auggiedog Review

I love having dogs in my life, I can’t think of a downside well, maybe just 1- pooper scooping. It’s not my favorite chore. I got the chance to try a product that while it won’t make the poop chore disappear, it will make it easier.

I was given the chance to receive and review the auggiedog, a device that helps you pick up your dog’s deposits. The website really made it seem like it would be a huge improvement over my garbage bag/bucket and pooper scooper method I was currently using to keep my yard doodie free so I was excited to give it a try.

The auggiedog is made of a sturdy plastic and comes with several features. It has a wrist strap for easy carrying. A light on it to keep you visible to others when out at night. It also has a whistle that can be used for training. Its height can be adjusted making it great for people of different heights to use. To use you just to to charge it up.

The auggiedog arrived without needing any assembly. I just needed to remove it from all the wrapping and plug it into charge. Couldn’t have been easier. Once it was charged and ready for action, I moved the set-up out to my garage where I could easily grab it for clean-up.

Using the auggiedog is easy. The height adjusted with just a twist. It has a button on the handle that you click to the right to put the auggiedog in Collect mode and click to the left to put in Empty mode. To lock the auggiedog when its not in use, you just need to push the button to a middle position.  To put into action, you just hold the trigger on the handle (similar to using a weed whacker).

To get started you just put the button in Collect mode and then once you find a deposit, you press the trigger to start the auggiedog before you place it over the stool. Once you place it over the stool, it pulls it into the barrel. Then you can move onto to your next pile.

I was able to collect about 4-5 stools before it needing emptying (Your mileage may vary depending on the size of your dog and the size of their droppings. My dogs include Jack Russells and a Springer Spaniel.).  I did find a couple of things during the whole process-

• Remember to have the auggiedog in the Collect mode before picking up. I kept forgetting after emptying it and when you try to pick up stool with it in Empty mode, it mashes the stools down making it impossible to pick up.
•  The directions state to start the auggiedog before placing it over the stool. I got mixed results with this. Sometimes I found it worked better to place the auggiedog then start it. I’m not sure exactly what made the difference- it didn’t seem to be related to the grass height or the size of the stools.
• Sometimes it’s not a clean pickup. This seemed to depend on the stool. But neither is pooper scooping.
• I found I had to break larger stools up into pieces to make it easier to pick up. I did this just using the edge of the auggiedog.

To empty, you put the button in Empty mode and hold over whatever container you are depositing it in then press the trigger. I did have to shake the auggiedog to get all the stool out.

I took the auggiedog with me on 1 of my walks with the dogs. It was nice having something I could use to pick up poop and not have to wonder where I was going to put the bag until I got home, but I found it wasn’t comfortable to carry on our long walk.  It weighs less than 3 lbs, but I found I had to walk with my arm bent so it wouldn’t hit the ground. It just made for an awkward walk. It would be great on a short walk where you are just going out for potty reasons or if you are going somewhere like a dog show for the day.

The auggiedog comes with its own cleaning solution and cleaning station. The process was easy. You put 8 ounces of solution in the station, then just step on the pedal to open and then put in the auger part of the auggiedog and turn on, alternating between Pickup and Empty modes. This did seem to clean the inside although I have no way of knowing how thoroughly since it’s hard to see inside. It didn’t do a good job of cleaning the very bottom. After spending over 5 minutes trying to see if it would come clean, I wiped it off with paper towels.

Review Wrap-up

+Easy to use. No setup. Just plug in to charge and then go.

+ I liked that it’s adjustable. Being tall it can get a little much on the back bending over. Extending it to its full height made it perfect for me to use.

+While there were a few things I noted above while using it, the auggiedog worked as described in picking up the poop.

+  I did have to shake a bit, but it did empty out well.

+ Nothing dangerous if you work with your dogs around. The auger portion that picks up the stools is totally contained so you don’t have to worry about nosy dogs getting hurt.

+Great to take on short walks and to dog events.

+ Environmentally friendly. You won’t have to worry using plastic bags.

–  I found it a little awkward to carry on a long walk even with adjusting the height to make it shorter.

– Didn’t clean up after use as well as I’d like. The very bottom of the auger still had poop on it even after a long period of running it in the cleaning station. It might be helpful having something with projections in the bottom of the cleaning station that wipe off the bottom as it runs.

-Cleaning solution doesn’t last long. I used the bottle that came with it and after one cleaning session, the solution was too dirty to use again. Having to buy cleaning solution for each use could get expensive.

I really liked the auggiedog. It made my dog poop duties easier by streamlining it to 1 piece of equipment. I think it also made doodie duty a little bit more fun too.

The auggiedog and cleaning solution can be purchased directly from auggiedog.

It is also available at a few retailers in Ontario, but they are adding other pet stores- auggiedog retailers