Dog Lovers Turned Pooper Scoopers

Welcome to "Keeping it Local," a new weekly column that highlights Edina businesses and the folks that make them work. This week we'll start things off by getting to know Scoopy Poo a little closer.

"It's a crappy day today."
"We give you the scoop about poop."
"Dog doo-doo is what we do-do."

Clever "poo" jokes abound for friends and clients of Sonja Tengdin and Robin Keller's , a local niche service that specializes in one-time, weekly and bi-weekly yard cleanup after dogs of all sizes. 

"You have to have a sense of humor about a job like this," Tengdin explained. "Especially considering how the idea came to be."

She's referencing back to 2001, when a couple canine family members were making an excremental mess of the yard. Sonja was offering to pay her kids $10 per week for clean-up duty. A family friend half-jokingly said, "You could make a business out of this."

After much thought, Tengdin was testing out the job, fine-tuning her scooping skills and working on branding throughout 2002. Come 2003 and Scoopy Poo had its first batch of clients along with—to further validate everything—their name and number under pet services in the phonebook.

"Not a lot of money was put into it initially," said Keller, who became partner in 2005.  "It was just one of those cottage businesses. We were working in a little corner of Sonja's house in Minneapolis. Slowly from there it just developed and we're both very proud."

As Scoopy Poo grew and developed, so did a need to procure a more efficient office space. Tengdin and Keller packed up shop and moved to Edina, where they currently conduct all of their poo-related business from a solid red building on South France Ave.

"You know, we're a service business, so we're technically selling our labor," Keller said. "More importantly, though, we're building relationships and trust levels with our clients because, for a lot of people, the dog is an equal part of the family."

With Edina as headquarters, Scoopy Poo has built relationships and a strong client base all across the greater metro, including Elk River, Lakeville, Cottage Grove, Woodbury and Anoka to name a few. Neither Tengdin nor Keller have any plans of stopping the scooping any time soon. In fact, neither could find a negative thing to say about their "crappy" job.

"I just love it," Tengdin said. "Actually the part I enjoy most is going out scooping on a sunny day in a pretty yard. It's very zen like—quiet, peaceful. I have a very fast-paced life and two teenagers, so Scoopy Poo keeps me relaxed and grounded."

"It's kind of corny, but I just love helping people," Keller added. "People call and think it's so terrible to be asking us to do this but we love to come and take care of it. Our clients are always so appreciative and that makes it worth it."

So, what's next for Scoopy Poo?

"You never know," Keller said whimsically. "I mean, we're not interested in franchising. We've always talked about other markets—Denver, Atlanta, Chicago—vibrant places like Minneapolis where people are open to new things. But for right now we're happy."

And so are customers across the Twin Cities. If spring thaw has you looking out your kitchen window at a yard that could use some scooping, give Scoopy Poo a call today and ask about the Spring Special. You can also head on over to their website to get the scoop on rates, events and just about anything else you may be curious about.