Product Review: Flush Doggy Poop Bags

I have been trying to figure out what to do about the stinky trash can that results from disposing of dog poop. If I put the poop pickup bags in a trash can in the yard, I can barely stand to go out there, and I keep thinking my neighbors – who don’t own dogs – can smell it. Plus, it attracts flies and other bugs. If I keep the poop in a trash can in the garage … well, let’s just say that I live in Texas, and the temperatures are warm for nine months out of the year, with summertime temps reaching well above 100 degrees. By the time our once-a-week trash pickup comes, the garage reeks so bad that the smell has begun to spread to the house and the neighborhood.

I didn’t used to worry about it so much. I hate to admit this, but since we adults did not use the back yard, we would just pick it up before the mowers came every week. But then we added three small children and a puppy who finds these piles to be irresistible (if you catch my drift), so now we have to clean up as we go. I love having a clean yard all the time, but what to do with the poop?

It seems to me that there are three options for disposing of dog waste that you pick up on walks or in your yard.

A composter like the Doggy Dooley. Cons are that you have to dig a huge hole to put it in and our ground is very hard; you have to add water every day, you have to buy and add enzymes periodically, some customers still complain of strong odor, and some say that the plastic does not withstand extreme heat and sun.Collect the waste in pickup bags and dispose of them. Cons are a strong, unpleasant odor, flies, and a not-so-earth-friendly substance that accumulates in landfills.Flush the dog waste with biodegradable bags.

I can’ t believe I had never thought of flushing my dog’s waste down the toilet. But then I found Flush Doggy, the eco-friendly, flushable dog poop bags. These white bags are the same size as other poop bags I have tried (10.75? x 8.5?), so they can handle anything my big dogs put out. They’re water soluble, so they won’t clog toilets or pipes. Yet they don’t fall apart if you use them on walks. They’ll stay intact for about an hour, so you have plenty of time to get your little package home before the bag dissolves.

There is an art to flushing the bag once you’ve picked up the poop, however. The first time I tried, I backed up my toilet. The reason? Air got trapped inside the bag, creating a large object that wouldn’t go down. The packaging does come with instructions for avoiding this:

Do not tie the bag; just leave the top openFlush one poop at a time (it helps to dump the poop out into the water, then drop the bag in after it)Avoid flushing dry or hard feces

I have discovered my own method for flushing. I flush the toilet and the bowl begins to fill with water. I hold the bag over the water. When the water begins to go down, I drop the bag right over the hole and down it goes. I have not had another problem since I started doing this. The suction takes the bag down, ridding it of any air that’s inside. Perfect!

Flush Doggy bags are not recommended for septic systems. The company, http://www.flushdoggy.com, sells them for $19.99 for 100 bags. I have also found them on Amazon. There are other manufacturers of flushable waste bags, so you can find one that you like. Here are the ones I have been able to find:

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Product Review: Flush Doggy Poop Bags

I have been trying to figure out what to do about the stinky trash can that results from disposing of dog poop. If I put the poop pickup bags in a trash can in the yard, I can barely stand to go out there, and I keep thinking my neighbors – who don’t own dogs – can smell it. Plus, it attracts flies and other bugs. If I keep the poop in a trash can in the garage … well, let’s just say that I live in Texas, and the temperatures are warm for nine months out of the year, with summertime temps reaching well above 100 degrees. By the time our once-a-week trash pickup comes, the garage reeks so bad that the smell has begun to spread to the house and the neighborhood.

I didn’t used to worry about it so much. I hate to admit this, but since we adults did not use the back yard, we would just pick it up before the mowers came every week. But then we added three small children and a puppy who finds these piles to be irresistible (if you catch my drift), so now we have to clean up as we go. I love having a clean yard all the time, but what to do with the poop?

It seems to me that there are three options for disposing of dog waste that you pick up on walks or in your yard.

A composter like the Doggy Dooley. Cons are that you have to dig a huge hole to put it in and our ground is very hard; you have to add water every day, you have to buy and add enzymes periodically, some customers still complain of strong odor, and some say that the plastic does not withstand extreme heat and sun.Collect the waste in pickup bags and dispose of them. Cons are a strong, unpleasant odor, flies, and a not-so-earth-friendly substance that accumulates in landfills.Flush the dog waste with biodegradable bags.

I can’ t believe I had never thought of flushing my dog’s waste down the toilet. But then I found Flush Doggy, the eco-friendly, flushable dog poop bags. These white bags are the same size as other poop bags I have tried (10.75? x 8.5?), so they can handle anything my big dogs put out. They’re water soluble, so they won’t clog toilets or pipes. Yet they don’t fall apart if you use them on walks. They’ll stay intact for about an hour, so you have plenty of time to get your little package home before the bag dissolves.

