Dog poop!

[DaveinSWFL]

I have only been on this site for about 6 months and I don't recall this topic mentioned. I have a customer with 2 properties that I service. Both properties are very small and are year round monthly contracts, $125.00 a month each. The customers daughter has moved into one of the properties last month. She has 2 large dogs and there is dog crap everywhere. I mean everywhere. I spoke to the mother and informed her that the yard had dog poop everywhere and that I would appreciate it if the poop was picked up before I come out on Fridays. I serviced the property yesterday and still poop everywhere. Do any of you have any other suggestions how to deal with this issue? I hate to lose these accounts. Should I add a line in my service agreement that lawns must be clear of dog droppings? Feed back is appreciated.

[Dave_005]

i have in my service agreements ALL pet messes and toys Must be picked up prior to our arrival, otherwise a $10 fee is added to thier bill for each time it isnt picked up for cleaning of equipment, i only had to bill extra one time, its Always been picked up since then. i HATE stepping in dog poop and getting it in my truck or on my equipment then having to waste time and money cleaning everything.

[cpel2004]

Most homeowners dont think its a big deal, but explain to them about what type of mess it creates for you and the property. Wait until the duaghter steps in it, that will help your cause out. I would clean it up and charge them for it. But I would speak with the check writer first. extra 10 to 20 a visit. Stand your ground keep in mind its your responsibility to set your customer expectations from when you start servicing the property. I would make it a seperate line item on the invoice.

[mark_the_psycho]

I have a customer like that, their dog s**** everywhere, nothing is safe. It is in the grass, on the driveway, the patio, and worst of all, it's in the beds *shudder*. I just mow around some of the nastier looking piles, but if it's dried up I just mow over it. I don't charge extra, because they tip VERY well, but when it comes mulch time, I add $75 to the bill.

[Clear-Cut]

i hate avoiding land mines...sometimes you just dont see it until its on your wheels or boots...and by then its too late!

[MJS]

i hate avoiding land mines...sometimes you just dont see it until its on your wheels or boots...and by then its too late!

Or until it's in your truck. That really stinks. :hammerhead:

[getthenet]

I Am New To This But I Thought I Would Throw In My 2 Cents. 3 Years Ago I Got A $125 Per Cut Job. I Thought It Was Great Until The 2nd Week We Arrived The Owner Had Small Shovels, A Bucket With Plastic Bag In It And Directions On How To Be A Pooper Scoooper. That Was Not In My Up Front Price But I Went On And Picked It Up For The Whole Year. I Did Not Call Him Back The Next Season Though.

[dwlah]

Last month a customer was out of town his daughter was there(her husband is stationed in Korea) anyway the dogs were out so I called the house so they could be let in The daughter answered and told me she didnt know I was coming (been there every Tues AM all year) and hadnt had time to clean the yard
I told her thats OK Ill be back after lunch so I hit a couple of other yards and ate lunch
came back yard was clear:)

[Dave_005]

I Am New To This But I Thought I Would Throw In My 2 Cents. 3 Years Ago I Got A $125 Per Cut Job. I Thought It Was Great Until The 2nd Week We Arrived The Owner Had Small Shovels, A Bucket With Plastic Bag In It And Directions On How To Be A Pooper Scoooper. That Was Not In My Up Front Price But I Went On And Picked It Up For The Whole Year. I Did Not Call Him Back The Next Season Though.

WOW, there is NO WAY i would pick it up for the customer and if i did i would have to charge ALOT more. i would have probably put a note on his door telling him to find someone else to do his lawn. i pick up after my own dog, there is NO WAY i will pick up after someone elses.

[getthenet]

I Have 2 Guys That Mow For Me. It Seems Like Every Time They Got To That Yard They Would Call Me And Ask Who Had To Pick It Up.

[P.Services]

it doesnt bug me i just mow it all over and couldnt care less. do some 360's to clean the tires and odd i go. scuff my boots in the grass all set.

