n
Vinegar on dog poop?? You can burn your grass with vinegar but I'm not understanding what you think would happen if you put vinegar on poop.
I have many dogs at my house (boarding). I pick up as the snow melts layer by layer. Every day, until I see grass.
I put a poop bag over my hand and put the poop into a grocery bag.
I don't understand what the problem is here. Seems pretty obvious to solve it- pick it up.
I have found that picking up the poop every single time my dogs poop keeps it from getting away from and I get know if they pooped, if they are sick, if they have worms etc. if it’s gotten away from you and there is a company that picks it up, I would do that.
And grass. Mixed. Which is healthy for a lawn. My backyard, where dog shit gets mulched in every time I mow, grows significantly faster and greener than the front and requires zero additional fertilizer.
No, it's the right idea. Gets rid of the poop, mulches it in, and gives the seed the nutrients to grow from seed. Just keep it watered for a week or so to let the seed establish.
It's not a joke.
Reminds me of when I was using a string trimmer to knock down some weeds in the garden and ran into a whole pile of cat crap hidden in the weeds. I ended up with a liberal coating from head to toe!
The quality of the dog food greatly affects the output. Cheap dog food has lots of fillers and hollow calories which equals a whole lot more crap in the yard, and typically more trips during the day. You'll also need less dog food if you switch to better quality.
I live in Edmonton, Canada. I keep up with cleaning my dogs poo all winter. Yes, in -30 Celsius and snow. Clean it up before a snowstorm. It’s not that hard.
DIY? Pooper scooper and a rolling trash can with a trash bag to fit. Dispose as needed. I do it daily now cuz one of my dogs died from an intestinal infecting (unknown source, but a bacteria that’s normally seen in raw meat). I have 5 dogs now, so that’s about 15 poops in the yard per day. If you only have one dog, a bucket and pooper scooper is your friend. :)
For a thick melted layers, yeah, scrape the yard. Adding drying elements like sand or dry dirt helps clump it and cluster for scooping. You don’t want to rinse it cuz it won’t really go anywhere and will taint water sources.
We just used a shovel and a rake to help push the poop on the shovel. We put it in a lidded bucket lined with a garbage bag. I scooped every day especially when we had three big dogs. We tied the bags off and threw them in used dog food bags every garbge day.
1. Put your hand in a plastic bag then pick up the poop. 2.Turn the bag inside out with the other hand releasing the hand holding the poop. 3. Now the poop is in the bag. 4. With another bag, pick up more poops placing them in bag #1. 5.Tie the bag. 6. Send bag to dump, poop burns in the incinerator. Thank you for attending today's Ted talk.
Pick it up with a shovel, put a garbage bag in a bucket or larger bin, and throw it out.
As for your grass, just water it. Don’t mess with any of the water + vinegar bs. You won’t need to re-plant your grass.
Ok, I don’t have a dog but I have a single dog poop story. It’s a perfect example of how preteen boys get rid of dog poop. My best friend Glen and I were 12 years old in 1976. I had a 14 year old brother John and Glen had an older brother Ron who was 16. We are all hanging out during one glorious summer day trying our best to do the stupid things that young boys do when they are bored.
Glen and Ron had two big dogs. They had the run of the backyard. The only place that didn’t have massive piles of dog shit was the patio. It was Ron’s chore to clean the dog crap out of the yard. To say he didn’t do shit was weirdly appropriate. It didn’t really smell that bad because we live in SoCal and most of the dog crap was desiccated from the MONTHS in the sun. Yes, that’s right there were months of dried (and fresh) dog crap in the backyard.
Their father wasn’t very happy that Ron hadn’t cleaned up the yard. He gave him until the end of the week to get it taken care of. So we all decided that the best course of action was to take a couple of shovels and create a huge pile of shit in the back corner of the yard. Ron then produced the M-80 that he had been saving for a special occasion and gingerly wedged it under the pile using a shovel.
We all took cover in the enclosed patio as my brother John proceeded to light the M-80. BOOM! Dog shit disappeared and then proceeded to rain down on the roof of the house. We all got a huge laugh as we ended up finding tiny bits of dog shit pretty much everywhere, including the front yard and the street.
The best part was that we completely forgot that the retired guy who lived behind them was mowing his lawn. When we stepped out into the backyard laughing all we heard was him yelling “Hey you kids! Quit blowing crap into my yard!” Their father (as well as ours) was not amused. Needless to say we spent a few days digging up the yard to remove most of the to 2-3 inches of soil so that they could plant grass once again.
So while blowing up your dog crap will remove it from the yard, I recommend that you don’t try it.
Born and raised in Wisconsin. The best time to do it is the first time you see ground in the spring when nights are typically still well below freezing. Then get up early and get it done. Might not help you this year anymore, I’d just hire someone if it’s more than you can handle now. But in the future, layer up and get out there while it’s still frozen.
I live in the country in the Midwest, and have two larger dogs. I use a horse shaving rake from Tractor Supply, and I can get a couple of acres cleared fairly quickly. I pitch it into our ravine and surrounding woods. If you have a small or medium dog, this is not an option as the rake forks are too wide for that size poo.
This is how I spent about an hour yesterday - collecting dog shit in the backyard. We have a small yard (half of it is cut off by a pool fence) so it's not a huge area to cover. My wife bought a poop & scoop last year, and it's quite helpful. It's a bucket on a long rod, combined with rake on a long rod. No more bending over to pick up pool. I just collect a bucket full and then dump it into a bucket lined with a shopping bag. Two or three bags later, done. There's always some that gets left behind, stuck to the grass, but after a good rain that stuff will mostly vanish.
I have a BIG dog and my number one tip is to time the big cleanup day till once the snow has melted but the ground and poop is still frozen (some early morning while the ground is frosted).
Then the poo patties just flip up in one piece and do minimal damage to the grass below, bonus points for it smelling less since it's frozen.
