When a dog's gotta go, it's gotta go. And like it or not, you're expected to clean up after your pooch. It's the right thing to do, the sanitary thing to do and, in most municipalities, the legal thing to do.

Entrepreneurs have come up with all sorts of ways to deal with this disposal. There are the long-handled spring-action metal scoopers, Mutt Mitts degradable pick-up bags ("they slip on your hand like a glove"), even disposable diapers (for the excited dribbler or untrained puppies).

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette The Shark Grab 'n Bag Powered Scooper. Click photo for larger image.

Now comes what's touted as the first-ever powered scooper. The Shark Grab 'n Bag Powered Scooper has arrived in local stores, promising to make this dreaded task "easy and sanitary."

Distributed by a Canadian company, EURO-PRO Operating LLC, this battery-operated product, which sells for $29.99, "enables motorized, touch-free cleanup by automatically scooping up the mess and disposing of it in a plastic bag." It's available at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, BJ's, Linens 'n Things and at several online sites.

After purchasing the scooper at a local store, I took it outside to see what it could do. But it broke after the third attempt. So I contacted the company and asked it to send a replacement, in case the first malfunction was just a fluke.

For my second attempt to test-drive the scooper, I went to the fenced off-leash dog run in Allegheny County's South Park. Other dog owners congregating there were intrigued about what it could do. Or maybe they were happy to see me because I said I was looking for "stuff" to clean up.

Richard Stoff of Mt. Lebanon was especially interested. "I saw those at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I'm thinking of getting one."

Lucy, his 15-month-old German shepherd, stepped up to have her head petted but did not step up to help with the product test. Mr. Stoff kindly pointed me to the piles of droppings that had escaped the notice of owners who are generally good about cleaning up after their dogs.

Dog owners gathered around me as I pressed the scooper into action. The little motor whirred and purred. A green biodegradable plastic bag advanced off the roller, sucking up most -- but not all -- of the medium-sized deposit. Perhaps I was too slow on the draw. An at-home test with a kitchen timer showed you have 10 to 11 seconds to get the pile into the bag.

Unfortunately, some of the stuff was also smeared on the inside and the outside of the bag, as well as on the plastic scooper itself. Ripping off the bag and dropping it into the trash barrel was not the sanitary process promised by the company.

"Very bad," Mr. Stoff pronounced solemnly. "I don't think I'll be buying this."

"Not good at all. Dumb, really," said a Castle Shannon dog owner named Tom, who didn't want to share his last name but happily introduced his black cocker spaniels, Max and Murray.

The product might be handy for cleanups in your own back yard, one dog owner suggested, but you wouldn't want to carry it around on a dog walk, especially not if you're walking multiple dogs.

The scooper comes with a large capacity scoop "intended to pick up large semi-liquid messes." I tried it out on pudding. The scooper works better indoors on a large surface, but you still need to use cleaner and a damp rag or paper towel.

A cooler alternative?

Another product fairly new to the market is POOP-FREEZE, which I tested in the same park about a year ago.

"Why would you want to freeze poop?" asked more than one dog owner.

When POOP-FREEZE is sprayed, it forms a white "frosty film" on the droppings to harden the surface to make it easier to pick up.

Topaz Technology sells POOP-FREEZE on the Internet. The 10-ounce aerosol cans are $9.95, plus shipping and handling.

The product "chills to -62 degrees F!" says a line on the front of the can, which also warns that the liquid can cause frostbite on contact with skin.

During my test, Veronica, a five-pound miniature dachshund, contributed a fresh deposit in the grass. I sprayed and sprayed for several seconds before fluffy frost formed. Then, in accordance with the directions, I used the nozzle to flip over the pile to spray the other side.

"Wouldn't it just be quicker and easier to just pick the poop up with a plastic bag?" asked Veronica's owner, Georgia Wheeler of Green Tree.

That experiment was conducted on a steamy, muggy day. It took an entire can of POOP-FREEZE to freeze three piles. Like the powered scooper, this also can be used indoors. But be careful where you spray: If you spray the contact point where the pile is resting, you could actually freeze-bond it to grass, rugs, the floor, etc.

Dog owners watching the freezing demonstration were amused but said they wouldn't pay for the product.

For their own pickups, most used the free plastic bags supplied in the dispenser near the gate of the South Park dog run.

It's virtually mess-free if you put your hand inside the plastic bag, pick up the pile, turn the bag inside out while removing your hand and then tie a knot in the bag. Newspaper bags, as well as plastic bags with handles used by grocery stores and other retail outlets, also work.

So for this doggy chore -- at least in my opinion -- the simpler, the better.