DooGooders Route Update – January 25, 2012

Well, we went out and tried to find some doo today, but we kind of struck out. Last night’s snow cover covered the crap. So we cancelled the route. We will not be charging the homes we visited today, so don’t worry about that. Have a great day, and we’ll see ya next time!

Just Doo It! Join the 2012 DooCrew!

Just Doo It! DooGooders, Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s premier dog doo pick up service, is currently hiring DooGooders for DooCrew 2012. Part-time positions available for our spring clean season.

(1) Must possess valid driver’s license

(2) Must have access and use of a reliable vehicle

(3) Good driving record

(4) Must love dogs

DooGooders will conduct a criminal background search and driving record verification prior to interviews.

Fill out an online application.

Additional questions should be directed to scooper@doogooders.com.

Wednesday Route Cancelled

Doo to the snow, we’ve decided to cancel today’s route. Stay warm!

Christmas Schedule UPDATE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have decided to doo this weeks route, but we are moving the pick-up date from Saturday, December 24 to Friday, December 23. This way we can be sure your lawn looks its best for the holidays while still allowing the DooCrew time with family this Christmas. Thanks so much for everything!

Say No To Crap!

We learn a lot of lessons dooing business and recently our Chief Doo Officer Jolene Loetscher shared some of those with a column in the South Dakota Advertising Federation’s latest issue of AdLib. Check out her golden nuggets of business knowledge below or at SDAF.org.

Being a business owner comes with a lot of crap. In our company, literal crap that comes by the gallon. So when you do what we doo, cleaning up dog doo, inevitably you get some prank calls from kids (I can’t blame them) or voicemail from people wondering just how you pick up the poo. But then you get the questions that even in a million years of a jazillion buckets of poop pick-up, you never could expect. And sometimes someone drops a load of,“Huh?!!?!?” bigger than what a Great Dane can pile up. That’s a house pooper.

One of those calls came from an elderly woman. Voice of an 80-year-old angel: “I need some waste removed.” Easy enough. “I let my dog poop in the house. Can you clean it up?” That knocked us over about as fast as the day we realized one of our five-poodle-families needed Pepto stat. A house pooper. Because let’s wake up and smell the feces: if they let the dog poop in the house, what other mess will they leave behind for you to stick your foot in? House poopers come in all shapes, sizes and smells. In every business, you meet them. They tempt you. Your bank account stinks at the time and the project smells like easy money. Maybe it’s the customer you cut your rate for in hopes of a bigger fish. Or the quick job that shouldn’t take too much time. But eventually, you find yourself working so many hours on the project, you make pennies. Or cutting your charges so much that it sets an expectation you will keep dooing that.

Knowing when to say no can be just as important as knowing when to let go. Sometimes the crap you get from a client ends up being more than it’s worth. Just like when you bring a puppy into your home, Fido needs to be the right fit, and so doo the people you work with. You may not feel like you can fire a client, but step back and think of how much more productive you could be for someone you work well with. Bottom line, no matter how much crap you handle in your business, house poopers will always show up. You just need to know how to show them the door.

Spot’s Spotlight: Beans & Bindi

Spot’s Spotlight: Beans & Bindi
(Owners: Christopherson Family)

Welcome to Spot’s Spotlight where DooGooders features a family so you can learn more about our best friends!

Beans & Bindi

Name:  Beans, 6 and Bindi, 1

Breed:  Pugs

Favorite treats:  Waggin’ Train Chicken Jerky and Flossies

Favorite toy:  They mostly just try to chew on our girls’ toys — Squinkies, Legos and crayons top their list!

Funniest habit:  Jumping into the vehicles of everyone who visits our home — they have attempted to hang out with the Schwans man, the garbage man, the Fed-Ex guy, the UPS driver, pizza delivery people, Girl Scouts and extended family.  They run up to everyone and wag their tails, jump around and snort excitedly.  Then they scamper out and hop into their vehicles since everyone wants a pug riding sidekick…ha ha ha!

Thing they love the most: Our daughters, Olivia and Danika and TREATS!!

Thing they dislike the most:  Hippies and people walking through their ‘hood…joggers, bike riders, families on walks, skateboarders and especially other dogs will all get an earful (from behind our screened windows, of course!).