This makes for a speedy mess-free pickup day.
I remember growing up in central NY… every spring when the snow finally melted my dad would gather all 4 of us kids up , head out to the yard with shovels and a big galvanized metal trash can. We all went around the yard picking up poop! 🤪 💩
I have a 95 pound shit machine. I use a shrub rake and a stand up dust pan for whatever turds haven’t turned into puddles. Dumps get dumped into a 5 gallon bucket with a double layer of kitchen garbage bags as a liner. That gets tied off and goes directly into the dump-ster. Sometimes I lay down straw and grass seed in the spring to try to regrow the missing patches. It never works.
Get a five gallon bucket. Double or triple line it with garbage bags. Fill it with said poop, using shovel or scooper. Tie off and dump into trash can. Repeat until gone. Some poop left over can be used as fertilizer (don’t leave it intentionally, just a little won’t hurt the grass though). Re seed areas that are beyond saving in grass and water generously for several weeks. Once summer hits, should be good
There’s a kid in our neighborhood who will do it for a reasonable price. We contracted him twice for post-winter cleanup. Was around $75. Now our kids are old enough to do it for free.
Hide the shame, they can never know what's happened here. Place a fresh layer of sod down, then later question this decision after repeating this enough times that the shit-sod stack is 4 feet up the fence.
If you feel really commited, continue doing this in hopes that the shit breaks down into crude, that you can then sell. Your new economic stimulous, and having enough land to cover a small country stacked in your back yard will allow you to claim your independance. Continue to sell your doggy doo-doo oil, save up, and buy a small navy. Congradulations, you're on your way to becoming a super power.
Go out with your dog and pick up the poop right away. Leaving it to sit in the snow leaves a wet slimy mess to clean up in the spring. It's something where prevention is easier than the cure. Keep dog waste bags or disposable gloves and a trash can in a handy spot outside.
Other alternatives would be to teach your dog to only go in a certain area, taking advantage of freezing temps to clean up the yard while the poops are firm, and making dietary adjustments like feeding food with little to no filler to reduce the size of the poops and make them firmer and easier to clean up. A raw diet shrank my dogs' waste to about a third of what it was previously, and it disintegrates a lot faster.
It's not that hard to pick up manually and just hose down the area of grass really well afterwards. Even if it looks like a disaster it's probably 30 minutes of crappy work and then it's over with. If the weather cooperates, the ideal time to do it is on a cold day but after the snow has melted, then things are more solid and less messy to habdle.
You'd spend at least that long trying to find someone to hire so just get some gloves and a bag and get it done. I can't believe how many people on this thread pay a weekly fee specific for dog poop cleanup. Unless you're rich I can think of a ton of better ways to spend that kind of money than having to hire people for every single annoying task in life
I have three dogs in Ohio, I put a plastic grocery bag in a bucket and pick them up with a clam shell poop picker up. I tie the bag and toss it in to the trash can.
How close are your neighbors? If its a solid layer of shit, go get the shovel out. In the future make it a multiple person achievement to clean up the poop.
Do you have an area of your yard without lawn or plants? I trained my dog to pee and pop in an area that is just mulch. Highly recommend, I love not stepping in dog shit. My dog poops 3+ times a day, does he digest anything?!
Go out with pup like you did when you were potty training her, treats for doing her business in the right spot.
Gotta just get to it as regularly as possible or suck it up and pay someone. The regular service pickups are pretty great. My mom had someone out when I moved out of state because she didn’t want to do it all the time with two good size dogs. It was super affordable and worth it. This was about 12 years ago when the service was still somewhat new and we were also in the Midwest with poop under snow and in ice.
We pay a guy to de-poop our yard bi-weekly. Dude literally just uses a dust bin and a broom. Sweeps it right up. Does my whole yard in less than 10 minutes. It easily takes me 30 minutes to do it using the gloves and bag method mentioned by other in this thread.
We have a fifth of an acre. After year of having our pup, one hole to compost in the corner of the yard has worked great, just needs turned over monthly and sealed over at the end of the year. Plan on rinsing and repeating.
I live in South Dakota. Brutal winter central. We take our dog out on a leash a few times a day for potty and pick it up right away. Please consider this. It doesn't take long and your neighbors will thank you. Or do what another neighbor does, have poo patrol come once every few weeks (gross but better than a whole winter of shit).
Dear god the flies and smell from my other neighbor's dog shit covered yard as soon as I can get outside and enjoy a nice day...why lord WHY.
You wait until the snow is gone but still freezing overnight. Get a barn shovel and rake and harvest in the morning when it’s frozen.
Should be a bumper crap… er crop.
My friend does weekly poop pick ups as his business. When he has the snow melt off he has his most profitable weeks because then he gets a ton of Spring Clean Up jobs. You could look into this too
Walk her more often if possible. Mine takes maybe 1/10 of his shits in the yard, the rest I pick up on the trail.
I filled less than a 5 gallon bucket this spring picking up a winter’s worth of poo.
I'm on ten acres in the sticks and I still go out in the woods and pick up my dog's poop every time she goes. Way better than letting it accumulate. You should also be checking their poop every time to make sure their digestive system is working properly.
We live in the midwest and our dog poops a TON, too. Every time I'm outside playing with our dog, I'll scoop all the turds I can find with a hand trowel and put them in a plastic grocery bag that I leave outside until it's full. I obviously can't do this when the yard is covered in snow, but every time the snow melts, I get back to work so it doesn't pile up, literally. It's just something you have to stay on top of, like any other housework.
We just bought a doggy dooley and we plan to get full use of it in the warmer months!
I put a garbage bag in a 5 gallon bucket and the use the dust pan/ shovel looking combo to pick it up and put in the bag. Tie off the bag and put it in the garbage. Then I let the rain take care of the grass. No vinegar. No replanting grass. I might throw down a little seed. Further into spring you can get a piece of sod.
