DUCHESS OF DOG DOO

Small-business operators hoping to make their way in Silicon Valley need to watch their step. Nobody knows that better than Laura Morales of San Jose.

She picks up dog doo for a living.

On any given week, the 44-year-old Morales scoops poop from more than 100 homes and businesses through her company, All Dog Yard Cleanup.

She started the enterprise in 1993. Previously, she had taught preschoolers with motor development problems and physical education classes. But she yearned for something different.

``Basically, I'm a dog lover,'' she said. ``I love all breeds. So I figured, what kind of job could I do where I could get around all these dogs?''

She said she knows the names and chew-bone preferences of every animal she cleans up after and has never been bitten. But she had a close call with some Dobermans.

``They chased me up on a fence,'' she said. ``That was the worst experience ever. That was scary.''

Shoveling the piles into plastic bags that she leaves in her customer's garbage, Morales can hit more than 30 homes a day from downtown San Jose to Woodside.

She said she earns $35,000 to $50,000 a year, charging clients $30 to $80 a month, depending on how many dogs they have and whether their property needs her attention once or twice a week.

She also charges extra for first-time jobs that require removing a lot of accumulated feces. But there's a limit to how much she'll haul away.

``Say somebody hasn't cleaned up their yard in six months -- the back yard is totally disgusting,'' she said. ``I tell them to hire somebody else.''

The smell at times can be overwhelming.

``If it's really gross I kind of hold my breath,'' she said. ``But most of the time it's not too bad. . . . I really enjoy it.''