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"Cleaning Up After Man's Best Friend"
WEB SITE doggoneit.biz
Bagging sales, a dog at a time
People chuckle when Todd Vogel tells them what he does.
Some say it must be a dirty - and stinky - job. Others simply think it's . . . well, different.
Vogel affectionately calls himself Richmond's pooper scooper.
"I know it is an odd job, but somebody's got to do it," he said.
Vogel picks up and removes dog feces from the yards of his customers.
Yes, this is a business. And, it is one that Vogel hopes will expand enough to enable either him or his wife, Jennifer, to quit their current jobs.
"I always thought the best way to get into business was to find something that people really don't want to do," said Vogel, who currently works as a salesman for a medical supply company.
His Dog-Gone-It pet waste removal company has operated for about a month.
He has about 10 customers so far. He charges $10 per visit for one dog and $4 for each additional dog.
Vogel, 31, believes a growing number of area residents will embrace the idea.
"People just don't want to deal with picking up those land mines in their yards," he said. "It's the gross-out factor."
Budd Riddle and his wife, Theresa, like the service.
"My wife laughed at first when she heard about it, but then she said 'This is just what we need. This is the answer to our problems,'" Budd Riddle said.
The Riddles work long hours. And, he said, they don't want to spend an hour or more every weekend with the unpleasant chore of cleaning the backyard of waste from their two Labrador retrievers.
It becomes a convenience and time issue, he said.
"My free time is worth 14 bucks a week," Riddle said. "It is really similar to why you would have a house cleaning service."
It usually takes Vogel, armed with a rake, shovel and janitor's lobby pan, about 30 minutes or less to clean a yard, depending upon the number of dogs. An animal lover and owner of three dogs, Vogel admits it may take a few extra minutes if he gets into a playful exchange with a customer's canine.
He double-bags the feces and eventually dumps the waste at the Henrico County landfill. And he sprays his shoes and equipment with a kennel disinfectant to prevent disease and dog scent from transferring from yard to yard.
The idea for Dog-Gone-It came this year while Vogel and his wife were searching the Internet. They came across information about a similar waste removal business.
Vogel decided to give it a try.
"It's been fun," he said.
Once his business has 60 customers, he figures either he or his wife can quit their job and scoop full time. When 200 customers sign on, both of them will be in the business or they will hire someone.
Vogel's business isn't unique.
About 300 such businesses operate around the country, according to estimates from the Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists, an organization formed to promote awareness in the animal waste industry.
Some of the businesses have operated for as long as 15 years, said Eric Riker, the organization's vice president, who owns Happy Tails Pet Services Inc. in Cleveland.
"It is a growing industry," said Riker, who has been in business for about three years.
He started scooping at the homes of about 15 customers. Happy Tails now has a client list of more than 100, and Riker and his wife are full-time employees.
"I still get a smirk or a laugh, but we just fill a need," he said.
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