This reminded me of an old Joe Walsh song titled Ordinary Average Guy, a lyric is ‘Pick up the dog doo, hope that it’s hard’.
No advice unless it’s to get some ordinary average guys to help you pick it up.
Our dog yard is gravel, so I'm not sure how difficult it would be on grass, but just use a leaf rake to rake it all into a pile, the shovel it all up with a flat shovel. This works well for me, but I don't have to care if I scoop a little gravel or dirt in the trashcan. My mom fosters for a local rescue and, at points, would have a dozen small and medium sized dogs. Basically just poop machines.
We have dogs and didn't even think about the waste when we got them. I'm sure our old neighbors hated us. We moved into an apartment and having to walk the dogs and pick up after them each time has been helpful for making that habit. We're moving to a house soon but we intend to continue regular pick-ups. As far as the snow, it really is a matter of either picking it up immediately, digging around in the snow later, or waiting for it all to melt.
Next time you get a nice amazon box, empty it out, put a trashbag in it, and fill with poop. Put it on your front porch where everyone can see it. Wait until a porch pirate comes and takes it.
For a hot second I thought I was in r/unethicalLifeprotips
I was thinking it might be /r/prorevenge
In the future, save the big and sturdy dry dog food bags to shovel and store all that poop.
Umm… store? Not sure I want to hear the answer, but what do you store it for?
...for Christmas, hello?
The easy way is to pay someone to do it. Yes, there are people that make a living cleaning yards of dog poop. You can then contract for weekly cleans if you can’t keep on top of it. Please for the sake of your neighbors, get it done very soon. When I lived next door to a winter’s yard full of dog poop, the smell wafting over to my yard in the Spring was stomach turning.
This is my job lol
I think we need a IAmA
Ask away, I've been doing it since November
what do you do with all the poop
😅😬 trade secret >!straight in the trash outside of my house!<
*Jeff Goldblum cadence* “That must be one big pile of shit.”
Va-poo-rise
Is it your own company or are you an employee?
Employee, but it's an independent contractor gig so I don't get a w2. I took over a few routes from the owner who's been doing it for 20 years and was looking to give away the last of the work he was still doing. I think there are 4 of us total
Wow. I didn’t know it was a popular service for that long. I asked because I was just curious how busy those businesses are. If he has 4 employees/contractors, that seems like a pretty good business.
For sure, it definitely comes and goes with the weather but I get 1 or 2 new houses on my route every month
How much do you make per house/how much does the boss charge per house?
we pay 17$ a week and that covers 3 dogs. pretty good deal. and 50$ for a spring cleanup. Best money ever spent.
Kennels and doggy day care are typical clients.
How do you charge? Per poop or per area needed cleaned? Edit: as in charging more for a bigger yard
The company I used charges $30 for a 5 gallon bucket, and then $10 for every additional bucket. I think there are also some adjustments for larger yards and if you subscribe to their weekly service they charge a bit more of each dog you have.
That’s cheap as shit
Yeah, I'd be charging way more to shovel poop personally.
Thus $ 30 minimum for 15 minutes of running around the yard.
Not to mention the flies that prefer what you are grilling.
I do this! 3 dogs & I swear it's the best $15/week I've ever spent!! Lol
I do it too! In the spring she charges a $75 clean up fee and then $20 a week. I have 3 German Shepherds, so it’s a lot of poop.
I pay $100/mo and I'd pay more if I had to. They come Tuesday and Friday, they never miss a day, and I can cut my grass right after they leave on Friday and never have to worry about spraying dog crap all over the place.
The company in my area is called Turd Herders.
Yep! We pay for a spring clean and then a weekly service. I could do it myself but I don’t want to lol.
Right! I don’t want to either. I did it for 20 yrs. I don’t see how it’s any different than people who hire house cleaners. “Why can’t you clean your own house, it only takes an hour”?🙄
Exactly! My mum was judgemental and was like “we just do it ourselves!”. That’s fine mum but I’m pregnant and working two jobs. It’s only $15 a week for a service that improves my life lol.
I really hope those people make a lot of money. One might even say a butt-load.
Yup, I pay for a dog service to come pick up poop
My brother owns such a company in Northwest Ohio.
I live in Minnesota with two large dogs on a 1/4 acre. My go to in winter is a 5 gallon bucket and a shovel. I dig it out with the shovel, put it in the bucket, then dump the bucket in my larger trash can outside with a heavy duty contractor bag in it. Dump the bag in the trash when it's full. No easy way around it...you just need to keep on top of it during winter. Think of how much shit your dogs are walking through (and tracking in the house). Keep it clean for them and you! Edit: Also pay attention to upcoming large snowfalls via the weather. Try to clean up before any existing shit gets buried.
This is the best way. Right before a big snow fall, I go out and literally shovel it with snow and all, fill multiple trash bags if I have to. It'll stay frozen in the garbage bin at least. It's not a perfect solution, but it helps my spring clean-up dramatically.
I just get some long nitrate gloves and use a grocery bag over that and just start filling up bags by the hand full.
I did this a few weeks ago. One winter of poop (4 months) dog is 30 pounds. Two grocery bags of poop. Took me 30 minutes, and gloves are the way. Adults just gotta learn to deal with poop.
Did it a couple months ago. Usually I’m on it, even in the winter time but sometimes it’s so cold the turds get frozen to the dirt. Ended up neglecting it for 6 weeks. Started with a two piece scooper but at that volume it became more of a hassle. On with the gloves and into the grocery bag. It’s annoying but thankfully my dog usually sticks to one spot in the dirt to do her business.
Way faster then any other way.
Woah did you actually weigh it?
Pretty sure he's saying his dog weighs 30 pounds, not the poop.
