Flexrake 33P Jaws Scoop Polypropylene

Jumbo Jaws Scooper for Jumbo Poop Ploppers

No offense to owners of small dogs, they are as special to you as my big labs are to me, but the neighbors joke with us that our dog’s excrement is bigger than their dogs’ heads.  While true, when scooping their jumbo feces I find myself suffering stool envy – couldn’t it be smaller? 

We can’t scoop with the newspaper’s plastic bag, which is way too small.  When walking we need one plastic produce bag for each discharge while our neighbors can capture several in a single small bag.  Backyard duty must be attended to daily basis or someone will find themselves ankle deep in dog do. Our current yard is our smallest yard and has the fewest hidden spots of any yard we’ve had in 20 years.  That’s in part why we have the Flexrake Jumbo Jaws Scooper.  

In Illinois we used the Yard Butler Puppy Butler but that snags on St. Augustinegrass. This grass forms a dense thick lawn with thick above-ground runners.  We also carried down with us an ancient lightweight aluminum, scissors-style, jaw-type scooper, but it was bent and malformed from former struggles with icy poopcicles. The jaws no longer connected and it was nearly impossible to grab or contain one of our dog’s glorious gifts.  The Jumbo Jaws Scooper possesses some admirable features.

First, the 32-inch handle keeps me far away from the waste. I don’t mind scooping, after all they’re my babies (don’t even ask me to clean up after someone else’s baby), but their poop quickly becomes a home to decomposers and food for fire ants.  

It has an extra-large spring action -- two large springs open and close the jaws. The handle has two D-shaped grips, one inside the other; the inside grip pulls the springs open and that motion opens the jaws wide.  This pull-up handle is easy for anyone in the family to use.

The jaws resemble two large toothy buckets, something you might see on heavy construction equipment, with tightly-closing interlocking teeth. This durable scooper is made with high density polypropylene. This can be operated using just one hand and the Jumbo Jaws Scooper appears to work on all surfaces, although I happily admit this hasn’t been tried on snow. Scooping poopcicles actually requires a steel shovel.  

Say ah!  

It’s big and opens wide; it’s more than adequate for our needs.  The “bucket” mouth is 7 x 6 ½ inches and five inches deep. I can’t store the gatherings in an attached bag, it’s necessary to discharge their loads into a trash container or bucket.  That also means I don’t have to watch too closely for fire ants swarming up the stem of this scooper.  

Creative homeowners will find other uses for this.  

• Pick distant fruits from a tree, 
• De-litter your front yard (after uncaring kids walk by dropping who knows what)
• Pick up tree twigs that blew down during a storm
• Intimidate door-to-door salespeople.  This makes a solid snapping noise when opened and closed rapidly. 

My Thoughts: Seriously, the Jumbo Jaws Scooper makes it possible to wander the dog’s backyard territory and easily excavate their excrement and that’s really all this delightful tool needs to accomplish -- it puts the don't into dog do.

Plus: Large bucket, good snap, sturdy spring, easy to clean and use
Minus: For us in fire ant country it would be nice to have a white option

Kong Dog Bowl

Kong's Rubber-Bonded Stainless Steel Dog Bowl is a Favorite for Good Reason     

Kong toys have been somewhat unreliable recently. Newer toys don’t live up to the reputation that Kong has earned over the years. The favorites, however, remain favorites for good reasons – they’re durable and perform as expected. The Kong Dog Bowl has become a favorite and for good reason. 

The interior feeding surface is stainless steel. The exterior lower walls and base have a rubber bonded, non-skid surface. The large size holds up to 113 ounces of water or more food than my dog should or could ever eat at one time. The base is flat and tends to grip the floor.

No Shake, Clatter, or Roll

My dogs generally eat from treat balls at home but when we’re on the road and traveling I want an easy-to-clean, durable, stainless steel bowl but one that doesn’t skid across the floor or clang on surfaces. The heavy weight of this bowl also helps stabilize it when the nose of a Labrador is pushing the bowl around while seeking those last morsels. The heavy weight also discourages dog from picking this up and carrying it around the house; the shape prevents flipping or tipping these bowls. When it’s providing water this bowl’s high sides helps prevent splashing unless fully filled.

Get a Kong Bowl at PetSmart