[getthenet]

Do You Plow In The Winter For Work?

[P.Services]

Do You Plow In The Winter For Work?

who was that question for?

[getthenet]

Asking Picasso

[getthenet]

I Dont Know If You Have Paid Any Attention To The Forcast Down In W. Tn But A 10 % Chance Of Snow And They Are Calling Me To Be Ready Tonight.

[P.Services]

yes, im waiting for the call to head out right now. calling for 9''-12'' but i dont think we will get that much.

[getthenet]

What Is A Going Rate On Plowing Per Hour?

[P.Services]

this is my first year so im stuck with 60. i think a fair rate is 75-85.

[getthenet]

I Started At $50 2 Years Ago But Time Starts When I Leave The House And Ends When I Get Home. We Do Wal Marts, Home Depots, Lowes, Etc. But Have Never Had More Than 2 Inches To Push.

[P.Services]

i get paid one way for both trucks and between jobs. i know some people that get 80 but have to call in to clock out between jobs so they are always haulin a$$. i plow some big lots and just take my merry time no hurry at all. if we get 12'' it will be at least 20 hours per truck. we dont wait for it to stop so we start at 2'' and just keep going until it does stop so we might plow the same lot 5 times.

[getthenet]

Must Be Nice In A Truck With A Plow. There Is Not Enough Use Here For Me To Justify Buying A Plow So I Use A Open Cab Tractor And 6' Boxblade On Back 6' Bucket On The Front. Its Got Great Air Conditioning.

[cpel2004]

Its not the customers fault, ultimately its your responsibility to set the proper expectations from the start. In doing so you will greatly separate yourself from your competition and your customers will know what their responsibilities are in helping you maintain their lawn. Or have it written in your agreement that you charge extra for cleaning up dog pop, make it an add on service.

[landscaper22]

Inside dogs are worse than outside dogs. The ones that stay outisde (except for when they are puppies) usually have one area that they like to crap. It is generally in some far corner of the yard. I guess they don't want to smell and walk through their own poo either. But dogs that stay indoors crap all over the place when they come out. I have not had too many probems with this, but I am going to include my policy on dog crap in my lawn maintenance guidelines that I plan on giving to my customers next year. I don't want to be difficult but am explaining that if I have to constantly pick up toys, personal things, or clean dog crap from my equipment that they may be charged additional fees.
I agree with cpel2004 to some extent. Customers do not pay attention to issues like that. Half the time the customer don't even know what day you service their property, or they forget you are coming. But if you make it clear in your policies that you will charge extra, they will start paying attention. I can bend the rules, but atleast the customer knows what to expect.

[getthenet]

I Have 2 Other Customers That Have Big Dogs Inside And Outside. They Put A Pen 12' Wide By 100' Long On The Back Side Of Their Property. I Came Back And Put Down A Greenhouse Type Paper And Sod Staples With 3" To 4" Of Wood Chips On Top. The Dogs Cant Hardly Dig Through The Plastic Nor Can Weeds Grow Up Thru It So No Need In Me Entering That Part Of The Yard. Homeowners Love This.

[DaveinSWFL]

I am definitely going to put it in my service agreement to avoid this occuring again. Rookie mistake that I will have to fix. Thanks for all the imput.

[Whitey4]

I charge 5 bucks for in season poop scooping, and it is a required addition to my service if the owners have dogs. I charge 15 a week for out of season scooping. 20 a week for JUST scooping with no lawn-garden service. I can do 15 to 20 houses in the off season in barely more than a half a day, once a week. It's steady and is more profitable than snow removal. No overhead at all. $300+ for about 5 hours of easy labor in the off season. I keep my territory small, so gas doesn't kill me.

[RICHIE K]

We have a $10 fee for this charge a few customers once for this and no more poop since then

[hackitdown]

On a positive note, I find that it provides a fine lubricant for the mower tires. Nothing quite like sliding sideways across a monster dog crap...it is like drift racing!