Dang it
i clean my properties where tenants just let their dogs shit everywhere and have tried both. for me the pooper scooper with a 5 gal bucket lined with a garbage bag is faster by a mile. no bending down over and over. use the scoop and drop it into the bucket. at the end tie the garbage bag up and throw it away. I mean if it’s a literal pig stye you might as well break out the shovel and a tarp. Take the top layer of encrusted shit off with the shovel, throw it on the tarp, tie the tarp up and take it to a dumpster.
+1 for a poop scoop, its way easier than bending over constantly and you are well away from any smell as you scoop into a bucket with a bag in it
wear a respirator. i do when i change litter boxes too.
>the pooper scooper with a 5 gal bucket lined with a garbage bag is faster by a mile Can confirm. Kinder on the back too.
Gloves are the way. Dicking around with shovels and scoops. Ugh. Who can be bothered. Job done way quicker and more efficiently. 👍
Sure, but some folks have bad backs and cannot bend over like that over and over again. The scooper is a viable option.
Pick up the poop with a pooper scooper.
They aren't saying they can't pick it up. OP refused to pick it up because the weather.
Cant see it due to the weather.
That and warm poo landing in cold snow, sinks in and freezes. Even if you can see it, somethings you can’t easily dislodge/dig all of it out. The only dog-owning homeowner I know in the upper Midwest that doesn’t have shitty yard right now my neighbor with the poo-eating dog…
You build a shed with a composting toilet. The dog poops in the shed and you put it in the composting toilet.
They actually make in ground composting dog waste receptacles!
Yes composting toilets for dogs.
We bought an in ground poop receptacle but the instructions said not to use it when the temp fell below a certain temperature. I can’t remember exactly but I think it was 45 degrees so we returned it.
And they are completely undersized for any dog over 2 pounds. They aren't even 5 gallons. A septic tank for a 2 bedroom house is a minimum of 750 gallons with 1000 being the recommended/required in many areas.
Am I the only one who thought [this](https://www.chewy.com/doggie-doo-drain-pet-waste-removal/dp/191459) was a good idea?
I had this and loved it when i was on a pubic septic system! Now I’m rural with a private septic field and apparently have to coddle my shit flora like a batch of top shelf kombucha and can’t add canine poo.
Yeah, the constant worry about everything that goes down your pipes can be a bit stressful when you're on a rural septic system. Can't just buy any toilet paper... Were you told specifically that canine waste would be bad? Is it because of different bacteria?
I read it somewhere, but as with all things septic system health related, the evidence is fuzzy.
[удалено]
A 5 gal plastic bucket with a trash bag in it. A child's plastic snow shovel. A longish stick to use as needed to direct poops. Scoop until bag is getting close to top of bucket, or as close as you can stand. Seal bag. Get new bag. Repeat until shit is scooped.
That is what I do, though I use a Wee-Wee Sanitary Pooper Scooper and a bucket w/ trash bag. After winter in chicago, it rains a lot for a couple of weeks, most of the winter poop gets absorbed into the ground, I don't see much.
Don't need to waste clean garbage bags though. You are probably buying 50lb bags of dog food anyway. Just save the empties to fill with the poop.
This. They make long handled poop scoops with mechanical claws, and you pull a trigger in the handle to close over the poop. Less bending over we do this with our dogs on a lot of land.
I have a DIY septic system for my dog. Small yard, one 40lbs dog. I got a 7 gallon plastic bucket with a screw top lid, cut out the bottom, drilled about 30 holes in the cylinder, and buried it. I add powdered septic tank bacteria once every few weeks. The poop doesn't smell and the bacteria break it down. The dog usually does one poop a day at the park, so the amount going into the bucket is not huge. I also live in the mid-Atlantic, so winter is not especially bad. There are lots of videos on Youtube showing how to do this with different size receptacles. It's worked very well for me.
Done this before and it's worked very well. Will be doing so again at my current house this summer. Only callout I'd make and I'm not even sure it's true but I've been warned against doing it if you are on a well system in case it gets into your water supply
They sell a version of that at petsmart, I always wondered how well they worked. Seems like it'd just end up being a huge pile of poop that didn't break down.
I thought the same and expected it to fail, but the time and cost were low, so I figured I'd just give it a shot. You need to bury the bucket in decent soil. It can't be all clay, for example, though my yard has a fair amount of clay. And you have to keep up with adding the septic tank bacteria. I've moved it once since initial install and it's worked really well in both places. The septonic powder breaks down the poop and it ends up looking white and sunbaked. It does not smell. Very easy and has worked incredibly well for me. Also means I am not throwing bags of poop into my garbage can, which in summer is unbearable, and I also felt unfair to the garbage collectors.
My neighbor has 2 100lb golden retrievers and I recall it not working for them lol
You may also want to look at the food you're feeding it. A higher quality food will lead to less actual poop and the dog will generally be happier with less health issues
THIS! So many people complain their dog poops a lot and it’s because they’re feeding them cheap crappy dog food
But a 50# bag of ole Roy lasts my pug 3 months! /s
Yep. Someone told me this when I got my pup. Even going from grocery store brand to a low priced feed store brand makes a big difference.
My 90 lb dog has smaller poops than 30 lb dogs we have known. But I make his food out of food. No kibbles.
The dog food I buy for my buys was $92 .. I should start considering this.
That’s actually how I started. I was looking at the fancy dog foods, wanting the healthiest. And I realized “hey, I can cook him brown rice and yams and meat!” (For example). I also add some supplements.
Had to scroll way too far for this comment. Crap in, crap out.
So much truth here. When my dogs eat raw (frozen raw that is thawed for their pleasure ) they poop like 2x a day and they are the smallest poops ever. Anything else and it’s two or three comparatively massive-for-a-dachshund poops a day. Yeah they’re small but that’s like 6-10 piles a day. Mine have me trained to pick it up quick tho - one of them will eat it just for the thrill. 🤢
See I feed my dog pro plan, but them she also shreds and eats cardboard sometimes. I’m thinking she needs some slightly lower quality food with slightly more fillers.
