Pick’n poop
People getting their first Westie make countless decisions: pet or show stock, which breeder, which sex, which training club, which toys, crates, food, collar and leash etc. But have they planned the most efficient way to keep the yard clear of waste?
Assuming your Westie is house trained, you still have the yard to deal with. The liquid waste will be absorbed by the earth except in winter which means, come spring there will be dead spots everywhere in the grass. The amount of dead lawn can be lessened by training your dog to always go to one selected place. This is not hard to teach. The place you choose should be such that it isn’t too far from the back door, yet isn’t a ‘feature’ of your yard. Some people plant low bushes around the area or use a low fence. Take the pup to the same spot several times a day and always reward and praise for success.
Lawn Repair
The best way to repair the lawn includes scratching the spot down to a depth of an inch or two, working in a little fresh soil, perhaps some Dolomite lime, seeding with grass, putting a little garden edging fence around and into it such that the dog is kept off, and watering well. Keep watered for a couple of weeks. It is surprising how fast the spots fill in, and if your grass seed is the same variety as the rest of the lawn, it won’t show.
Solid Waste
Now for the solids. First, to keep a tidy yard, pick-up should be done every day or two. There are available at pet stores, some hardware stores, and dog show stalls, long handled aluminum scoops and long handled scrapers. This is a most effective tool and saves the bending over. Poop can also be picked up using a plastic bag (sandwich bags are the size for Westies). Slip you hand into the bag, pick up the treasure and pull the edge of the bag forward over your hand, trapping the contents inside. As I used to tell my obedience classes, it leaves your hand ‘finger lickin’ clean. The bag can be emptied into the toilet and the baggie put into the trash, or the whole thing can be deposited outdoors in the garbage (IF your area has no civic regulations forbidding this). Also, a covered lined garbage bucket, kept outside, will hold a couple of weeks’ worth and then the whole bag be tied up and put in the outside garbage bag. This qualifies as ‘double bagging’.
On Walks
The ‘baggie’ method is the best one for walks in the park where responsible people always pick up after their dogs. Some parks even supply plastic bags in a dispenser and most parks will supply cans along the paths for disposal.
Digesting
If you decide you need to dispose of the waste at home, it can be digested safely into the ground using a proper system if you follow instructions to the letter. Another use of poop is putting a very small amount in your flower garden every two or three weeks. It discourages cats who like to roll in the flower beds. Also, waste put in garbage bags discourages cats from clawing them open. For years I had the only unopened garbage containers in our alley.
Food Impact
The type of food dictates the density of the poop. If you use canned, or some moist foods, or even some less expensive dried foods, the dog will produce very soft stools which make pickup very unpleasant if not impossible. If this is the case with your westie, talk to your Vet and get recommendations on food and also the nutritional value of various foods. The foods sold through veterinarians are usually more expensive, but the nutrition is generally better. You can thus feed less, and thus make food costs less per serving. The advantages to this are that food fed is less, stools are smaller and firmer, the dog is overall healthier, and all for no more money.
Author: Anne Matheson.