How to solve a dog poop problem for your community or HOA

This purpose of this article is to help property managers reduce the amount of pet waste in their community.

The advice comes from Susan and Jacob D'Aniello, co-founders of DoodyCalls dog poop removal service. DoodyCalls was the first dog waste removal service company to offer franchises and has locations across the U.S.

DoodyCalls franchise owners are experts in pet waste management.

DoodyCalls' pooper scooper service makes pet owner's happier, the environment cleaner and the world a better place.

To learn more about DoodyCalls, please visit: http://www.doodycalls.com

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Identify areas of your community that have a dog poop problem. Publish these areas in your newsletter and encourage residents be responsible.

2. Educate your residents that a dog waste problem exists in the community. One of the best ways to do this is to publish educational article in a community newsletter at least four times a year . At DoodyCalls, we will provide prewritten articles to include in newsletters upon request. Other dog waste removal companies may also contribute content and you should hesitate to ask them to contribute. These articles generally address environmental issues, legal issues, or both.

3. Pet waste and dog poop pick up sign

   Install signs along problem areas that remind owners to pick up after their dogs.

4. Pet waste station - Gladiator manufactured by JJB Solutions

   Make it convenient for pet owners to pick up and dispose of the dog waste properly. Install pet waste stations along paths and in common areas. Pet waste stations consist of a post, waste receptacle, reminder sign, and litter bag dispenser.

   You may choose to purchase the pet waste station, service, and supplies separately, however, managed service options are now also offered by some pet waste removal companies.

   With managed services there is no up front cost the community. Instead, you pay one weekly rate of less than $20/wk/station for the station, supplies, maintenance and service. After two years you own the station - after four years you will receive a new one free of charge. This plan eliminates up front cost and makes installing multiple stations in your community feasible. It also ensures that the stations on your property look clean and shiny.

5. Consider hiring a pooper scooper company to patroll the problem areas for pet waste. If budgeting is a problem, hire them to spend only a certain amount of time at the property each week.

6. Make sure your community bylaws allow residents that do not pick up after their pets to be fined.

7. Consider installing a dog park and encourage residents to take their dogs there to play instead of the same field the neighborhood kids play soccer on!

Tips & Warnings

• Installing pet waste stations for dog owners is the right thing to do. People without children contribute to building playgrounds and people without dogs should contribute to investments that make their lives nicer as well. That's what living in a community is all about.

• Communities that do not have a pet waste management plan in place may be subject to fines. Uncollected waste pollutes the environment and is contributes to non-point source pollution.

• We do not recommend using in ground dog waste digesters for communities because they tend to become filled with non-biodegradable material over time. This means that you will need to clean them out periodically. This is an unpleasant task at best - I promise!

• Many counties have pooper scooper ordinances that requires owners to pick up the dog poop their pets leave behind. Unfortunately, these ordinances generally are very difficult to enforce without photographic proof of a violation.

Resources

• Community and HOA Dog Waste Management Service - DoodyCalls
• Community Associations Institute