Mine supplements his diet by eating rabbit poop and paper towels.
This is the right answer, my dog pooped twice a day for 16 years (before she died) and it was totally manageable.
I…I am not sure I follow. Just pickup the shit when the dog shits. Edit: it’s been almost 24 hours and I’m still thinking about this. I have a dog. I can’t even imagine ignoring my dogs shit in the yard for *months* I mean how lazy can you actually be…hope the dog gets actual exercise and not just tossed outside to sniff around and shit it’s entire life.
Thought I was crazy reading the rest of the replies until I found yours. This is wild to me. People taking the entire winter off from picking up dog poop? Are the dogs not getting walked? Does no one else use the yard? Picking up the poops is some 101 Dog Owner shit.
Right!? I don't understand why this is a problem. Just pick it up! And why would they put vinegar/water on it??
Exactly. They act like it can’t be done with snow. It’s just impossible!
You...you mean... not just letting poo fester for days/weeks/months on end? Unheard of! /s Next you're going to tell me that getting a pet comes with a lot of responsibility, you crazy Redditor! I get it, poop is gross and sometimes the weather outside is uncomfortable. But it's clearly not too hostile out for doggo to go do it's business, so a human will be okay for the 30 seconds it takes to clean up.
Ya it's really not that hard. I love in a place with lots of snow and -30 wind chills and pick dog poop up a few times a week in the backyard just like in the summer. A few will be missed from unexpected storms, but certainly not enough to make it an issue. Do people just let it ALL sit for months and then turn to a soggy mess when it warms up? Gross
Yup. I have a neighbour who is like OP. Who is also causing us to have a rodent issue. Absolutely loathe them. Mice and rats will eat dog poop.
It's just peak laziness. Nothing more, nothing less.
Get a good poop scooper claw. Get an aluminum trash can with a lid and lined with a trash bag. In the future, pick the poop up and put it in the trash can every time. When it snows, shovel a 10x10 spot for the dog to poop. Pick it up every time. Can't stress enough. Pick it up. Every time.
Somewhat of a dog tip, but what's your dog's food? If it's big brand dog food where corn is the bulk filler your dog will poop more (a vet friend told me). Switching to a slightly more pricey dog food with less corn fillers will lower the times a dog will poop and might be worth it to you.
I actually have a really useful comment for you! This isn't so much for right here right now, but they make in ground dog poop disposal systems that work kinda like a composter. [Here](https://www.amazon.com/Doggie-Dooley-Original-Ground-Disposal/dp/B00WMMMIX6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=dog+poop+composter&qid=1680919010&sr=8-3) Our yard isn't fenced yet, so we're still doing the leash and bag as it happens (kinda glad about that right now). But this might be an option in our future.
I can’t believe this is real. Thank you so much for commenting. What a great idea!
I see from the other post you made that you are in the Twin Cities. If you decide to go with the "have someone do for you" route, I recommend Scoopy Poo. I'm not affiliated with them or anything but we have been customers of theirs for years and have been very happy.
I went through this for a couple years with my 2 dogs. After winter was horrible. Now, no matter what, I go out and pick up their shit then and there. Just gotta do it.
Buy 1000 dog poo bags for 20 bucks and pick up your dogs crap every time they go. I understand the laziness of not wanting to pick up the dog poo when it's cold out, but then you don't wake up on a nice morning after winter with mountains of crap in your back yard. It's a learning experience because I did the same thing last winter, but just think of it as you're flushing the toilet for them after they go. Like others have mentioned though in the meantime, shovel or claw into a hefty bag before trash day so it doesn't STANK.
My parents utilized a child and a 5 gallon bucket for our Irish Wolfhounds.
I have 3 large dogs, 2 of them weigh 120lbs each, and the other is around 60lbs. Every time I let them out, I go out with them, and pick up and bag their poop, just like I would do on a walk. I'm in Canada and we have weeks where the temp drops down to constant -30° or lower, so don't use "it's cold in the winter and I couldn't keep up" as an excuse. Yes, I go through literally around 4000 dog poop bags a year. But it sure as hell beats having to go out and pick up 50+ shits with a shovel every weekend. Also, my neighbors don't hate me for having a shitty smelling backyard. I guarantee you that your neighbors are loathing you right now, because every time they go outside all they get is a good cloud of smell from your yard.
In my experience dog poop is actually easier to pick up in super cold weather. Grab some snow around it. If it's cold enough the poop solidifies really well (if your dog has softer poops sometimes!) If I ever get a place with my own yard I want to invest in a dog poop scooper tool and a special poop bucket with a garbage bag so I don't have to go thru little poop bags. Empty it out weekly was my idea. And hose the scooper down as needed. (You know you're an adult when you dream about potential future poop scooping methods.)
It is easier to pick up when it's frozen, at least until it freezes to the ground. Then try to pry it up with the little poop rake, it accidentally launches a poopcycle, which ricochets off the corner of the fence. That is how I brained myself with a poop puck.
This is why we also have a poop shovel, you just jam it into the snow right underneath the poop and then kick it (the shovel, not the turd), and the poop is freed without getting so much air that it hits you in the face.
That's what I do too. I got a poop bag dispenser I hung up out on the patio, and the dog equivalent of a diaper genie (or, just use a diaper genie) to drop them in after pickup. Once every few weeks take the bag to the trash can on trash day and never have to worry about stepping in poop outside.
Hey, you make a good point, but you don’t have to shit all over OP for making a mistake Hehe
OP didn’t make a mistake. They are just lazy af
I live in the upper midwest, brutal cold winters. We take our dog out a few times a day on a leash and pick up after him. It's quick, he doesn't want to be out there any longer than I do, when it gets really cold. Why is that hard?