There is an art to flushing the bag once you’ve picked up the poop, however. The first time I tried, I backed up my toilet. The reason? Air got trapped inside the bag, creating a large object that wouldn’t go down. The packaging does come with instructions for avoiding this:

Do not tie the bag; just leave the top openFlush one poop at a time (it helps to dump the poop out into the water, then drop the bag in after it)Avoid flushing dry or hard feces

I have discovered my own method for flushing. I flush the toilet and the bowl begins to fill with water. I hold the bag over the water. When the water begins to go down, I drop the bag right over the hole and down it goes. I have not had another problem since I started doing this. The suction takes the bag down, ridding it of any air that’s inside. Perfect!

Flush Doggy bags are not recommended for septic systems. The company, www.flushdoggy.com, sells them for $19.99 for 100 bags. I have also found them on Amazon. There are other manufacturers of flushable waste bags, so you can find one that you like. Here are the ones I have been able to find:

Flush Doggy – www.flushdoggy.comGotta Go Green – I couldn’t find a manufacturer’s website. Here’s one Amazon seller from whom you can get them. There may be others. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002C9NH02/scrmasceragoo-20Flush Puppies – www.flushpuppies.comFlushable Bag – www.theflushablebag.com (the only flushable dog waste bag not made in China) Lisa Woody is a former magazine editor and professional product tester for 15 years. She has been a pet products e-tailer for 8 years and loves to find out what's new and what works for dogs.

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Doggy Facts or Doggy Fiction? You Be the Judge

Dogsters, here’s a little something that will help your brain make the transition from Sunday to Monday. Can you sniff out the fact from the fiction in the stories below? Each has been investigated by Snopes.com. Take your best guess about which ones are true, which ones are false, and which ones may not yet have definite answers. We give a relevant Snopes link for each story so you can check your answers against the experts’.

Here’s some interesting etymology from TakeOurWord.com, 1999:

The modern name ["hot dog"] didn’t arise until a popular cartoonist named T.A. “Tad” Dorgan drew a picture of a dachshund in an elongated bun in the early 1900s and the term caught on in a big way.

Yea or nay? Go to this Snopes page to check it out.

Is this the face of a killer? (Photo: Doggies.com)

From an article in the Europa Times, October, 1993:

“We will not have him put down. Lucky is basically a damn good guide dog,” Ernst Gerber, a dog trainer from Wuppertal told reporters. “He just needs a little brush-up on some elementary skills, that’s all.”

Gerber admitted to the press conference that Lucky, a German shepherd guide-dog for the blind, had so far been responsible for the deaths of all four of his previous owners. “I admit it’s not an impressive record on paper. He led his first owner in front of a bus, and the second off the end of a pier. He actually pushed his third owner off a railway platform just as the Cologne to Frankfurt express was approaching and he walked his fourth owner into heavy traffic, before abandoning him and running away to safety. But, apart from epileptic fits, he has a lovely temperament. And guide dogs are difficult to train these days.”

Asked if Lucky’s fifth owner would be told about his previous record, Gerber replied: “No. It would make them nervous, and would make Lucky nervous. And when Lucky gets nervous he’s liable to do something silly.”

Could this possibly be true? Find the answer on this Snopes page.

Word has it that a few clear plastic bottles filled halfway with water and laid on their sides will prevent pooches from pooping on your lawn.

True, false, or undetermined? Take a peek here.

Ow!!! What do you think, Dogsters? Are these real photos of a dog who got on the wrong side of a porcupine?

Were you sharp enough to guess correctly? Make a point of heading over to Snopes to see.

How did you do, Dogsters?

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Winner of Soggy Doggy Doormat — and Special Offer!

At long last we have a winner for the Soggy Doggy doormat giveaway! (Sorry for the delay. Internet overseas was not happening in the days before coming home.) The winner, chosen via Random.org from a whopping 245 entries, is Deb Searles. Here’s what she wrote in the comment we randomly selected as the winner:

I have an akita/wolf mix -Keira- and she loves to lay on her mountains of snow and mud..we live in the woods of maine and altho it does somewhat dry “possibly” in july..most of the time we are in a clay heaven of mud when the snow melts…she has her own towel by the door to scrub her off with when she comes in after the snow or rain but the paws are definitely a challenge….would love to have a soggy door mat to help a lil bit with the paw problem..

Congratulations, Deb! I spent part of my childhood in Maine and know what it’s like this time of year! You will love your new mat.

Now for the special offer: The folks at Soggy Doggy are giving Dogsters who really want a Soggy Doggy doormat a nice deal: If you order a Soggy Doggy doormat between now and Friday evening, you’ll get free shipping (as long as you live in the continental US). Just place your order on the Soggy Doggy site, and you’ll be spared shipping charges during this period!

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Win a Plush Soggy Doggy Doormat!

Being a doormat is not something most people aspire to, but if you could be a Soggy Doggy doormat, you might change your aspirations. Soggy Doggy doormats are super plush, insanely comfy, and totally cute doormats that absorb five times more water than regular cotton doormats.

The Soggy Doggy people sent me a sample doormat during a week when we had a deluge of rain in San Francisco. The generously proportioned mat, measuring 26? x 36?, is so attractive that I hesitated to put it somewhere that people would actually walk, much less where they’d walk with wet and dirty boots. At first I found myself avoiding it when coming in with rain-soaked boots and my own soggy doggy. I had to keep telling myself, “That is its purpose in life. Step on it. It was made for this. It wants you to do this. And it’s washable.”

