If you happen to live in an area that isn't buried under snow for six months out of the year, then this unpleasant aspect of dog ownership likely won't trouble you much. Or better yet, you do live in snowy climes but have much more willpower and hold against procrastination better than I do.
Every year, I swear to myself that I will follow the boys around the yard with a scoop, be it sleet, or hail, or raging blizzard. But alas ... every year the temperatures drop to minus forty degrees celsius and my previous determination from last spring is frozen solid (much like that I swore to collect on time). And every year, I'm out in the melting snow, picking up dog piles as they are exposed. Inch by melting inch. Beginning in March, and because of our cooler temperatures, often lasting until the beginning of June. From June until November, the dreaded "doo-ty" becomes the usual "daily dozen**" to be picked up in the evening of each day.
Why Even Bother
Why not just let it sit there and degrade? Aside from the fact that I have small-ish children sharing the yard, dog poop is a health hazard. Left alone it can gather maggots, parasites from other animals, pass parasites TO other animals, which in turn pass them back to the dogs, and possibly us humans as well. The smell alone is also a good incentive to pick it up, as well as irate neighbours (who complain of the smell). Picking it up is also the best solution if you have a dog who like to snack on "poop-sicles" (coprophagia).
Disposal of dog poop might not be as simple a procedure as you think either. Many (if not most) townships, and county by-laws class dog poop as hazardous waste, and will not allow it to be picked up by city garbage collectors. What can be done with it then?
Municipal/City Landfill Sites
These often have a separate section for hazardous waste disposal, and may charge a small fee for individual pick-up if you are lucky enough to live in an area for it. If not, driving it to the landfill site may be your only option.
Clean-up Services
Enterprising souls in larger and more populated areas have started up clean-up services. Sometimes the service offered includes both clean-up and disposable for a fee. Others may offer clean-up only. Check your yellow pages and business services directories to see if your area has one.
Septic System for Dogs
Rather, more accurately, the Doggie Dooley Waste Disposal System. I love this concept, but it may be against your local by-laws to install any kind of septic system in your yard. It's a fairly simple concept, you pick it up and drop the waste in a hole, where chemicals and enzymes break it down into the soil. When I get one of these, I may be able to put an end to my winter procrastination (I hope). Even if I still put things off until spring, the aggravation, smell and back-breaking labour of picking up and bagging piles will be worth the eighty dollars I've spent.
The Daily Dozen : so named for my habit of procrastination, which causes "daily" to be more accurately "every other day-ly".