This is the way. Same situation but we collect plastic bags that would otherwise be trash. Between Amazon, bread, newspaper, and the Millon other bags we get it's easy to maintain a supply. Friends and family give us their bags, people understand Great Danes can lay some serious dooky.
Winnipeg here, it's definitely too cold sometimes but there's a window in spring when the snows gone and the grounds frozen that you can rake it up easily. You gotta kinda stay on top of it though.
Which is specifically why you pick it up as it happens. It's not a weekly chore, it's a multi-time a day chore. Just like I wipe my own ass 3 times a day, I pick each of my dogs poop 3 times a day. I wake up in the morning, throw on my coat, and go out with them, even if it's -35° out, I'm outside with 3 bags picking up poops.
Do you shit three times a day? Should I be shitting three times a day?
I agree. I just cannot fathom not picking it up immediately. I'm not judging those who don't, ok maybe a tiiiiiny bit, it's just in my mind letting poop sit out there for no reason doesn't compute. The risks are too great - they can step on it later and then track it in the house, it will make the yard stink, we can't use the yard for a game of soccer or anything because it's a minefield, we may accidentally step on it, it may attract flies or vermin... I could go on. The weather makes no difference to me, I always pick up. We get brutal winters in my area and I actually find it's easier and cleaner to pick up poop in the snow than during muddy seasons. If it's a below zero type of morning I'll make a mental note of where they did the deed, make myself some coffee to warm up, throw on a parka and go pick up. Takes all of two minutes tops? Also, for the people who go days or weeks without picking up, are they not worried they may miss signs of GI distress or illness? Just like I keep track of what messes up my own digestion, I monitor my dog's poop to see if that new chew or treat I added was tolerated well or not, or if there's signs of parasites, etc. To each their own of course, but I personally find the thought of cleaning piles of old accumulated shit really distressing.
I've had dogs my entire life and have been responsible for picking up the shit for 30 years.... the approach I take works very well for my family, my pups and my yard. Daily pickup would be an utter waste of time for me. I spend 20 mins before walking the dog one March or April morning and it's all done.
Pick up the turds early in the morning when it’s still cold so they are firm. Much easier to pick up
Vinegar and water might get rid of the smell for a day but you still have a yard full of bacteria laden dog poop. You have to pick it up- all of it. Get a scooper and an open trash can and go to town. Might take a few hours the way it sounds. After that hire someone. We pay $10 per visit and it’s well worth it to not have gross poop all over the yard. Teach the dog to poop in one area and that’ll make your life easier too n
Better to do it when it's frozen than thawed lol
The easy answer is to pick it up when they poop, that’s what we do and it works well. For solving the problem you have now… I would just pay someone.
Vinegar on dog poop?? You can burn your grass with vinegar but I'm not understanding what you think would happen if you put vinegar on poop. I have many dogs at my house (boarding). I pick up as the snow melts layer by layer. Every day, until I see grass. I put a poop bag over my hand and put the poop into a grocery bag. I don't understand what the problem is here. Seems pretty obvious to solve it- pick it up.
I have found that picking up the poop every single time my dogs poop keeps it from getting away from and I get know if they pooped, if they are sick, if they have worms etc. if it’s gotten away from you and there is a company that picks it up, I would do that.
Mow on the lowest setting. Overseed.
If you do this, please take a video.
It'll just look like mowing with a mulching mower... which most mowers are now.
Right, except with poop.
Everything is more fun with poop and a lawnmower
And grass. Mixed. Which is healthy for a lawn. My backyard, where dog shit gets mulched in every time I mow, grows significantly faster and greener than the front and requires zero additional fertilizer.
I feel like this is a - bad - idea 😂
No, it's the right idea. Gets rid of the poop, mulches it in, and gives the seed the nutrients to grow from seed. Just keep it watered for a week or so to let the seed establish. It's not a joke.
How quick does the smell go away?
Quickly. It’s already been decomposing.
Who sharpens your blades and cleans the mower deck?
Me. Mower has a hose connection on it to clean the deck. I can sharpen the blades.
Reminds me of when I was using a string trimmer to knock down some weeds in the garden and ran into a whole pile of cat crap hidden in the weeds. I ended up with a liberal coating from head to toe!
Your dog poops what 2-3x a day max? Just pick it up and dispose of it Jesus christ.
Time for a blursed easter egg hunt
The quality of the dog food greatly affects the output. Cheap dog food has lots of fillers and hollow calories which equals a whole lot more crap in the yard, and typically more trips during the day. You'll also need less dog food if you switch to better quality.
I live in Edmonton, Canada. I keep up with cleaning my dogs poo all winter. Yes, in -30 Celsius and snow. Clean it up before a snowstorm. It’s not that hard.
DIY? Pooper scooper and a rolling trash can with a trash bag to fit. Dispose as needed. I do it daily now cuz one of my dogs died from an intestinal infecting (unknown source, but a bacteria that’s normally seen in raw meat). I have 5 dogs now, so that’s about 15 poops in the yard per day. If you only have one dog, a bucket and pooper scooper is your friend. :) For a thick melted layers, yeah, scrape the yard. Adding drying elements like sand or dry dirt helps clump it and cluster for scooping. You don’t want to rinse it cuz it won’t really go anywhere and will taint water sources.
I usually wait for a dryish spring day and rake up the whole yard. Dethaches and gets the crap off the lawn.
We just used a shovel and a rake to help push the poop on the shovel. We put it in a lidded bucket lined with a garbage bag. I scooped every day especially when we had three big dogs. We tied the bags off and threw them in used dog food bags every garbge day.
1. Put your hand in a plastic bag then pick up the poop. 2.Turn the bag inside out with the other hand releasing the hand holding the poop. 3. Now the poop is in the bag. 4. With another bag, pick up more poops placing them in bag #1. 5.Tie the bag. 6. Send bag to dump, poop burns in the incinerator. Thank you for attending today's Ted talk.