Beans, 6

How they joined your family:  Since I was a child, I had always wanted a pug.  When our daughter Olivia was 2, she and I went to look at puppies.  Initially, it was just to look at them and waste time while we waited for the library to open.  When Liv went right for the pugs, I thought it was a sign!  We had to sell my husband on getting a dog, but we ended up bringing Beans home.  Liv named him Beans–our theory is that she picked that name because she was in a jellybean phase at the time.  When our younger daughter Danika turned 2, I started campaigning for another pug.  Pugs are social and I felt like Beans needed a buddy.  We found Bindi on a farm outside of Sioux Falls.  The girls and I begged for the chance to just go see this little puglet, and my husband agreed.  When we saw that tiny little black puffball with the curly tail and scrappy attitude, we knew we wanted her to join our family!  We actually left her at the farm at first (we wanted to think about getting her) and my husband ended up turning around on the highway about 5 minutes after we left to go back to get her…we KNEW he loved pugs!!  Bindi is SO funny, and we’re glad she’s a part of our family…and we think Beans agrees despite the few gray hairs Bindi gave him.

If they had a million dollars, your pup would:  Well, I’d like to believe that Beans & Bindi would spend some on treats and then give the rest to us as their caretakers but let’s be honest–they’d probably blow it all on snacks and boobie traps for all the people who are so rude as to step anywhere near their house.  I think they’d also build a giant bonfire with all the doggie costumes in the USA…they seem to look ashamed when we dress them up, ha ha!

Bindi, 1

If your dog could take a trip anywhere, they would go:  Anywhere with their family…pugs are sweet, contented little dogs and I think they are happy wherever there are people who love them.

Your pup’s favorite way to spend the dog days of summer:  They like to lounge outside under the tree in our backyard, sometimes swimming in their little pug pool and playing with their girls at the park!

Favorite author/artists/TV show:  They love Twins Baseball, Vikings Football, The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and anything the girls are watching.

How would you describe Beans and Bindi’s personalities:  Bindi is a classic little sister.  She bugs Beans and gets jealous if he has something she doesn’t have.  We actually have a picture of Beans and Bindi when Bindi was tiny and Beans was 5; they were eating and Bindi was actually sitting in the food dish to block Beans from getting any.  She’s also kind of a clown.  One time we caught her starting to squat down to potty in the house and I chased her down the hallway–she skidded around the corner and shoved her face into her food dish as if to say “It wasn’t me, I was here eating the whole time!”  Beans is like a crabby old man sometimes.  There are certain neighbors that he likes and certain ones that really chap his buns…he will wag his tail at the ones he likes and growl and bark at the one he doesn’t like.  It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. They love baths, and their arch nemesis is my sister’s Boston Terrier Rocky (he has an attitude problem).  I would never have thought that dogs could have such personalities!  Pugs are awesome with kids, affectionate and funny little buddies.  I’d recommend this breed to anyone!

UPDATE: Spreading The Holiday Spirit

As you check out of busy stores with the holiday shopping season in full effect, don’t forget about your pet and those in need! Here are a couple ways you can help spread holiday cheer to all our furry friends!

Hungry Bowl Pet Food Drive

Paws Up Pet Sitting will hold its second Hungry Bowl Pet Food Drive to collect Purina pet food to benefit Sioux Falls Area Humane Society. This drive is an international effort to collect pet food for shelters everywhere as Pet Sitters International members, like Paws Up Pet Sitting, organize local pet food drives, December 1-12, to benefit their local animal shelters. Food may be donated during that time by leaving it on your kitchen counter, if you’re a Paws Up family, contacting Paws Up Pet Sitting for a pick up or dropping off at one of the following locations:

• Your Pet Stop 501 E 41^st St. Sioux Falls (605) 221-2738
• Paw Spa 426 E 4^th St. Dell Rapids (605) 428- 5151
• Horizon Pet Care 1224 E Holly Blvd. Brandon (605) 582-8445
• Max Muscle 6010 S Minnesota Ave Suite 104 Sioux Falls (605) 275-6299
• Ace Hardware 2500 W 12^th St Sioux Falls (605) 336-6507
• Tractor Supply 3520 N Cliff Ave Sioux Falls (605) 336-3031 

Sioux Falls Area Humane Society Howliday Open House

December 3-4, 2011, 11am-5pm

The annual open house at the shelter is almost upon us! Join us at the shelter for some fun and let us get you in the spirit for the upcoming holidays!  There will be crafts, baked goods and raffle tickets (all donated by volunteers) available to purchase. These make great Christmas & hostess gifts! This year we will  also have a food drive to support our shelter pets. Stop by the shelter and join us for cider, cookies and some Christmas cheer!

