Hi friends! I know, I know, I’ve been terrible at getting my blogs out. No excuses…except does SWAMPED count?? What I have to share with you today though will make up for it and we’ll be best of friends again….Scout’s Honor! Let’s talk about dog poop. More specifically let’s talk about extremely hot Utah summers and dog poop! I conjured up all sorts of images there didn’t I? Wait for it because this is worth it! I abhor dog poop in the summer. Well, I hate it all the time but I reeeeally hate it in the summer. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. I think I’ve tried it all in the 40+ years of owning dogs and to name a few: special garbage cans with charcoal filters (might have been the dumbest one I tried); double wrapping the poop in plastic (NOT eco friendly and besides it didn’t work); running down to the park after meal times in hopes of getting both my boys to poop down there so I could throw it away in the park garbage can (but my dogs don’t always poop on command….imagine that!), putting a little 5 gallon steel garbage can with a liner and lid at the back of the property so I didn’t have to smell it (also didn’t work and the flies buzzed it all day). But then I found THIS….the Doggie Dooley! I did a little video so you could see it in action. It works like a champ and it’s easy to install. It’s about the size of a 5 gal bucket. It works just like a septic tank. The digester tablets add a bacteria that liquifies the poop and when you add water it runs the poop water down the drain. It’s AWESOME! Here’s all you do:

1. Dig a hole (hardest part) about 4 feet deep and same diameter as the Dooley
2. Fill the hole about 3/4’s with large rocks, old bricks, old cement, etc.
3. Place the Dooley on top of the rocks. (Tip: make sure to level it so that it drains evenly)
4. Turn it so the foot pedal is on the side you want it (I’m a lefty so I made sure the pedal was on the left side)
5. Edge it with rocks or grass or whatever
6. Fill it with water and drop in one or two (if you have two dogs) digester tablets
7. Clean up poop at least once a day. If you allow the poop to dry out then it floats on top and doesn’t liquify. Someone told me once that if you don’t pick it up immediately and flies land on it that you can’t put it in the digester because of egg larvae. Totally not true!
8. Voilà!!

I’ve had two of these and I learned a few tricks:

• Put it in a back corner of the yard or someplace out of the way. I’ve taught my dogs to poop in a certain place so I put it near there.
• Be sure and have it near a water source so you don’t have to drag a hose to it everyday. I’ve done it that way but I hated having to coil up the hose everyday. In this house, my husband ran a line from our sprinkler system so I could have a tap and I have a short hose attached. (You don’t have to use an old wand like I do. You can just perch a hose on the top (make sure the end of the hose doesn’t drop in to the poopy water) and let it run in but I stick the wand down in there and give it a good swirl. I don’t have kids at home so I can perch the wand against the hose bib and don’t have to worry about anyone touching it. You don’t want poop germs….Yuck!
• Be diligent adding at least a gallon of water a day into it. If you ever smell it when you are down in that part of the yard it’s because you aren’t adding enough water daily. It only requires a gallon a day but I do at least two and I have no odor.
• Add your digester tablets weekly. A bottle lasts me two summers.

I hope you love it as much as I do! Guaranteed your summer will SMELL better! Until next time….~C