PORTLAND -- It's sort of a love - yuck relationship.

Many people who visit the bowl area at Waterfront Park like looking at all the geese, they just don't like looking at the stuff the geese leave behind.

"They're fun to watch but they do leave such a mess that you can't sit in the grass," said park visitor Carolyn Ryan.

"No one wants to throw down a blanket and watch fireworks over a bunch of goose poop, but the reality is that happens right now," admitted Mark Ross, spokesperson for Portland's Park and Recreation.

It's a stinky situation the city has been dealing with for years now. And its one that will only get worse as the geese population grows.

"Some are camped out here in Portland. They've stopped migrating," Ross said.

So the city is now considering bringing in some four-legged experts.

Border Collies, to be exact, owned by the local company Geese Guys.

Red Tail Golf Course started using Geese Guys about three years ago, when anywhere from a hundred to a thousand geese would be on the golf course daily.

Kristen Grompone, co-owner of Geese, said geese droppings were a big problem.

"You would be standing on it, walking through it, tracking it back to the clubhouse, tracking it back home," she explained.

According to Grompone, Canada Geese eat between 3 and 4 pounds of grass a day and produce 2 to 3 pounds of poop a day per bird.

But today, you won't find any geese or goose droppings on the course.

"It's a very humane way to get rid of geese. We're not hurting the geese, the dogs they have are just amazing," said golf course manager Wes Gribas.

But the service does cost money.

The city was quoted a cost of about $12,500 a year just to keep the bowl area of Waterfront Park goose-free.

The non-profit group Human Access Project, the group that puts on the Big Float event every year, said if the city approves this plan it will cover the cost to bring in Geese Guys.

Read or Share this story: http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/2014/08/06/portland-enlisting-dogs-to-combat-goose-poop-problem/13704509/