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Poop scooping is dog-eat-dog fight to top of the pile
By Paul Grondahl
Updated 6:58 am, Wednesday, May 1, 2013



Rotterdam

You might assume that Jonathon Locke has a crappy job. You would be wrong.

The CEO & President of Diddly-Squat Pet Waste Removal Services is a hard-charging entrepreneur. The 27-year-old Army veteran is building a small empire, with aspirations of becoming the Donald Trump of poop scoopers.

"I want to build this into a household name, a national brand," he said. "It's really coming together. I've never been happier."

But first, he's got to out-scoop Steve Relles, the Delmar Dog Butler, a laid-back veteran. The 50-year-old father of two teens is quite happy with the status quo. The downsized General Electric Co. computer programmer calls cleaning up after dogs a dream job that earned him $50,000 last year by working just 20 hours a week.

"I'm kind of scared about the new competition, to be honest," Relles said. "I reached out to Jonathon at first and gave him some tips. I'm not giving him any more."

Yes, there's a dog poop scooper war raging in the Capital Region. The stakes are surprisingly high.

"I'm keeping it friendly, but I'm going after him hard," said Locke, who lives in Niskayuna. "I want to win over every one of the Delmar Dog Butler's customers."

"I don't live to work," said Relles, of Delmar, who is an avid unicyclist and Ultimate Frisbee competitor. "When I talked with Jonathon I said, 'Dude, don't be out to ruin me. I'm just a dad trying to make a living.' "

Relles has about 90 customers, an all-time high after a decade in business. He had dipped below 50 after the 2008 recession hit. He has one part-time employee.

With nearly 300 clients, Locke incorporated one year ago and is on track to generate more than $75,000 in revenue this year. Locke works seven days a week, typically more than 60 hours. He has two full-time employees (both of whom are military veterans) and he's planning to add an employee to expand into Kingston, Ulster County. Future plans include starting his first franchise with a buddy in Knoxville, Tenn.

Locke is so busy, in fact, that he postponed his wedding for a year to fiance Kathleen Murray until June 2014. She helps with the paperwork. "I've got so much poop to scoop, we don't have time right now," he said.

Locke aired his first local TV commercial. He drums up business at local pet adoption clinics and other public events. He picked up after the Tri-City Valley Cats Bark in the Park dog event in July.

Locke projects doubling Diddly-Squat's revenues to $150,000 in 2014 and he's serious about soon cracking the $1 million mark. His aggressive business model attracted a downstate investor, who invested $45,000 for 10 percent gross of the business over 10 years.

"He found me," Locke said. "It was just like the TV show 'Shark Tank.'"

There is a reality TV vibe to the dog poop scooper war. Michele Riggi, the flamboyant Saratoga Springs socialite and owner of 36 dogs, has a reality TV show under development with E! But there's more drama going on with Diddly-Squat versus Delmar Dog Butler.

When Diddly-Squat loyalists went on Delmar Dog Butler's Facebook page to tout Locke's business, Relles called foul. His competitor's business information was removed. Locke said he recently planted a bunch of new road signs — "Got Dog Poop? We Scoop!" — and Relles followed suit with a similar color and font type on his signs.

This is getting personal.

Locke has no qualms about undercutting Relles with a base rate of $10 per week for a weekly scooping, which Relles has not been able to match.

It's mano a mano now that "Scoopy Doo," a semiretired poop scooper based in Glenville, turned over his customer base to Locke. Scoopy Doo, aka Phil Coniglione, is an accountant but still clears dog-walking areas under a contract with the Massachusetts Turnpike's McDonald's restaurants.

Locke did not expect to find his future in dog poop. He served five years with the Army National Guard's 104th Military Fleet Battalion, based in Kingston. "I came back from the Army and couldn't find anything good," he said. He worked at Taco Bell and UPS, but nothing inspired him like scooping poop.

"I absolutely love it," he said. "The money's very good and I also get to see hundreds of dogs. It's out in the sun. I meet nice people. And I'm the boss." Locke's enthusiasm for dog poop is oddly infectious. He said he "gets personal" with the dog poop and can readily tell a reporter, based on the bowel movement, whether the dog is fed table scraps, cheap mass-produced chow or premium dog food. He once had a toy breed who left him a surprise at the top of a child's slide.

Locke seems unfazed by the nature of his business. He shrugs off teenagers who openly mock him. He saves answering machine prank calls. He is driven by poo.

Relles said his teenage daughter is embarrassed by his dog poop scooping business. He has thought about giving it up and going back to programming. His wife, after all, "has a real job and benefits."

"So far, it's a war that's pretty cordial," Relles said. "I know I've got a target on my back. I have loyal customers and do a good job. We'll see how it plays out."

Diddly-Squat's Locke said he offered to take on Relles as his Rensselaer County manager. The Delmar Dog Butler declined.

pgrondahl@timesunion.com • 518-454-5623 • @PaulGrondahl

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