Dog ownership comes with its fair share of responsibilities. Some of them can be fun like training, exercising your dog and giving him all the necessary snuggles. They aren’t all fun though. Picking up dog poop is probably the least fun thing you’ll ever do with your pet, but it’s something that needs to be done.
Depending on your location when your dog does the deed, sometimes you’re required to hang onto that full waste bag for a while before you come to a receptacle. Even if you buy thick, durable dog waste bags, it’s still gross carrying the full bag around while walking your dog.
Wesley Benham was tired of carrying stinky poop bags around, so he decided to do something about it. By day Benham is a banker who works with manufacturing professionals all day long. He decided to take a que from his clients and jump into the manufacturing game with his unique product – the Poo Butler.
Benham actually designed the product for himself, but it didn’t long before he realized that other pet parents might like it too. He let some friends test the Poo Butler and made a few minor changes. The final product is now available in select pet retail stores and via the company’s website.
RELATED: Top 5 Best Dog Poop Bags
The Poo Butler is basically a hook attachment that is designed to fit on both retractable and standard leashes. When it’s holding a bag of waste, the attachment sits on the leash about half-way between the dog walk and the dog. You won’t have to worry about smelling the waste or having to keep the full bag in your hand.
Having to hold full waste bags wasn’t the only reason that Benham created the Poo Butler. He often walks his dog with the help of his small children, ages 6 and 7. When his children are with him he needs to use one hand to hold onto his dog and the other to hold his child’s hand. The Poo Butler allows you to keep one hand on the leash and the other free.
One of Benham’s goals was to source as many materials locally as possible. He’s located in Bradenton, Florida and gets the raw material to make the hook from a company called Rimer & Rimer Plastic Division in the same town. Another company in Sarasota, Florida is responsible for the packaging.
Benham says all the other materials were sourced from the Tampa Bay area. Poo Butler is trademarked and the patent is pending. Creating and manufacturing your own product isn’t as simple as it may seem. Benham needed to learn about trademarking, patenting, UPC coding and the manufacturing process.
RELATED: How Dog Pooper Scoopers Are Saving Our Planet
He says there was a lot of research that went into the process, and the most time consuming effort was the designing the Poo Butler. Sales of the product just launched in January, and Benham has high hopes that it will catch on with pet parents. He says that he’s received great feedback so far.
Although he obviously wants sales to grow quickly, Benham says that his focus right now is strictly with pet stores. He isn’t interested in his product hitting the shelves of big box retailers like Walmart or Target. He says pet parents shopping at pet stores are more focused on finding the best quality products; they aren’t just looking for convenience.
