Memorial Day Cookout With Dogs?
Clean That Yard First.

Memorial Day weekend kicks off summer. That means the first big cookout of the year — friends over, kids in the yard, maybe a kiddie pool, definitely a game of cornhole. It's one of the best weekends of the year.

And if you have a dog, it's also the first time you're really looking at your yard with guests' eyes.

Because here's what happened since January: your dog never stopped using the yard. You picked up when you could. But between work, cold weather, and just life — there's a pretty good chance your yard has 60-100 deposits that didn't get picked up. Maybe more.

That's not a judgment. That's math.

The Scenario You're Trying to Avoid

Everyone knows this situation. You've lived it or seen it at someone else's house.

Why Memorial Day Is Harder Than Any Other Cookout

Spring is when the yard looks the worst. Here's why:

• Five months of accumulation. January through April in St. Louis means cold, rain, mud, and intermittent snow. Pickup frequency drops. By late May, everything that wasn't cleaned from winter through spring is still out there.
• Tall grass hides more. Spring growth means deposits are buried in longer grass — much harder to spot during a casual walk-through than a grid sweep.
• More people, more territory. A cookout means guests spread out across the whole yard. That corner you never go to? Someone's kid found it.
• Warm weather activates smell. What was frozen or dried through winter starts to smell again in 80-degree May heat. Your guests will notice before you do.

If You're Doing It Yourself: The Pre-Cookout Cleanup Guide

If you're cleaning the yard before Memorial Day, here's the right way to do it — not the "I'll do a quick walk-through" version that misses half of it.

1. Pick the right day. Do it 2-3 days before the cookout, not the morning of. That gives the grass time to air out and you time to catch anything the dog adds between then and the party.
2. Work a grid, not a loop. Most people walk a perimeter and then check the middle. This misses corners, under bushes, and fence lines. Walk actual parallel strips, 2-3 feet apart, covering the whole yard systematically.
3. Check at crouch height. Guests will be at every height. Kids crawl. People sit on blankets. What looks clear at standing height often isn't at 18 inches.
4. Hit the problem spots. Your dog has favorite spots — usually corners, fence lines, and areas near the house. These get higher deposit frequency and need extra attention.
5. Let it breathe. After cleanup, run the sprinkler or let rain do the work if you have a few days. The residue matters too, especially in hot weather.

Time investment for one dog: 45-75 minutes for a thorough cleanup after a full spring season. Two dogs: add 45 minutes. Three dogs: you're looking at 2+ hours before a big event. That's your Saturday morning before anyone else arrives.

Or — Don't Spend Your Holiday Morning Scooping

That's what Tidy Tails is for.

One call (or one text) and your yard is ready before Memorial Day. You spend that weekend doing the cookout things, not the cleanup things.

You don't need to be home. You don't need to watch. You just need access to the gate.

The "On My Way" text is actually something we hear about a lot — it's the thing people mention when they tell their neighbors about us. Nobody else in St. Louis does this consistently. It means you always know when someone's in your yard. No mystery, no guessing.

The Case for Going Monthly

Here's what most of our customers figure out after their pre-cookout cleanup:

Once the yard is clean, keeping it clean takes one weekly visit. That's it. And at $70/month — which is $2.30/day — the math stops feeling like a luxury and starts feeling like a no-brainer.

The Memorial Day cleanup is the hardest cleanup. Five months of buildup in one shot. Every cleanup after that is maintaining a yard that's already in good shape. Weekly service means your yard is ready for:

• Any cookout you throw together last minute
• The neighbor kids who just show up
• Sprinkler days and kiddie pools
• Evenings on the patio without checking where you step
• Father's Day in June
• July 4th
• Labor Day
• Any Saturday in August

The customers who book a one-time pre-cookout cleanup and then go monthly don't do it because we talked them into it. They do it because they got one week of a clean yard and realized that was normal, and they didn't want to go back.

How Far Out Should You Book?

For Memorial Day weekend (May 25), here's the honest timeline:

• Book by May 19 (one week out) — Standard availability. Easy to schedule.
• Book May 20-22 (3-5 days out) — Possible but filling. Contact early in the week.
• Book May 23-24 (1-2 days out) — Same-week is harder in peak season. May or may not have a slot.
• Book now (April) — Guaranteed slot, you can relax, and the first month of weekly service is free.

Spring and early summer are the busiest time of year for yard cleanup. Anyone who's been thinking about starting service eventually starts in May anyway — because that's when cookout season starts and the yard urgency becomes real.

St. Louis Service Areas