Doggone it
QUESTION: I walk our family’s dog on a leash in a public space along a part of Grand Boulevard (Oklahoma City). If the sun hasn’t made it up yet, I take a flashlight and a bag to clean up after the dog. I also take the dog over to a local school playground on the weekends, which has a walking track around the perimeter. I participated recently in the school’s grounds cleanup as they prepared for the spring sports season.
Using a pooper scooper, I picked up three large bags of dog excrement from the perimeter and from the soccer field. As I was finishing the second bag and going to my car to get a third bag, a woman arrived with three bigger dogs bounding out of her car unleashed. She had no bags in her hands. I called to her and asked if she brought bags and explained that we were cleaning up the grounds as games began in a few days. She took offense at the exchange and remarked that she always cleaned up after her dogs, and that a friend was bringing bags. Meanwhile, it looked like one of her dogs took care of its business during the exchange. I went to the car, got another large bag and three smaller bags. I called to her again and apologized if my comments offended her and gave her the bags.
A day later, with my dog at the same playground, there was more cleanup needed. I don’t like confronting strangers with their dogs, but this a bad habit some owners apparently have. Can you all address cleaning up after your dogs?
CALLIE’S ANSWER: You get the gold star! To bring extra bags and help clean up the park is amazing. You are doing everything you can. Maybe ask the grounds to add a sign to remind dog owners, or start a “forgot a bag” donation at the playground.
LILLIE-BETH’S ANSWER: You’ve addressed it nicely. You clean up after your own dogs, you offered bags to the lady whose dogs took care of business and then you asked people to clean up after their dogs. Every time I go to parks and dog parks, I see signs reminding people to pick up after their dogs. It’s not that hard to carry a bag with you and pick up the mess. It keeps the park areas nice for everyone.
If my kids and I ever take our dog on a walk and forget bags, we will drive back to the spot afterwards and pick up the poop. Our communities can’t function well if we’re only in it for ourselves for what we can get out of it as individuals. This seems like a small thing, but it’s not. Picking up poop serves the greater good and allows everyone to keep enjoying public spaces. Let’s look out for each other, people, in small and big ways, even if what we’re doing is taking care of our own messes.
HELEN’S ANSWER: Asking people to pick up after their dogs is not much fun, but if you are walking your own dog and abiding by the rules, hopefully others will do it, too. Always carry an extra bag or two to offer the ones who “forget.” Always use a friendly tone of voice in pointing out that the dog’s waste needs picking up. It sounds like that you have gone above and beyond cleaning up, and I hope that other people appreciate your efforts!
GUEST’S ANSWER: Richard Rosser, author of “Piggy Nation,” a series of books, a cartoon and more on etiquette: You have stumbled across a problem that has plagued society since the cave man domesticated the dingo! I agree that pet pickup is the responsibility of dog owners. However, some owners shirk their responsibility. It’s a bad habit that should be curbed. Those of us who are annoyed by the proliferation can nicely ask irresponsible owners to clean up their pet’s mess and provide them with a bag if they “conveniently” don’t have one. If that doesn’t work, you can take a deep breath, dispose of the problem yourself and take comfort in the knowledge that you are a responsible citizen. Let’s hope karma takes care of those who don’t clean up after their pets!