The awkward case is not a firm one on a hard path, it is a soft one down in long grass or sitting in gravel, where a bag over the hand pushes more into the ground than it removes and you end up hosing the lawn. A rigid scoop and a flat shovel edge working against each other lift the whole lot clear in one movement, along with whatever it has stuck to, which is the only way a lawn stays properly clean.

Both pieces are plastic, which is the right material for the job rather than a cost saving: it hoses down, dries fast, does not rust in a shed over winter and does not hold smell the way a wooden handle does. There is nothing to charge, nothing to service and no bag mechanism to jam. It arrives in a colour box, which makes it one of the few things in this category that does not look embarrassing given as a present to a new dog owner.

• Plastic construction throughout
• Supplied in a colour box
• Hoses and wipes clean, will not rust
• Manufacturer's packing list reads one plastic pooper scooper
• 253g listed weight

Two things worth knowing. Second, no handle length or head width is published anywhere, so if reach is the reason you are buying, our folding long-handled scoop is the one with a stated 80cm figure behind it.

Who it's for: owners with a lawn or gravel drive to keep clear, medium and large dogs, and anyone who has decided that bag-over-the-hand is not a system they want to continue with.