It goes without saying that you should always pick up your dog's poop when he goes on other people's grass or around sidewalks and roads, and certainly anywhere people might walk. If you own the dog, you are responsible for the dog, and that includes his dog poop!
Be courteous. Be respectful of others.
But there needs to be some balance in all this. Cities add waste receptacles for trash that might otherwise be dropped on the road or in a park. Those can be used for smelly food scraps. Well, those should be available for bagged poop, too!
Rules are important, because some self-absorbed people don't tend to think of others and must be "reminded" to be courteous. But for those who are trying, there should also be some grace when there are extenuating circumstances - such as a thunderstorm, injury, or dog diarrhea and you're out of bags for the last droplets.
We need to face a couple of realities here:
(1) There are millions of dog owners around the world. People who don't like them need to learn to live with having them around, because they aren't going away.
(2) People get stuck in these stupid squabbles that don't mean anything... such as your neighbor's dog going to the bathroom in your yard. Don't call the police or Animal Control! Talk to your neighbor and try to resolve it.
(3) For anyone starting to post something reminding me to pick up my dog's mess, no matter how many I am walking... know that I pick it up every time they go. If you find it, it doesn't belong to my dog!
The point of writing this is asking all people to work together and be in balance.
Rena Murray
DogWhisperWoman
Labels: dog, dog poop, dog walk, DogWhisperWoman, Rena Murray
