dog poop

[bobbygedd]

for the first time in my life, i had a new customer request mowing, and a fert program, and.....weekly dog poop removal. huge german sheppard, who apparently eats very well. ive never done this, dont know what to charge, my helper did it one time, got half thru, handed me the shovel, and said no way, he aint doin it. actually, it really doesnt bother me to do it myself, i just dont know how to charge. any of u folks experience this? how much?

[scottb]

I wonder how much fertlizer value Doggiedo has you could start a new business lol. Serious though I have know idea.

[BRIAN GALLO]

I cleaned up a yard just today! I used my boots and the wheels of my walk-behind to do it!!!!! The neighbor of one of my accounts just got a new big dog a week ago....and guess where it is doing all of it's business. :mad: I never had anyone "ask" me to clean that stuff, but I would definately charge a premium price for that!

[Jimbo]

Do "High lift" blades take care of poo? Maybe you can just bag the yard if it does?
Charge extra without really doing much more work (besides bagging if you dont already)

[Brickman]

If some body were to ask me to clean it up I would/will tell them they don't have enough money to pay me for that.

Seriously charge enough to get a house/truck payment out of the deal every month. Better yet every week.

I used to be real PICKY about it, any more it isn't worth the hassle. Mow over it. Mulch it up, it has a wonderful smell. :D

[southside]

I use a Walker GHS,so dog **** is not a problem for me. Fan just
sucks it up. Gotta love the smell you can just about taste it. :D

[strickdad]

Originally posted by scottb
I wonder how much fertlizer value Doggiedo has you could start a new business lol. Serious though I have know idea. scott you may laugh, but im currently working on a"custom" mixture for a new soil conditioner that will contain rhinoceros doo from your north carolina zoo.

[Tony Harrell]

One day last year, I finished up my own lawn when my neighbor across the street was just getting started. He waited a little long to do the first cut and it was high so I just gassed up and rode over to help him. We were following each other and he was about 15-20 yards behind me when I ran upon a dead cat, it was decomposing badly. I stopped and shouted at him about it thinking he would mow around it like I did. No, this ____head ran right over it. That's the only time I've thrown up while riding my mower. Yes, the expletive deleted you're thinking of is correct! Dog poo is bad, but I always compare it to that cat.

[ADMowing]

Dropped one customer one time because of it (we didn't like her much anyway -- very bad customer). So we used it as an excuse. She had three dogs and never cleaned up her little mobile home park backyard. It was terrible.

Now, we just mulch it with the rest of the grass. We feel that if the customer wants it cleaned up, they need to do it (we have some who do clean it up). We have had some customers ask us when we started what day we were coming out so that they could have it cleaned up by then. Otherwise, we mulch it in and hose off our tires before we go to the next yard. We have never had a request to clean it up, but I don't think we would do it if asked. We carry so many customers that we don't have time to stop and do that type of work anyway.

But, sounds like you don't mind doing it, so I'd charge at least $40/hour for it (you are not using gas, equipment etc... but you are spending your time there). If it takes you 1/2 hour, tack $20 onto each bill. If someone asks us to weed or pick up excessive debris out of the yard, we charge $25/hour.

We were doing a large field one day (tall, but thin grass) and ran over a dead cat (didn't see until too late) -- Tony, you are right -- there is NOTHING worse!!! It took us forever to get the smell out of our mower and out of our minds!!!

[wolfpacklawn]

Your misssing an easy money making opportunity if you don't offer this service for your customers. I generally charge $6 extra for one dog and $2 for each dog thereafter. If it's a real big area that I have to do I will charge more. About 75% of my customers that have dogs have us pick up after them. It only takes a few minutes and it's better than stepping in it or running it over and having your mower smell all the time. I think running the stuff over is sicker than picking it up. Also, if your not picking it up and your weedeating and you didn't see that little pile... well you know what happens, then you smell like dog poop the rest of the day.

Get out your little bucket, line it with a plastic bag and pick it up. For about five minutes of work your get an extra $6. That's $72 per hour.

I got an account last week specifically becasue we are willing to pick up after her dog. She had called around and none of the other lawn guys would pick the stuff up when they mowed.
One other thing, big dogs are easier to pick up after than those little yipper dogs. I may start charging $8 for the little dogs because it's harder to find their waste.

[Dennis E.]