At one point, Jake decided the uber soft microfiber chenille mat would make a good bed, and curled up on it, not thinking about its precarious location at the front door. Of course, my husband came home while Jake was in some deep stage of doggy sleep and didn’t see Jake on the other side of our old pane-glass door. Jake forgave him, but hasn’t used it as a bed since. I’m pretty sure he would claim it as a secondary bed if I’d move it away from the front door so he wouldn’t be a living, breathing door stopper.

Just in time for April showers, the good folks at Soggy Doggy would like to give one Dogster reader a chance to win his or her very own Soggy Doggy mat. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment saying why you and your dog could use a Soggy Doggy mat. Deadline for entries is Monday, April 11 at 1 p.m. PST. We’ll do a random drawing for a winner (using random.org) and announce the winner April 14. (I may have sporadic internet access during the last phase of my trip, so I don’t want to promise anything earlier.)

Here’s to thirsty doormats, and clean, dry floors!

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Need Inspiration to Learn Doggy CPR? Watch This Dramatic Video

Learning canine CPR isn't too hard and can make the difference between life and death

By now you may have seen this video of a dog who collapsed during a training class earlier this week and pretty much died right there, only to be resuscitated by the trainer, who didn’t really know CPR but tried his hand at it. The video has gone fairly viral. Here’s the raw footage. (The most dramatic parts, with the dog’s understandably hysterical owner, are early on. It’s astounding to watch the dog come to — scared and confused, but very much alive.)

I’m glad they got it on video (ostensibly for the veterinarian?). My inclination would have been to help the distraught owner or the trainer, rather than stand there and videotape it. But in the long run, the video has done a lot of good, because people are now looking into learning more about doggy CPR.

The trainer, Ron Pace, is really to be commended. Sugar would probably not be here now if not for him. And Pace’s actions have brought canine CPR into the headlines. So let’s all benefit from this: If you don’t already know doggy CPR, take some time to learn it. Enroll in a course through your local SPCA, pet store, or dog group. If such a class doesn’t exist near you, or if it’s too pricey, you can find good info on the internet. Here’s a video that’s helpful. There are many others out there, too.

You can also find some good resources at the bottom of a Dogster post I did last year about a Chihuahua whose life was saved by CPR.

(We send a thank-you to Dogster Diane Almy, for keeping us up to date on this story!)

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Just in Time for the Super Bowl: Exclusive Doggy Beer Offer!

If your dog feels left out of this weekend’s Super Bowl activities because he can’t drink beer, this will put a smile on his snout: Dogster is teaming up with Barking Deals to give you a great deal on Bowser Beer — a non-alcoholic, non-carbonated, hops-free treat for dogs.  Just buy the $5 Bowser Beer voucher from Barking Deals, and go to Bowser Beer website to buy $10 worth of the brew. For the math-challenged among us, that’s half off! (Jake had to tell me.)

But wait! There’s more! If you use this special Dogster code,  exclusive to Dogster readers, you can get 20 percent more off your order! (Jake says that makes a $10 order only $4. He may not know how to fetch, but he’s great with figures.) $10 worth of doggy brew for $4 is so good you’ll want to drink a toast with your dog. There’s no shipping fee, either, so drink another one! Click here to learn more about the benefits of joining Barking Deals.

In case you don’t already know the joys of Bowser Beer, here’s a little dog beer 101, straight from the source:

Available in either chicken or beef flavor, this savory treat is lovingly brewed with malt barley (for shiny coats) and glucosamine (for smooth-moving joints). Fido can drink Bowser Beer as a thirst quenching beverage or it can be poured over dry kibble as a tasty sauce. It’s low in calories and delivers all of the flavor and fun of an actual beer without the pesky side effects (e.g. dehydration, poor decision making, impaired impulse control).

(Gotta love the part about poor decision making. Yeah, I hate it when Jake has a few beers and decides to drive, or get argumentative with the groomer. )

The voucher expires Feb. 8, so hurry and order your dog’s brewskis today!

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Doggy Be Good

Dog Training EBook(R) From The Author Of Potty-Professor.

Check it out!

Discounted Doggy DNA Testing

Mixed-breed owners, have you ever wondered just what ingredients went into concocting your beloved mutt? Wonder no more! The folks at Wisdom Panel, makers of popular doggy DNA tests, are offering $20 off their Wisdom Panel Insights DNA test. It’s normally $79.99, but for the holidays it’s only $59.99. What a great gift for yourself or another lucky companion of a mixed-breed dog.

All you do is collect saliva from inside your dog’s cheek, mail it to Wisdom Panel, and two to three weeks later you’ll know a little or a lot more about what makes up your dog. Besides appeasing your curiosity, knowing your dog’s predominant breed(s) can be helpful with things like being aware of your dog’s special nutritional needs and potential health predispositions. You can learn more about what to expect on the Wisdom Panel Insights page.

Let us know if you do the test (or if you have done one already) and what you learn!

Photo: RoBeE on Flickr.com

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