The Best Dog Poop Scooping Tools
Do you scoop your dog’s poop? Whether you do or whether you hire someone else to do it, it can be incredibly beneficial to have an efficient and effective dog poop scooper on hand. So, what are the best dog poop scooping tools, and how do we know what makes them work?
There are several criteria that you want to find when you’re shopping for dog poop scoopers. Let’s consider what makes these scooping tools efficient and how you can choose the best one for your yard.
What You Need in the Best Dog Poop Scooper
The best dog poop scooper has a few main features to ensure ease of use and cleanliness. Here are some of the criteria the best scooper should meet:
- Easy to clean. You’re using a dog poop scooper to pick up poop for a clean yard. Therefore, it only makes sense you don’t want to have to work even HARDER to clean up the tool itself. You should be able to hose off your poop scooper easily.
- Easy to use. You don’t want picking up poop to be a hassle. A good dog poop scooper should be easy to use. It shouldn’t require excessive amounts of stooping and bending to get dog poop and it should grab poop without you having to strain.
- Easy to carry. If you take your dog on walks, you probably know that they’re prone to poop a lot more when they’re out and about getting their exercise. You want a scooper that’s easy to take with you if necessary.
- Easy to store. You want a scooper that you can easily hang or set in a corner of your garage or shed. You don’t want one that’s going to be constantly falling over or require a special storage space. You also don’t want one that requires dismantling to store.
There are multiple varieties of dog poop scoopers that meet these criteria in one way or another. We’ll take a look at the most common types below.
Best Dog Poop Scooper Set-Ups on the Market
The three main varieties of effective poop scooper set-ups include “jaw” scoopers, hinged scoopers, and rake and bucket sets.
Jaw Scoopers
Jaw scoopers usually come as a long, sometimes adjustable handle with a large claw- or jaw-like fixture at the end. Generally, you’ll use a lever on the handle to open the end, grab the poop from the grass, and carry it away to a trash can.
These scoopers can be incredibly useful because they’re generally lightweight. Plus, they come together as one piece, which can make them much more portable. Many jaw scoopers can benefit from a trash bag fit over the grabber to make cleaning easier.
Some of the top jaw scoopers include the PPOGOO Non-Breakable Scooper and the Dogit Jawz Dog Waste Scooper, both of which are lightweight, effective, and easy to hang for storage.
Hinge Scoopers
Hinge scoopers are similar to jaw scoopers in that they generally come in one piece. Usually, you’ll find two handles that criss-cross each other and close much like a hinge when you pull the top handles together.
Hinge scoopers are generally lightweight and easy to clean. However, they can be a bit hard to handle as you need two hands to grab the poop and may struggle to carry it to a trash can or other disposable area easily. They are also harder to store since they’re generally bulkier.
Two of the highest-rated hinge scoopers on the market include the ActiveDogs Best Ever Poop Scooper—which you can choose as either flat for picking up off hard surfaces or with teeth to use on grass and gravel—and the Four Paws Wee-Wee Pooper Scooper.
Rake and Bucket Sets
In our opinion, rake and bucket sets work best for dog poop scooping. These sets come with a small rake and a sideways bucket that sits flat against the ground. All you have to do is use the rake to push the poop into the bucket.
Rake and bucket sets are convenient because fitting a trash bag over the bucket is incredibly easy (much easier than fitting it over teeth on a jaw scooper) and they also hang easily for convenient storage.
Some of the top rake and bucket sets on the market include the Pawler Dog Pooper Scooper and the Petmate Arm & Hammer Swivel Bin & Rake Pooper Scooper, both of which are durable, easy to use, and come with trash bags when purchased.
Best Practices for Picking Up Dog Poop
It’s important to keep hygiene in mind when you’re picking up dog poop. Dog poop can carry parasites and other harmful bacteria to pets and children. It’s also acidic and can ruin your grass, so you don’t want to leave it out for long.
When you’re picking up poop, there are a few things you can do to ensure hygiene:
- Use a trash bag as a liner so you simply have to tie it off and dump it in the trash.
- Wear gloves if you want to avoid getting any germs on your hands.
- Use a long-handled type of scooper to stay as far away from the poop as possible.
- Store the dog poop scooper away from other tools you may use around people.
If you follow these practices, you should maintain good hygiene. Note that it’s also important that you don’t bang the scooper around a lot. The better you take care of it, the longer you’ll have it, and the easier it will be to clean.
Idaho Poop Scoop and Dog Poop
Our team uses a rake and bucket set-up to pick up your dog’s poop. If you’re not particularly interested in picking up your dog’s poop yourself, you can always hire us to do it for you!
We always use trash bags to pick up poop and maintain sanitary practices in every yard. We can even carry away your dog’s poop if you prefer! Our goal is to help you keep a safe, clean yard without the trouble of having to pick up the poop on your own.
To learn more, head to our services page to connect with us!