NWA's climate hits a yard from four directions. Hot, humid summers. Wet springs. Mild but unpredictable winters. Cool dry autumns with leaf cover that hides everything underneath. A patrol that works the same way in July and January is a patrol that does not understand the climate.
Spring (March-May)
The wet season. Yards that went uncleared through winter develop a layer underneath the dead grass that becomes obvious as new green grows in. The first warm-weather rains wash everything that has accumulated since November into your low spots and along your fence line.
Spring patrols focus on backlog clearance. Most NWA yards on monthly plans need a one-time deep cleanup in March or early April to reset the baseline. After that, biweekly or weekly patrolling keeps up with the new growth.
Summer (June-August)
Peak pathogen season. Heat plus humidity is the environment where E. coli, Giardia, and roundworm eggs proliferate. Households with kids playing in the yard, frequent backyard barbecues, or multiple dogs should be on weekly patrolling June through August.
Officers carry extra sanitizer in summer and rotate gloves between properties more frequently. We patrol earlier in the morning during the hottest weeks to keep the dogs (and the officers) safe from heat exposure.
Fall (September-November)
Leaf cover season. Falling oak, maple, and sweetgum leaves hide pet waste underneath what looks like a tidy yard. Households who let patrols lapse from October through November tend to find significant accumulations once the leaf cover is raked up the following March.
Fall patrols include a leaf-line walk. We are not raking your yard, but we are working through the leaf cover along the fence line, the porch edge, and any low spots where leaves drift.
Winter (December-February)
Frozen-ground and ice-event season. Ice storms in NWA can shut a yard down for days at a time. Frozen waste does not decompose; it sits, then thaws, then refreezes, and accumulates at a faster rate than most homeowners realize.
Winter patrols continue on the standard schedule unless the property is genuinely unsafe to walk. Officers carry traction cleats during ice events. A skipped patrol is rescheduled to the next available day at no extra charge.
How The POOlice Handles Seasonal Transitions
Plan transitions are free. If you start the year on Rookie monthly and want to upgrade to Deputy biweekly for the summer, just text dispatch. We do not charge transition fees, we do not require a contract amendment, and we do not penalize seasonal up-and-down. Most NWA households end up cycling between Deputy in summer and Rookie in winter, which is a perfectly reasonable rhythm.