Poo stays where it is! If the customer wants to get out there and clean it up. Fine.
I've got some that do just that. And some others that don't care.
I've got a lady who has three greyhounds. They eat well,let me tell ya'!
You'd think there had been an elephant in the backyard with the runs!!It's disgusting!:mad:

[Turfdude]

We have a line in our contracts that states the client is responsible for cleaning up after their pets and children the PM before or AM of our visit. If there are a lot of toys one week, we make an oversized pile in middle of lawn and mow around it. The client usually gets the picture. If there is more than one or two fresh loads - client gets ONE friendly call, second gets more nasty - third - LAWN NAZI!!!
We are also "One-way movers" when it comes to items like picnic tables, large plastic childrens playsets, etc. Mow up to time losing large object, move to mowed area - finish cut and move on. Time is money - we don't get paid to pick-up after children, pets and/or clients.

Your better accounts generally take care of their properties and have more respect for their possessions. If they don't, do you think they really care about their lawn and landscapes???

Bob

[leprechaun_50]

Southside, :laugh: :laugh: Good one mate.

I don't think that it is appropriate for them to ask you to clean up after their pets. That is one of the responsabilities that they take on by being a pet owner. After all you are running a lawn care service, not a pooper scooper business.
If however you approached them and offered to provide that service for them that would be another story.

[Albemarle Lawn]

Right in the middle of dog-poo yard.

Have fun fixing that dog **** covered flat!!!!!

STAY AWAY FROM PAIN IN THE ASS CUSTOMERS!!!!

P.I.T.A. yards come with P.I.T.A. people!!

[Pulpit46227]

I have one customer that I was pretty put out with over dog poop. Last year about every other week, it was there in the back yard. I didn't contact her this year, because I really didn't want to run over dog poop. This year she has promised to keep it picked up and she has....up until Saturday....Surprise, dog poop smashed into my tires.....yippee

[LawnLad]

There are several local businesses that provide scooping service... and by all estimations, they're doing okay.

I like Wolfpack's suggestion on offering it as a service. Currently we charge double our hourly rate to pick up dog debris. Most peope clean it up.

But crunch the numbers.... $10.00 per week x 50 customers = $500.00 x 30 weeks is another $15,000 a season. For northern climates, you have year 'round revenue. Add another 22 weeks. Not bad.

[TGCummings]

I just mow around it. Sends a pretty clear message...

[NewbieOwner]

Maybe I'm alone in this...

I include in every price about 10minutes for every job to pre-walk the turf, looking for problems, toys, dogdoo, stuck sprinkler heads, glass/rocks/other mower fodder and moving patio furniture out of the way. Etc. Most of my customers have a dog, if they don't want to clean up after it, no problem, 10$ additional charge for me to do it. (More pay for that pre-walk, just have to bring the indestructible pooper scooper with me) Takes almost no extra time!

If they don't want to pay, its no sweat, I can fill their spot on my route within 10 minutes. It's not worth fighting over!

In the past, I've mowed it... I've piled it in one BIG pile on a back deck (don't do it if you're an employee... Big DoggyDoo results) One yard that I had to traverse the back deck, I made sure I hit EVERY pile with 1 or more wheels, then tracked it all over their textured deck surface.

Looking back... It's just easier to do it my current way. Pooper Scooper costs 9.99 at wall mart, Safeway bags are free... And the stress level is 0... I don't even think about it anymore (other than to be sure the Dog Poop charge is on the invoice).

Andrew

[Got Grass?]

Do a search & you will be amazed at the results.

There is a guy arround here I refer customers to....

"Weekly yard cleanup for dog owners"
"$8 one cleaning per week per dog"
"$12 two cleanings per week per dog"
"discounts for seniors & assistance dogs"
Heck how can ya expect a blind guy to pick up his dogs ****?

It's a great service for thoes who are willing to do it & for thoes who wont or cant. Old people may not be able to still get out & pick up after Fido anymore.

[kris]

We have one very well off client who has our company clean the dog kennel weekly as well as all other maintenance needs. There is not **** all over the yard but in a very nice 40ft x 20ft kennel. This customer is good for over 1400 a month plus extra Landscape improvements yearly.

If it was at another customers house we would mow around it.

It's your call ... at least they asked you for this service so it opens it up for extra payment.

BTW ... the gals that service this account don't seem to mind cleaning it up and in fact always make sure they have "treats" for the 2 dogs each week.

[maple city]

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not the only one with poopie problems!

:p