The owners of Scoopology give a crap and that’s because they’re scooping it up.

Through a collaboration with A New Beginning Dog Training, the pet waste removal company owned by Jason Hoseney and Kevin Morton, is expanding its services to Yelm.

Scoopology’s most popular service features a weekly pick-up of pet waste in a person’s yard. They also have a twice a week service or a one-time pick-up service. 

Morton has spent his long career in box store management in sales while Hoseney has worked as a coach, teacher and community college administrator. The two began looking into inexpensive small business startups and their research kept bringing them back to pet waste removal.

“Dog ownership has been increasing in recent years here in Washington state, and as dog lovers ourselves, we thought anything to do with dogs might be fun to be involved with,” Hoseney said. 

Morton was the first to go “all in.” He lives in Port Orchard and decided to drive wherever the customers were in western Washington. 

“The miles Kevin drove in the first six months seemed equivalent to a commercial truck driver,” Hoseney, who lives in Aberdeen, said. “As our customer base grew, we eventually created routes for each day of the week and weekend.”

Morton’s approach helped grow the business quickly and after a year of work, the company now has a customer base that spans from Centralia to Seattle, Shelton and north of Bremerton. 

“As demand has grown, we have begun hiring new scoopologists (pet waste technicians),” Hoseney said. “Each staff member is assigned a route that they service each week. We currently have four full-time employees and two part-time.”

Hoseney said that people sign up for the service for a variety of reasons.

“Many are just too busy to keep up and enjoy the peace of mind that the lawn will be cleaned regularly,” he said. “Others physically can no longer scoop on a regular basis but, of course, want to keep their pets. We offer them the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of having a doggy companion while we take care of the doody work.”

Hoseney added that in many cases, Scoopology’s service is gifted to a family member or friend. He insists it’s a great gift and people who don’t have to pick up their dog’s waste probably agree. 

“It is really like any chore whether it be house cleaning, lawn mowing, etc. As people have gone back to work, there just isn’t enough time in the day to keep up with everything,” Hoseney said. “Our service takes one more thing off a customer’s plate so they can regain some time for themselves.”

Each lawn, type of dog and number of dogs presents a challenge. The company does have to charge extra for each additional dog and large lawns due to the time commitment that creates. 

“Rocky terrain, tall grass, and weather conditions are also challenges,” Hoseney said. “In the Northwest, if you don’t like to be out in the rain, poop scooping is not the business for you.”

As part of their service, if they notice a dog’s bowel movements are unhealthy, or include diarrhea, they will inform the pet owner if the problem persists. 

“Small poop is more difficult to find and scoop than large piles,” Hoseney said. “Dogs who go everywhere rather than a preferred spot or two can turn us into professional turd hunters.”

The biggest challenge is the route planning and driving distances but the duo appreciates their new customers and will adjust their routes to accommodate. While rising gas prices have increased business costs, Hoseney said the company has tried to keep their prices affordable. 

“We have made one price increase in two years despite gas prices skyrocketing,” Hoseney said. “To mitigate gas prices, we are slowly converting our fleet of vehicles to hybrids.”

In the two years they have been in business, Morton and Hoseney have focused heavily on customer service and professionalism. 

“Both Kevin and I are perfectionists at heart, so while this may not be the most glamorous type of business, we are committed to professionalism and outstanding service,” Hoseney said. “Like any new business, we have run into challenges along the way but as we have gained experience. We feel great about the future.”

Customers can sign up for services on Scoopology’s website at https://www.scoopologypr.com/sign-up. They will be asked to answer questions about the type of service, number of dogs, size of lawn, the city they are located in and their address. They will then be sent a quote via text and email. 

The company can also be followed on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/wegiveacrap.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in,” Hoseney said. “Long term success is about serving others to the best of your ability. When you communicate well, provide reliable, consistent, and quality services to customers, you will be successful, even if it’s just picking up dog crap out of people’s yards.”