[grass_grower]

I think that you should add extra bucks because it is not easy to work with conditions like that.:)

[Krehling's Prop. Maint.]

the worst is when you catch a pile with the trimmer and get a little taste of it! haha it usually only happens at my house, I got lucky and the majority of my customers don't have dogs.

[goodgreen]

People are pretty lazy when it comes to picking that stuff up. Should be mentioned in any agreement that you have signed and show the extra charge if you have to pick it up. The worst is the smell when you put your equipment in storage. And it's a big pain to have to get the hose out every time and clean up. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in this business.

[Lawn-Sharks]

dog poop sucks i've got an enclosed trailer and i never notice that i hit a mound till i loaded the o'l ZTR in the trailer....Ahhh! aint nothing like the smell of poop , grass & gas !

[humble1]

I have ztr so the dog shite doesnt bother me, even if i step in it, i do have a higher tolerance for gross things because i am an EMT on a fire dept plus having two kids and a dog. Yeah have seen alot of poop and vomit. Once you have been called out for a welfare check and find a 300 pound dead guy that has been sitting in his apartment during a heatwave. Nothing bothers you.

[Furness & Sons L&L]

We have 3 or 4 dog poop scoop companys here in town. We have a few of ther ecards, they can have have them do it for $10 bucks or pay us $15 for cleaning the equipment.

[Steve Giebel]

After reading all of the feedback to your question. It gave me an idea that I have tossed around for some time. I have a nephew that could use to earn a few bucks over the summer. I thought of having him start a small business of picking up dog poop for the lawn care companies. Do you find that customers are willing to pay a premium for the poop to be picked up? Would any of you subcontract this out? What would it be worth, $$$$?

[a&llandscapes]

Yes we offer picking it up the poop for a fee just like a company would charge if you would call a company it is a line in my contract it works my customers always sign up so now for your guys to go cut the grass they are making more money its great

[executive property maintenance]

i find poop in the yard id tell them i dont pick up crap if i return and see crap they will pay. go back find crap shot the dog no more crap:hammerhead: j/k

[Looking Good Lawn Service]

Picking up someone elses droppings is purely degrading and a complete lack of respect for humans. I would never let some one knowingly step in any kind of mess in my property, neverless fesces. I have one customer that has a large dog, when I pull up, he knows what to do, pick up the dog ****. Plain english, there should be no discussion about it, they should leave you to do your job, cut! They dont like it, get another LCO, period!!

[topsites]

For real, there are only two types of pet owners in my book:
1) Those who always pick up after their pets, and I might find 1 or 2 maybe 3-4 piles.
2) Those who never do, usually always lots of piles.

That's it, a few piles fine, anymore no can do, pretty much.

[Steve Giebel]

Thanks for the responses. It looks like my nephew would be able to make upto a couple of hundred dollars a month if he really works at getting and retaining customers. Not bad income for a 13 year old. Thanks for the help guys.

[Lawn-Sharks]

Im glad this thread is still going..i had the most interisting conversation with one of my customers. now get this this lady has a big azz dog i dont know what kind but just BIG. she doesn't pick up any of the mondo sized poop piles! i can go to this account an see 10 to 12 piles any givin time so i was mowing her yard the other day. (and just to let you know i just run the poop over) well i had ran over a couple piles with the tire this time( insted of chopping them up)He..He.. and i had went across her driveway you would see poop-no poop-poop-no poop i was tracking it all over the place and she came out giving me hell and heres the funny part i just shut the mower off and staired at her as if some point she needed to listen to herself. so after all her ranting i told her "Well i didnt put the poop their ".i aint gonna pick it up soooo i think you need to make this problem go away some how.BUTT i have a solution (im a smart azz @ times) I can mow around the piles for you at no exta charge Mam but if i do that after a couple week your yard is going to look like Troll dolls are trying to pop up thou your grass! after all that she just walked away.:cool2:i dont know if i solved anything by saying what i said but i had fun saying it! I belive in great customer service until they treat you like the poop i just ran over

