Scoop that Poop: A Review of the Fifth Paw

I know there are a lot of people who don’t scoop that poop, heck I had a neighbor tell me not to worry about picking it up because it was just fertilizer… no that’s not right! In fact, dog poop can spread diseases, from E. Coli to Roundworms, Tapeworms and everything in between. And the longer it sits on the lawn or ground does not make it any less dangerous. Roundworms can take up to 3 weeks to develop, yuck!

Not only should you clean up after your dogs after walks, but cleaning the yard once a week is not sufficient for dog health. For example, Giardia a common, microscopic (intestinal) parasite that commonly affects humans, dogs can be passed from dog to soil to water, etc through contact of contaminated poop! Contamination can easily occur by:

• Rolling and playing in contaminated soil
• Licking its body after contact with a contaminated surface (for example, a dirty litter box or dog cage or crate)
• Drinking water from a contaminated creek, pond, or other body of water

This is not a fun disease to contract  as signs and symptoms can include abdominal discomfort, nausea, diarrhea, gas and vomiting (for both you and your dog).

There are some simple was to help protect yourself and your dog in your backyard.

• Remove feces promptly and put them in a plastic bag.
• Remove any source of standing water (puddles, containers with water, and fountains that are not in use).

 

Riley’s Review

I am always amazed at how much my little dogs can poop. During our walks there can be 1 dog or 4 dogs, now times that by 2 and that is approximately how many poop bags I can go through on a single walk. That is a lot of poop for one person to carry, because you can’t stuff that many filled poop bags into a training treat pouch, believe me I’ve tried. But I have found a better way, because stuffing it into a fanny pack, purse, etc just isn’t sanitary.

Let me introduce you to the Fifth Paw!

A few weeks back when attending SuperZoo in Las Vegas I met a wonderful man named Stephen Longo who invented a dog walking accessory called the Fifth Paw. Stephen showed me how easy it was to attach to my leash and gave me one to try out… in addition to attaching a bunch of poop bags, you can also attach small items such as keys, or in my case an inhaler!

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Our first outing using The Fifth Paw was to our little secret spot in the Sierras (Tuesday’s Travelin’ Tzus). For the first time I was so grateful to be trying out a new pet product, because having to carry a bunch of poop bags in a National Forest is not a fun thing. It started out with one bag, but before I knew it I had attached 5 bags onto The Fifth Paw and that was just from Katie & Riley!

What I loved most about the Fifth Paw was the ability to move it up and down the leash without it sliding on it’s own. This enables me to adjust the leash during my walk without having to mess with the bags. It’s very easy to attach the poop bags to the Fifth Paw and very easy to remove, yet the bags are securely held in place until ready to be removed, running, walking, it doesn’t matter!

By using the Fifth Paw we are able to keep our neighborhood and national forests everywhere safe and clean by picking up our poop and carrying it to a proper disposal receptacle.

Since this first trip the Fifth Paw has not been removed from the leash as it is now a permanent part of our leash! We don’t leave home without it.

We give the Fifth Paw

4 Paws Up

For more information, you can check out The Fifth Paw website. To purchase, you can find a local retailer here, or Amazon.

Disclaimer: The Fifth Paw was provided to Oh My Shih Tzu as a gift to review. We were not compensated for this review.

Here is a cute little PSA from Puget Sound Starts Here

 

 

We would like to give a big BARKOUT to Sugar the Golden Retriever her co-hosts Gizmos Terrier Torrent, Garth Riley and Oz the Terrier and for  this wonderful blog hop!