Jingle Paws

Jingle Paws benefits Northern Plains Boxer Rescue, a non-profit, all-volunteer group where every boxer counts and runs through December 16, 2011. You can learn more about NPBR here in some previous stories in The Scoop.

To participate:

1. Select an ornament from the “fur angel” tree

2. Purchase item(s) listed

3. Bring gift(s) with attached ornament to participating drop-off locations: Best Care Pet Hospital (Sioux Falls), Paws & Reflect Pet Grooming (Sioux Falls), Northview Fishing & Pets (Sioux Falls), All City Pet Care West (Sioux Falls) & Lacy’s Struttin Mutts (Tea).

4. fetch! Sioux Fall’s Pet Magazine & volunteers will deliver gifts to the rescue pets

Items Needed:
Blue Buffalo dog food, Dick Van Patten Natural Balance dog food, Nutro dog food, Petco or Petsmart gift cards, gas cards, dog toys, leashes and collars (all sizes), dog treats, blankets, beds, grooming supplies

For inquires on how you can help, check out www.fetchsiouxfalls.com.

DooGooders Winter Schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the snow’s going to be here soon enough, so it’s time to talk about our winter routes. First off, WE WILL continue to pick-up your lawn until you tell us otherwise. But snow makes service a little more difficult. So if you choose to continue service through the winter, there’s a few things to keep in mind:

• If it snows an inch or more the day before or on the scheduled day of service, service for that week will be cancelled.
• If service is cancelled because of bad weather, we will simply put off service until the following week.
• We can only pick up doo we can see. If it’s buried by snow, it will not be picked up.
• If the doo is frozen into ice and cemented to the ground, we can’t scoop it.
• Once the snow starts to fly, we plan on moving all service to Saturday.
• We will not have service on Saturday, December 24.

Last year, about half of our regular weekly customers stayed on through the winter. We always do our best to get the doo out of the snow, but we want you to understand that due to weather, it can sometimes become impossible to get everything. That’s why we cancel service if it snows the day before. We will never charge you if we know we can’t doo a good job. Please email scooper@doogooders.com if you have any other questions about winter service, and thanks for using DooGooders!

Can You Smell The Opportunity?

We always say our work stinks, but now yours can, too. Beginning November 2011, DooGooders licenses will be available for communities across the country. You can own a business while dooing good at the same time! If you’re interested in learning more, just drop us a line at scooper@doogooders.com.

Treats And Tricks For A Good Cause

Saturday, Oct. 22 will be the first Howl-O-Ween Doggie Carnival to benefit the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society.

Bring your Trick-or-Treating bags for doggie trick-or-treating at each booth. (Bags will also be provided.)

Bring your donation to the food drive drop-off for Purina Dog, Puppy, Cat & Kitten Chow & canned cat food.

Games: Kissing Booth, Old Shoe Search, Rubber Duck Pond, Bean Bag Pumpkin Toss, Fido Fortune Teller & Biscuit Count

1-2 tickets per game/attraction ($1 per ticket)

Face Painting!

DJ playing some spooky cool Halloween music!

Costume Photo Booth: 5 tickets – includes a 5×7 of your image

3:00pm – Biscuit Eating Contest
(requires pre-registration, go to www.fetchsiouxfalls.com for entry form or forms will be available at the ticket booth that day)

4:00pm – Doggie Halloween COSTUME CONTEST & parade

Pet businesses, rescue groups and local businesses will be there handing out info and selling products:

Paws Up Pet Sitting, Puppy Love Bakery, Lazy Paws, Pet Pals, Sioux Empire Pit Rescue, Must Love Dogs, Happy Hearts Safe Haven for Pets, fetch! Sioux Falls’ Pet Magazine, Happy Dog Boarding Kennels, 4 Paws Massage, Northern Plains Boxer Rescue, The Dogs Listener, PetCo, Heartland Greyhound Adoption, RAGOM, All City Pet Care West, Jill Melchert Insurance Agency – Farmers Insurance Group, Hoyt Consulting, It Works/She’s Shapin’ Up, Essential Body Wear, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Usborne Books & More!

Come out and have some fun! It’s going to be a spooktacular time!

Rain date will be Sunday, Oct. 23.

For more info/questions contact Lori at (605) 212-9462 or lori@fetchsiouxfalls.com.