Heading down a street on the Old West Side, I noticed a man who had stopped to allow his handsome Rottweiler to hike his leg on a beautiful dwarf conifer in a well manicured yard. Being on a corner, this family had already opted to permanently replace one of the trees with a landscape light, after, I’m sure, it had been “watered” to death. Resisting the urge (but just barely) to leap out of my car and berate the gentleman in question, I instead proceeded on my errand and mulled over this problem. I have a similar situation at my house, a guy who stands reading a newspaper while his two small dogs poop in my yard, then ambles along without picking it up. The bottom line is, this should never happen. It’s unacceptable behavior. Not by the dog, who is just doing what comes naturally, but by the owners who stand there holding the leash while their dogs destroy someone else’s property. No wonder some people hate dogs. This kind of behavior makes all dog owners look bad.
There is a solution. The simple command “Not There” is easily taught, quickly learned, and makes your dog look cool. Your dog is housebroken, right? (If your dog is over 5 months old, and still not housebroken, we’ll deal with that later) He (or she) already knows there are places he can “go”, and places he can’t. Extend that to the great outdoors, and your neighbors will love you for it! This command is taught by tone of voice and a sense of timing. When you see your male dog about to hike his leg on an ornamental plant or someone’s front porch, use a simple “Not There”, give a quick tug on the leash, and keep walking. It’s important to note that the tone of voice is firm but not loud. Make sure you give him ample time at appropriate places, like telephone poles and street signs, and praise him for correct behavior. My dogs' rule is nothing they can ruin or that people will have to touch. Female dogs should learn to use the extension between sidewalk and street. Use the same technique. There’s no reason to let your girl leave brown spots on someone else’s lawn.
It seems strange that you actually have to tell people this, but evidence shows that you do: always, always pick up after your dog. I walk multiple large dogs several times a day, and still manage to pick up after them and dispose of the bags properly. Really, it’s disgusting the amount of poop you see walking around town and especially in our parks. No wonder people don’t want us (dog owners) around. Leaving your dogs stool on the ground is dirty, smelly, and spreads internal parasites and diseases (such as the dreaded parvovirus). If you are one of the people who is religious about cleaning up after your dog, and you notice someone who isn’t, I find it pretty effective to walk up and say, very sweetly, “Isn’t it awful getting caught without a bag? Here, I have an extra.” It gets the message across in a non-confrontational way.
Owning dogs is our right. Actually being able to take them out in public is a privilege. It’s time we all stepped up to the plate and started being responsible members of the dog owning community. There are lots of ideas I want to tackle here, but the elimination issue is the one that gets us some of our worst press and rightly so. So before you take Fido out for his evening walk, for heaven’s sake, grab a bag!
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