Libby was my latest foster dog. She's about 9 or 10 weeks old and has one of the sweetest personalities I've seen. She reminded me of Clyde because of that. She was adopted by a wonderful couple on Tuesday which has given me a break for a while.

As most dog owners, I scoop the poop every day. I built a special pen for it and throw grass clippings and other yard waste in there to keep the smell down. However, I knew not to put Libby's poop in there because she was recovering from Parvo. She will shed the virus for several weeks, even after she's fully recovered.

I was being very careful to bag hers and throw it in the trash so that I didn't spread it around. I even sprayed Clorox on all the places in the yard that she went. Unfortunately, I had a brain fart and scooped one of hers and threw it in with the rest. Argh!

I couldn't go back and scoop it out again because I always cover everything and kind of stir it up from the bottom. So, guess what? I've been shoveling all of it out of the pen into my wheelbarrow. I have to double bag it and throw it in the trash.

Now, what to do about the grass and twigs and other flora I've toss into the pen? My trash service won't take it as yard waste because it's contaminated. I can't pour Clorox on it and send it because that's a different kind of contamination and not biodegradable.

I either have to burn it or bag it as trash. Guess I'll be calling for a burn permit next week if we don't float away from all the rain Hurricane Ike is bringing us.

I thought I had the whole Parvo thing figured out until I remembered Tootsie, the puppy that died from Parvo in November. I didn't have the little pen then, so I would dump the poop in two places where no one would step in it and the dogs couldn't get at it. I don't know if I should just leave it there or rake it all up and bag that too...

Sure am glad I'm not teaching anymore so I have time to do all this...