[DiyDave]

What about starting up a dog turd pick-up company, and run it alongside, as a sideline to lawn mowing service, that way when somebody doesn't pay you for cutting their grass, you could leave a massive pile of dog crap on their front doorstep!:laugh::laugh:

[lopomon]

i have an absolute zero tolerance policy on dog poop. just started my company, but the one i used to work for was terrible. i had to pick up dog poop, rake through it, step on it, run it over with a hand mower, just about everything. it's going into my contract, that if the job has dog crap on it, i will charge at LEAST 20 dollars to pick it up, depending on how much there is. i will even go as far as charging 5 bucks a pile if its a consistent problem. i will only do this to customers who are repeat offenders, if somebody is good about picking it up, but leaves a couple piles thats fine. im there to cut their lawn, not tread through dog crap. if i do, they will be charges up the ass for it :)

[Marcos]

All you guys crying and moaning about dog poop.....

...where all the time, you've got opportunity staring right back at you !!

I saw this guy's SPIFFY :) truck today, while traveling up north near Franklin / Springboro OH.

http://www.doocare.com/

This is something you could "do" :laugh: certainly as an add-on buisiness, in the more well-to-do areas of your town, of course.

I have no idea if the owner of "doo care" does anything else for a living too, but I'll bet he does.

[DiyDave]

I bet he sure doo smell good, too, after a hard day's work!:laugh::laugh:

[landscaper22]

I just do not see where this type of business is profitable. I guess in some areas it is catching on. But, how much would people be willing to pay for this? I guess if you had 8-10 houses on each street it could be profitable. Otherwise, you would be wasting a lot of time and gas money driving around town for a little money. The amount I am willing to pay someone to do this for me is a lot less than the amount I would charge someone else to actually perform the service.

[Marcos]

I just do not see where this type of business is profitable. I guess in some areas it is catching on. But, how much would people be willing to pay for this? I guess if you had 8-10 houses on each street it could be profitable. Otherwise, you would be wasting a lot of time and gas money driving around town for a little money. The amount I am willing to pay someone to do this for me is a lot less than the amount I would charge someone else to actually perform the service.

Well...I know for a fact that there's a healthy chunk of 'newer' Springboro, where you can't hardly find a home for less than 400 K.
(East and west coasters...that's BIG MONEY here!)

The last two decades or so that corner of the county has absolutely TAKEN OFF, helping make Warren Co Ohio the 2nd fastest growing county in Ohio.

Certainly a market like this is ideal for an endeavor like DOO CARE.
But like I said...I'll bet he has other interests too.

[topsites]

I just do not see where this type of business is profitable. I guess in some areas it is catching on. But, how much would people be willing to pay for this?

You wouldn't think, seeing how they're willing to pay $30+ for grass cutting, they'd pay as much for dog poo?
I do! :)

Worst part is you gotta either have the stomach, or a lack of pride of some sort.
Unfortunately lack of pride and high prices don't go together well, so I'm guessing you still need the stomach.

[2fatguyslawncare]

I guess for me it would be pride... like the old saying goes... When aliens look down and they see us picking up dog poo, who do they think is the superior creature...

I have a dog, and I would be horrified to think of anyone else (Even someone I am paying....) to clean up after him.

I bet we will see Mike Rove (Dirty Jobs guy....) in that van some day...

Leroy

[Marcos]

You wouldn't think, seeing how they're willing to pay $30+ for grass cutting, they'd pay as much for dog poo?
I do! :)

Worst part is you gotta either have the stomach, or a lack of pride of some sort.
Unfortunately lack of pride and high prices don't go together well, so I'm guessing you still need the stomach.

Oh...they get a LOT more than $30 to mow a yard up there !