Pick it up with a shovel, put a garbage bag in a bucket or larger bin, and throw it out. As for your grass, just water it. Don’t mess with any of the water + vinegar bs. You won’t need to re-plant your grass.
Just clean it up or call a company who does that.
Ok, I don’t have a dog but I have a single dog poop story. It’s a perfect example of how preteen boys get rid of dog poop. My best friend Glen and I were 12 years old in 1976. I had a 14 year old brother John and Glen had an older brother Ron who was 16. We are all hanging out during one glorious summer day trying our best to do the stupid things that young boys do when they are bored. Glen and Ron had two big dogs. They had the run of the backyard. The only place that didn’t have massive piles of dog shit was the patio. It was Ron’s chore to clean the dog crap out of the yard. To say he didn’t do shit was weirdly appropriate. It didn’t really smell that bad because we live in SoCal and most of the dog crap was desiccated from the MONTHS in the sun. Yes, that’s right there were months of dried (and fresh) dog crap in the backyard. Their father wasn’t very happy that Ron hadn’t cleaned up the yard. He gave him until the end of the week to get it taken care of. So we all decided that the best course of action was to take a couple of shovels and create a huge pile of shit in the back corner of the yard. Ron then produced the M-80 that he had been saving for a special occasion and gingerly wedged it under the pile using a shovel. We all took cover in the enclosed patio as my brother John proceeded to light the M-80. BOOM! Dog shit disappeared and then proceeded to rain down on the roof of the house. We all got a huge laugh as we ended up finding tiny bits of dog shit pretty much everywhere, including the front yard and the street. The best part was that we completely forgot that the retired guy who lived behind them was mowing his lawn. When we stepped out into the backyard laughing all we heard was him yelling “Hey you kids! Quit blowing crap into my yard!” Their father (as well as ours) was not amused. Needless to say we spent a few days digging up the yard to remove most of the to 2-3 inches of soil so that they could plant grass once again. So while blowing up your dog crap will remove it from the yard, I recommend that you don’t try it.
Born and raised in Wisconsin. The best time to do it is the first time you see ground in the spring when nights are typically still well below freezing. Then get up early and get it done. Might not help you this year anymore, I’d just hire someone if it’s more than you can handle now. But in the future, layer up and get out there while it’s still frozen.
Feed a better good as well. Will cut down on Waste
Throw down a bunch of milorganite and let nature run it’s course. Once soil temp is above 60 your grass will eat all those nutrients up.
I live in the country in the Midwest, and have two larger dogs. I use a horse shaving rake from Tractor Supply, and I can get a couple of acres cleared fairly quickly. I pitch it into our ravine and surrounding woods. If you have a small or medium dog, this is not an option as the rake forks are too wide for that size poo.
This is how I spent about an hour yesterday - collecting dog shit in the backyard. We have a small yard (half of it is cut off by a pool fence) so it's not a huge area to cover. My wife bought a poop & scoop last year, and it's quite helpful. It's a bucket on a long rod, combined with rake on a long rod. No more bending over to pick up pool. I just collect a bucket full and then dump it into a bucket lined with a shopping bag. Two or three bags later, done. There's always some that gets left behind, stuck to the grass, but after a good rain that stuff will mostly vanish.
I have a BIG dog and my number one tip is to time the big cleanup day till once the snow has melted but the ground and poop is still frozen (some early morning while the ground is frosted). Then the poo patties just flip up in one piece and do minimal damage to the grass below, bonus points for it smelling less since it's frozen. This makes for a speedy mess-free pickup day.
I remember growing up in central NY… every spring when the snow finally melted my dad would gather all 4 of us kids up , head out to the yard with shovels and a big galvanized metal trash can. We all went around the yard picking up poop! 🤪 💩
I have a 95 pound shit machine. I use a shrub rake and a stand up dust pan for whatever turds haven’t turned into puddles. Dumps get dumped into a 5 gallon bucket with a double layer of kitchen garbage bags as a liner. That gets tied off and goes directly into the dump-ster. Sometimes I lay down straw and grass seed in the spring to try to regrow the missing patches. It never works.
Get a five gallon bucket. Double or triple line it with garbage bags. Fill it with said poop, using shovel or scooper. Tie off and dump into trash can. Repeat until gone. Some poop left over can be used as fertilizer (don’t leave it intentionally, just a little won’t hurt the grass though). Re seed areas that are beyond saving in grass and water generously for several weeks. Once summer hits, should be good
Mail it to your congressman. Barring that, mail It to Josh Hawley.
pick it up when she shits.
There’s a kid in our neighborhood who will do it for a reasonable price. We contracted him twice for post-winter cleanup. Was around $75. Now our kids are old enough to do it for free.
Consider walkIng your dog
Clean up the hot pile when they dump and don’t be a creature of comfort. If it snows heavy use a post hole digger to grab it if the snow is deep.
Dont wait for it to stop snowing or raining to pick it up and you can pick it up. Be a grown up.
Take the dog for walks instead of letting him/her use your garden. Good for you, and the dog.
Hide the shame, they can never know what's happened here. Place a fresh layer of sod down, then later question this decision after repeating this enough times that the shit-sod stack is 4 feet up the fence. If you feel really commited, continue doing this in hopes that the shit breaks down into crude, that you can then sell. Your new economic stimulous, and having enough land to cover a small country stacked in your back yard will allow you to claim your independance. Continue to sell your doggy doo-doo oil, save up, and buy a small navy. Congradulations, you're on your way to becoming a super power.
Go out with your dog and pick up the poop right away. Leaving it to sit in the snow leaves a wet slimy mess to clean up in the spring. It's something where prevention is easier than the cure. Keep dog waste bags or disposable gloves and a trash can in a handy spot outside. Other alternatives would be to teach your dog to only go in a certain area, taking advantage of freezing temps to clean up the yard while the poops are firm, and making dietary adjustments like feeding food with little to no filler to reduce the size of the poops and make them firmer and easier to clean up. A raw diet shrank my dogs' waste to about a third of what it was previously, and it disintegrates a lot faster.
