Pet waste removal may be dirty work, but it is a growing business for Cheresee Rehart, owner of Yard Guards On Doody. Rehart, originally from Brooklyn, NY, moved to the Riverview area in 2000 with her husband and three children. In 2002, Rehart was watching a television game show called I’ve Got a Secret, where contestants tried to guess the occupation of the person on the show. The episode featured professional pooper scooper Tim Stone from ScoopMasters in California.
“I told my husband, Rick, I wanted to do that for a business, “said Rehart. “With a puzzled look on his face, he said he would support me. In short order, I got all the wheels in place to get my business Yard Guards on Doody, LLC going in June of 2003. I love what I ‘doo!’”
Yard Guards On Doody specializes in cleaning and removing pet waste from client’s yards, veterinarian offices, apartments, condos, HOAs and dog parks. It also has been honored as the Official Pooper Scoopers for the Tampa Bay Rays since 2012. Rehart has served as the president and vice president for The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists (aPaws.org) and served on the board of directors.
“We abide by a code of conduct and sanitize our shoes and tools after every stop to not spread any potential diseases,” said Rehart. “It is important to know that dog waste is not fertilizer, due to parasites. The dog waste is also getting into our ground water contaminating it.”
Yard Guards on Doody has earned 15 awards, including The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award in 2014 and were finalists for the same award in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Rehart also won awards four consecutive years for the Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful Program, where her company committed to more than 300 hours of picking up garbage from four adopted roadways. In addition, Rehart won the Fastest Scooper In The Nation award in Nashville, TN.
“I am most proud of raising enough funds to provide the Hillsborough County Sheriff K-9s with 15 top-of-the-line custom fitted, bullet resistant (pet) vests, after learning the Sheriff K-9s had only four to share between them,” said Rehart. “We also raised enough funds to supply every fire truck in Hillsborough County with 43 sets of pet oxygen masks. The masks are cone shaped to fit the snouts of different animals.”
So if you need to get the scoop on your pet waste, Yard Guards On Doody is offering a Poopon (a version of a coupon) for $10 off a one-time cleanup.
Visit www.Ruff-Job.com, call 657-9797 or email Yardguards@gmail.com.