And as far as "poop scooping" goes...
It's not like these guys and gals are exposing themselves to any contagion.

Doo Care is a franchise; and I'm sure they provide an assortment of nice user-friendly tools available to the guys and gals that doo the work.

Betcha at some point...if and/or when this guy gets established here...I'll bet he goes with all south-of-the-border "green card" workers... who wouldn't be so "discraced" about doing the work.
_____________________________________

and to others on this thread...

How's picking up dog poop worse than changing your kid's diaper ?!?
At least you're getting paid for the former !!

or....is it that you were those fathers who never changed your kid's diapers !!!
:laugh:

[landscaper22]

I wouldn't say it is the worse job in the world. And it really is not any worse than changing my kids diaper or cleaning up her puke. That does get sort of bad sometimes, believe me...:laugh:
To me it would be like someone hiring you to take out their garbage. I don't mean a garbage collection service, but just taking a bag of garbage from the house and walk it to the trash container in the yard or something. Or calling an electrician to come out and change a light bulb. It just seems to be a lot more trouble to show up than to actually do the work. It is such a simple task. Something like mowing a yard is an actual chore. It has to be done on a regular basis and it takes a little time, which the average home owner does not have. It also takes some knowledge to properly manage a landscape.

I have had an outside dog for a good portion of my life. I have never picked up a dog turd from any of my dogs. Had no reason to. Even if I needed to clean up after my dog, it would be too simple to have my own pooper scooper or small shovel and just scoop it up and dispose of it than hire someone. It is about as simple as slinging it into the neighbor's yard. If you clean up after your dog a couple of times each week, it would be a 5 minute job at best. If someone hired me to di it it, I would charge atleast $30-35 for coming out ecah week. And that would be for normal poops. If the dog is sick and has loose bowels, that will be an additional fee. :dizzy: More than one dog would be additional too. I am not going to keep on stating my case here, but does anyone see my point at all?

[Marcos]

It is about as simple as slinging it into the neighbor's yard.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


Were you inspired by the old Saturday Night Live "Yard-a-Pult" skit, or are you just a naturally evil person ?!?

[js.lawn]

i have it stated im my contract that it must be picked up or there well be a 20.00 cleanin fee have 1 costumer that has 3 big dogs its 50.00 cut and she pays 70 every week i hate it but what can ya do when she pays

[Marcos]

I have had an outside dog for a good portion of my life. I have never picked up a dog turd from any of my dogs. Had no reason to.

Something I haven't read on here at all...that's really important...is the type of dog food that goes in to Fido, and what kind of poop is the end result.

There's a vast difference between the 'solubility' of the el-cheapo foods you buy at the drive-thru, vs. the higher-end Iams and the Science Diets on the market.

We had Bonnie, a cocker spaniel / poodle mix ('cockapoo') that lived a healthy life of 16 years...and all she ate was dry Iams dog food of different types.
In the couple of points in time when there were errant purchases of "the cheap stuff, by the pet sitter or someone, you could see a huge difference in the solubility of her poop in the yard a few days later.
*Plus...unlike before...her pee would then burn the turf !!!

*(if you address dog "pee burns" with powdered or pelletized limestone by hand quickly, it'll likely grow back O.K.)

[landscaper22]

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


Were you inspired by the old Saturday Night Live "Yard-a-Pult" skit, or are you just a naturally evil person ?!?

I never saw that on Saturday night live, and I probably wouldn't really do it. But I do think that way sometimes. :laugh:

[DA Quality Lawn & YS]

I am still of the mindset lawns/yards/landscaping + dogs DO NOT MIX. You want one to be nice, don't plan on having the other.....

The responsible people will keep most of the crap off their yards. The lazy, irresponsible ones will just let er lay where she lies. I am not impressed with their display of ambition...when you try your darndest to keep your own yard up really nice and the guy next door grows only dog poop and dandelions, its a bit disgusting.