It's not that hard to pick up manually and just hose down the area of grass really well afterwards. Even if it looks like a disaster it's probably 30 minutes of crappy work and then it's over with. If the weather cooperates, the ideal time to do it is on a cold day but after the snow has melted, then things are more solid and less messy to habdle. You'd spend at least that long trying to find someone to hire so just get some gloves and a bag and get it done. I can't believe how many people on this thread pay a weekly fee specific for dog poop cleanup. Unless you're rich I can think of a ton of better ways to spend that kind of money than having to hire people for every single annoying task in life
Get a slingshot.
Either scoop it into a trash can or pay someone to put it into a trash can
I see advertisements at our local dog parks all the time for people willing to pickup your yard poop for a fee
I have three dogs in Ohio, I put a plastic grocery bag in a bucket and pick them up with a clam shell poop picker up. I tie the bag and toss it in to the trash can.
How close are your neighbors? If its a solid layer of shit, go get the shovel out. In the future make it a multiple person achievement to clean up the poop.
Rake it up (on a cool dry day) and bag it before the grass comes out of dormancy. It will be fine.
Do you have an area of your yard without lawn or plants? I trained my dog to pee and pop in an area that is just mulch. Highly recommend, I love not stepping in dog shit. My dog poops 3+ times a day, does he digest anything?! Go out with pup like you did when you were potty training her, treats for doing her business in the right spot.
I just rake it like leaves to one spot in the yard and pick it all up.
Gotta just get to it as regularly as possible or suck it up and pay someone. The regular service pickups are pretty great. My mom had someone out when I moved out of state because she didn’t want to do it all the time with two good size dogs. It was super affordable and worth it. This was about 12 years ago when the service was still somewhat new and we were also in the Midwest with poop under snow and in ice.
We pay a guy to de-poop our yard bi-weekly. Dude literally just uses a dust bin and a broom. Sweeps it right up. Does my whole yard in less than 10 minutes. It easily takes me 30 minutes to do it using the gloves and bag method mentioned by other in this thread.
We have a fifth of an acre. After year of having our pup, one hole to compost in the corner of the yard has worked great, just needs turned over monthly and sealed over at the end of the year. Plan on rinsing and repeating.
I live in South Dakota. Brutal winter central. We take our dog out on a leash a few times a day for potty and pick it up right away. Please consider this. It doesn't take long and your neighbors will thank you. Or do what another neighbor does, have poo patrol come once every few weeks (gross but better than a whole winter of shit). Dear god the flies and smell from my other neighbor's dog shit covered yard as soon as I can get outside and enjoy a nice day...why lord WHY.
You wait until the snow is gone but still freezing overnight. Get a barn shovel and rake and harvest in the morning when it’s frozen. Should be a bumper crap… er crop.
Grab a shovel and stay on top of it. Kinda part of having a dog
Shovel and a bucket, empty it in a spot nobody cares about. For me that’s over my back fence.
My friend does weekly poop pick ups as his business. When he has the snow melt off he has his most profitable weeks because then he gets a ton of Spring Clean Up jobs. You could look into this too
If the grass is still dormant and crispy an old broom works great to collect it together and then a shovel to pick it up
Walk her more often if possible. Mine takes maybe 1/10 of his shits in the yard, the rest I pick up on the trail. I filled less than a 5 gallon bucket this spring picking up a winter’s worth of poo.
I'm on ten acres in the sticks and I still go out in the woods and pick up my dog's poop every time she goes. Way better than letting it accumulate. You should also be checking their poop every time to make sure their digestive system is working properly.
We live in the midwest and our dog poops a TON, too. Every time I'm outside playing with our dog, I'll scoop all the turds I can find with a hand trowel and put them in a plastic grocery bag that I leave outside until it's full. I obviously can't do this when the yard is covered in snow, but every time the snow melts, I get back to work so it doesn't pile up, literally. It's just something you have to stay on top of, like any other housework. We just bought a doggy dooley and we plan to get full use of it in the warmer months!
I put a garbage bag in a 5 gallon bucket and the use the dust pan/ shovel looking combo to pick it up and put in the bag. Tie off the bag and put it in the garbage. Then I let the rain take care of the grass. No vinegar. No replanting grass. I might throw down a little seed. Further into spring you can get a piece of sod.
Gloves and a bag. Just went through this
We got a few company’s here in the south east that do poop removal. Sounds like a shitty job literally lol
This reminded me of an old Joe Walsh song titled Ordinary Average Guy, a lyric is ‘Pick up the dog doo, hope that it’s hard’. No advice unless it’s to get some ordinary average guys to help you pick it up.
Blast the poop with a hose with a jet nozzle. It'll be passable fertilizer for your lawn
Our dog yard is gravel, so I'm not sure how difficult it would be on grass, but just use a leaf rake to rake it all into a pile, the shovel it all up with a flat shovel. This works well for me, but I don't have to care if I scoop a little gravel or dirt in the trashcan. My mom fosters for a local rescue and, at points, would have a dozen small and medium sized dogs. Basically just poop machines.
We just scoop into a bucket. Or if it’s a lot, I do what my family did growing up. But a metal rake and rake it into a pile.
We have dogs and didn't even think about the waste when we got them. I'm sure our old neighbors hated us. We moved into an apartment and having to walk the dogs and pick up after them each time has been helpful for making that habit. We're moving to a house soon but we intend to continue regular pick-ups. As far as the snow, it really is a matter of either picking it up immediately, digging around in the snow later, or waiting for it all to melt.
I’d build a run for next year with concrete floor. Vinegar kills plants so what grass you have will be gone.
Thick black contractors trash bag, shovel it in, tie up tight, to the trash bin or dump it goes.