Pet Butlers: What do they do? And do you need one?

Pet Butler proudly proclaims itself as "number one in the number two business," and if dealing with your dog's business is one of your least favorite chores, you might want to get acquainted. Pet Butler is the nation's leading pet waste cleanup service and as the number households that belong to the dogs increases, it seems like a very important job indeed.

Pet Butler provides professional pet waste cleanup and removal services and supplies for individual yards, parks and multi-family communities. The company has been in business for nearly 20 years. By helping keep your yard clean, Pet Butler believes their services can help your life be more convenient, enjoyable and safe. Not to mention giving you more time to spend with your dogs.

You might still be asking yourself what the guy from Pet Butler that cleans up your doggie landmines does exactly. Does he really just pick up poop all day? Not a wonderful job, but sounds pretty easy right? Actually, it's not as easy as it sounds.

Andy Narin in Jacksonville Florida owns one of the Pet Butler franchises and says his job is no walk in the park. Arriving at your home he seeks out the offensive mess that needs cleaning up. This means following his nose or the flies. He walks a grid to try to find every bit of poo that needs removed. Then picks up the mess with a silver scoop and drops it into a red bucket. The contents will eventually make it into a rented dumpster. In the meantime, the bucket hangs in the back of his truck. Not a pleasant job, but Narin was willing to trade in his BMW and Harley-Davis motorcycle to finance his business.

It can take 10 to 25 minutes a yard, depending on size and number of dogs and Narin has 25 houses to visit a day. Yet his business isn't as big as he would like it to be. Although it seems that everyone would want someone to do the dirty job for them and pay the $11 (or more for multiple dogs) a visit, not everyone has caught on to the idea. Many people think that dog waste is a fertilizer for their lawn, which isn't true. The protein in meat-eating animal waste will actually ruin your lawn. Other folks think it's a job they should be doing themselves and are unwilling to pay for the service. You can bet though that the rich and pet crazy don't pick up their own doggie doo. Maybe you shouldn't have to either. After all, most people have lawn service to take care of their lawns, why not clean up after the dogs too? If someone is crazy enough to do it, why not be crazy enough to pay them?