I have a question about DOGS

[Dan5082]

Ok I have sone costumers that have dogs and they just leave them out side in thief backyard the whole day so when I come I can't mow . Also what do you do if They have a dog and they have poo on Thierry lawn when you go the mow . I was thinking of adding a fee if I see any or offering a service to charge to pick it up if I see it? What do you do.

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Accrate lawncare LLC

[B-2 Lawncare]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Dan5082 Ok I have sone costumers that have dogs and they just leave them out side in thief backyard the whole day so when I come I can't mow . Also what do you do if They have a dog and they have poo on Thierry lawn when you go the mow . I was thinking of adding a fee if I see any or offering a service to charge to pick it up if I see it? What do you do. Yes sir. When i go to do an estimate i ask if there are pet. If they say yes then I let them know that there will be a environmental clean up charge if feces is not picked up. When they ask what that is, I explain that we have to do weekly maintenance. If there is feces on the mower then we have to take it to the car wash to clean it. Also if it is in an area were we weed eat then we will skip over the pile. Most people with dog who need lawn care are going to pick up or be will to pay the additional charge. I lost a client this summer for this same issue. I don't think this client had picked up feces in five years. Her yard wasn't that great so i used my ruff mower on it. Which she was fine with. But her dog's like to defecate next to the fence where we had to weed eat. It was a battle between the employee's as to who was going to weed-eat and get cover in feces. I put a stop to after a while, I explained to the client that we would only weed-eat where there was no feces. she didn't like that and was not happy. So i did what best for my guys and dropped her. The issues with the dogs being in the yard. If this was happening to me i would leave a not the first time. After that they would go to the bottom of the list for the week. And if i was booked then it wouldn't get mowed.

[Hedgemaster]

I was wondering about this as well.

I'm guessing the "poo answer" is going to be something along the lines of "Keep an extra pair of boots in the truck".

[MountainViewGreenskeeper]

We lucky only 3 of our yards have dogs and only one of those has grass in the back. They do a good job keeping up on it but there is alway some every once in a while. We just mow over it and clean the equipment if need afterwards. I HATE dealing with it though. Something about shiz just .... anyways.

I have heard of people paying for the service but Im not sure if anyone would go for it in my area atleast.

[picframer]

Why not meet with the clients and explain their leaving the dog(s) in the mowing area on mowing day is an issue as it costs you time and money to show up on the site and you are not able to perform the work.

Our policy for people with dogs was "We will email you the day before your mowing as a reminder that we are at your residence tomorrow for lawn care, please ensure there are no pets in the area. Our policy due to costs is if we arrive and are not able to perform the services due to pets obstructing our ability a fee of $xx.xx willl be invoiced, we trust you will understand our policy"

I only say was above as we do very little mowing now, I sold the accounts earlier this year to focus on other yard care projects.

[Hedgemaster]

Originally Posted by picframer

Why not meet with the clients and explain their leaving the dog(s) in the mowing area on mowing day is an issue as it costs you time and money to show up on the site and you are not able to perform the work.

Our policy for people with dogs was "We will email you the day before your mowing as a reminder that we are at your residence tomorrow for lawn care, please ensure there are no pets in the area. Our policy due to costs is if we arrive and are not able to perform the services due to pets obstructing our ability a fee of $xx.xx willl be invoiced, we trust you will understand our policy"

I only say was above as we do very little mowing now, I sold the accounts earlier this year to focus on other yard care projects.

And did people actually PAY you for NOT mowing their lawn? (if animals were in yard)

Just curious if your policy was effective.

[mortonslawn]

You can kindly ask them to have the dog inside on the days you go to mow their lawn. I had a customer that had a dog, and I just charged an extra fee for having to pick up the doggie dirt. They really appreciate this service as well, because they don't want to pick it up. I carry plastic grocery bags and rubber gloves if I need to pick up doggie dirt. Tie it up really good and dispose of it. Hope this helps.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Hedgemaster

And did people actually PAY you for NOT mowing their lawn? (if animals were in yard)

Just curious if your policy was effective.

I can only think of two that didn't a few that did but the majority made sure they were not there.

[jklawncare]

I do the same as andy and in the agreement they sign they choose what they want to do

either pay for the work not being done or a late charge for coming back to do it when dogs are out

or pay a fee for picking it up if the dogs are inside

ive never had a problem and ive ran into both issues with maybe 4 or 5 people. On both circumstances

one was a bit irritated but i explained to him that he signed the agreement stating that clearly and he just said okay and payed. never had a problem beyond that

i suppose where your located and who your dealing with plays a big part as well too but in the long run it costs you time and money so i wouldnt be a pushover about it

[Jack Rabbit]

As an employee for a lawn service it seemed to depend on the dogs. I worked in yards with friendly dogs that behaved well present. I was concerned that the pets could still be injured. That lawn service scooped poop as part of the service package. I don't know if that had extra cost.

In my own business I require that pets be kept from the yard during work and any excessive poop scooping would require an extra fee. I'm lucky so far since my customers have mostly done those things one their own before knowing the policy. If the customer was not there and I couldn't resolve the situation myself (unfriendly dogs or no place to put them) then I wouldn't mow and the customer would have to wait until next time. I wouldn't expect to be paid for that one. If it became a chronic problem I'd drop them.