poop

There are many things about labor that you can't possibly imagine until you've experienced them. One of the best-kept dirty secrets — poop!

I thought I was just having stomach issues when I went into labor, which is unusual for me. I can chow down on jalapeños, sodas, and ice cream in one sitting without tummy ramifications. That night, however, I must have visited the throne 15 times before I finally realized my baby was making her way out. As she began to push her way out into the world, she rested heavily on my bowels. A common experience for many laboring women, I was actually quite relieved, thinking there would be nothing left once I made it to the delivery room.

To see what happened, read more

Why the sad face, North? You're all out of pumpkin I see. Even though my pooch didn't get to sample the organic canned pumpkin that time around, I've got a special Summer treat that I'm gonna whip up this weekend.Frozen pumpkin cubes! Many pets are crazy about ice or frozen PB and banana shapes, and pumpkin cubes are no different.

To make, simply fill trays with a mixture of canned pumpkin (the pure stuff, not pie filling) and water, using just enough liquid to get a smooth consistency. Freeze it, then offer to a lucky pup as a special treat. In addition to working miracles on kitty's hairballs, yummy pumpkin can also help with your pets' constipation or diarrhea issues. Seriously. But even if your doggie's doo is fine, I bet he'd appreciate this special snack during the Dog Days of Summer.

Sadly, it just takes one irresponsible dog owner to ruin it for the rest of us. When I posted about those pricey but pretty poo bags, I noticed this problem shared in the comments. I thought it'd make a great subject for an advice post:

I live across the street from a man with a large black lab – it's a beautiful, wonderful dog but his owner . . . not so much. He doesn't want dog poop in his yard so he has trained his dog to go in other people's yard and then cleans it up at his own discretion.

I want to pick it up and move it back to the man's yard, but it seems aggressive and intrusive. My other neighbors on this side of the street says that is exactly what the man who lived here before me would have done. Perhaps this man gets away with this because I am the only unaggressive person on our street?

What would you do?

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I was perfectly happy carrying around my BioBags, or even just grabbing an old shopping bag for quick potty walks, until I saw these super cute (and biodegradable!) Dog Poo Bags from a Berlin based design firm Jungeschachtel! How adoro are they? Like little poopie take out bags. . .

And, if picking up poop is one of your least favorite things to do, you might just make it through without gagging, since the tops of these bags consist of a cardboard like material that lets you pick up the "deposit" without having to feel your pup's waste. At $30 for a pack of 16 bags, I might have to order some of these as gifts – the hilarious messages on the front are totally the selling point for me!

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Samson's not the only pooch who thinks poo is a delicacy, North had this very problem when he was a pup. I remember my hushed voice admission of his coprophagia on the first vet visit, thinking I just had an unfortunately dirty dog. The doc just laughed it off and gave me sample packets of this product S.E.P. Stop Eating Poop ($10) is a holistic remedy of Glutamic Acid powder to sprinkle on your pup's (real) food. I'm told it's tasteless to the pooches when it's on their dinner but, when mixed with stomach acids, it gives their waste a distinctly bitter taste. Yeah, I'll take her word for it.

Thankfully, Samson's last round of shots are complete, and he can now get outside and walk off all that energy that kept him up at night! But dog mom LilPeaPod has a new worry on her mind other than his sleep habits: he puts everything in his mouth! Samson is a curious creature that seems to love to taste and smell everything, even (gross) his own poop!

There are plenty of dangers out there in the city and LilPeaPod's worried the next thing he puts in his mouth may be harmful, and he won't be as lucky as the Australian pup that ate the poisonous frog and lived to tell about it! So help a girl out and share your stories and secrets about how you got your young pets to stop eating everything in sight!

Remember when I was talking about composting your pet's poo with an easy DIY solution? Well, if you aren't the do-it-yourself type, you can get an auto composter that leaves the results safe to plant and your home stink-free.

The Nature Mill Pet Friendly Composter ($399) is made specifically with your pets in mind. It gobbles up your compostable kitchen scraps (along with your doggie's doodie), and, in two weeks time, you can be planting those tomatoes, carrots, or whatever your green thumb desires.

And what's cooler, it's ultra quiet and compact, so you can store it almost anywhere – even under your kitchen sink!

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While I walked across town to meet friends for brunch over the weekend, I witnessed a woman's dog do his business in front of me while she stopped and pretended not to notice . . . and then they just kept on walking! I was rather surprised because there were other people on the sidewalk yet no one said anything. If I had a bag in my purse, I would have stopped and handed her one . . . but I wasn't in the mood to get into an altercation on the street corner. And she looked like she couldn't be bothered with being responsible as she was clearly averting her eyes from the situation. I think not picking up after a dog makes all pet owners in the area look bad so, do tell, have you ever picked up after another pooch? How would you handle this situation?