Since getting Radar, we’ve of course been out and about for walks way more often than we used to. We’ve been in this house for nearing two decades, and I’ve never been out walking two or three times a day — often before the sun is up, because why just be out in sub-zero temperatures when you can be out in sub-zero temperatures while also being in pre-dawn darkness? — for that entire stretch.
Now, of course, all that’s changed.
Tired? Too bad. You own a dog. Get up and take Radar out for a walk.
Bad headache? Sorry to hear that. Better take a couple of Advil before you take Radar out for a walk.
Injured knee or ankle or leg, sore back or shoulder or anything not literally rendering you bed-ridden? Treats are loaded up. Poop bags are ready. Harness and leash are by the door. Oh, and speaking of which, don’t slam the door on the way out because it’s really early and some people are trying to sleep.
This routine walking has caused us to meet countless neighbours who also have dogs. We always knew we had a dog-heavy neighbourhood, but until you get out numerous times a day, every day, for months, you simply have no concept of how many doggos that actually is.
But it has also caused us to form a closer connection with the area that we almost certainly wouldn’t have had before. Temporary trail closures, municipal workers ripping up streets and sidewalks where it didn’t previously affect us, not just how inconsiderate and depressing strewn garbage can be, but how dangerous it can be to dogs and also to dog owners. Let’s just say I learned the hard way that Radar (still in training) sometimes gets full-on feral when he’s seized on a found prize of anything he wants to eat, and will damn well bite anyone who tries to take it from him by force, all of which earned me a bloodied finger for half of our walk late last year. Not something I’d expect from a generally endearing boy who usually falls alseep next to me on the couch each night, at times like this:
But what I’ve especially noticed is how bad the dog poop situation is.
Good lord.
I mean, I get that we’re in a big city, and in a pretty densely housed area, and I’ve already mentioned the big dog demographic here, and so all that will lead to more dog poop on the sidewalks. But come on.
Point blank: If you own a dog, you should damn well pick up its poop. That’s in the very few “musts” of Dog Ownership 101. And you should especially do it when you’re out in public. I mean listen, if you want dog bombs all over your back yard, then that’s your business. But when you’re on a sidewalk or in a park, now you’re in public space, and so not picking up the poop is just being a jerk to everyone and anyone else who walks by until the next heavy rainstorm.
What I’ve noticed in particular for decades, though, is a big uptick in people who use a baggie to pick up the dog poop and then leave the bag of poop on the sidewalk or street or grass anyway. What sociopathic, self-important nonsense is that?
And how does that even make any sense?
I get the grossness of picking up dog poop. I did before anyway, and for almost a year now of dog ownership, believe me, I intimately get it. But if you’ve already taken the tiny financial hit to get poop bags, and already taken the time to stoop and pick it up and then bag it anyway (and seemingly at least usually tie it off), what happens at that point that makes you think your part in this civil process is done and it’s totally fine to just leave that half pound of steaming unpleasantness sitting out for someone else to deal with?
What, you leave it on a lawn for the home owner to deal with?
You leave it on the street, where inevitably cars will now run over it?
You leave it on the sidewalk for others to still have to avoid stepping on it?
Even in one of our large nearby parks, some people who take the time to bag their dog poop will tie it off and still just leave it where they stand, even though you literally can’t follow any path or road in or out of the park without passing at least one garbage can. Sometimes numerous ones. So on your way home from the park, you can easily toss your baggie in the garbage. Or if not doing that, an evident news flash to some dog owners: You can hang onto it until you get home and throw it away there.
How does anyone anywhere think it’s acceptable to intentionally leave their bags of dog poop just lying around?
And get this: We have a mailbox at the bottom of our street (any readers under 30, ask your parents what a “mailbox” is). And in the last few weeks, I’ve seen not one but two bags of dog poop left beside the mailbox. What’s the thinking there, that mail carriers will pick up all the mail and also your dog poop while they’re at it?
And oh, speaking of which, I 100% guarantee you that some of these jerks walk by where they previously left their bagged dog poop and sincerely wonder to themselves — maybe even start getting mad about it — why it is that no one has pick up the bags and thrown them out.
That happens.
I promise you that happens.
And because I try to be helpful even when critical, I offer this solution: Every person who does this — who either leaves dog poop out wherever it lands, or who methodically bags it and then leaves it where it is — every one of them should be given a ticket each time. And lo, the city coffers will swell until they finally realize their adult, civic, and just plain human responsibilities to everyone around them.
Stoop and scoop, dog owners. Just do it.