The scoop on poop

As a dog person I'm sure the subject of poop is a regular one with you and your friends. It is for me and the people I hang with. But if you are the one picking up you tend to pay more attention to the solidity of the matter. Hey; if you are trying to pick the stuff up, there is indeed good and bad texture. And we have all known a time or two when we are watching; watching very closely for a certain item that we suspect may have been consumed to make a reappearance. If you have a puppy or adolescent at the moment; that time may have come more often in these early months of your life together.

It is as the saying goes "you are what you eat" and so are our dogs. What goes in must come out so keeping a close eye on the subject at hand let's you know that things are running smoothly so to speak. And speaking of smoothly; we all deal with the pick up issue; some guardians are steadfast in their obligatory job, some avoid and some simply pick it up and can't think about it, I know a few of these. For these "can't think about it types" it's okay to pick up the substance; but they must be quick and not hesitate for a moment, thinking about what you are doing for a split second and things can go very bad, very quickly.

Consistency is a big issue; those diehard low quality kibble feeders rely on the solid dry mass. The easy pick up, no residue, no mush to try to scoop, just a dry solid mass, nice. When you feed a more real diet you get more variation and it is definitely not a solid rock hard pebble texture. There is much more work in picking up after these guys and yes there is residue. And if you have a fussy pants like my Luke; there is no telling what's going to go in day by day so you never know what's going to come out.

I have a iron stomach; nothing bothers me, I'm not a gagger so when I pick up I just do it. But when I am out on my walks I inevitably see someone who is "not a pick up" type. Nothing makes me more angry than someone attempting to not notice their dog taking a crap. As I walk through the park and see the ones that didn't get picked up; I immediately notice the age of it and if it's fresh I do the culprit scan. Oh yes; I have been known many times to ask someone who is trying not to notice there dog dumping in the park "you're going to pick that up right?" It takes only a couple of these people to ruin it for all of the other dog people who do pick up after their dog. I mean honestly; man up and get the job done, or let your dog crap at your house and leave it sitting there to fester in the sun.

Now location is a factor when picking up poop as well. Many dogs are very specific about where they go; of course there are just as many that are happy to dump right in front of you. All the boys that have passed through my life have always preferred to go on top of tiny seedling trees; small bushes or weeds, this of course makes our job of retrieving the mass a bit more adventurous. When off leash many dogs like to eliminate on the perimeter; very nice, clean but often hard to locate after the fact.

Then you have the travelers; I had one of those as well. There is no telling how far she would travel while in the process of pooping. So when you pick up you follow the trail until it looks like the trail has probably ended. Not a fan of travelers. Hunch positioning is also a factor but this pertains more on the after wiping than the picking up. Luke is probably my best huncher ever; the mere idea of the possibility of remnants remaining on him is simply mortifying so when he hunches there is all but one place for it to fall and that is down. All my guys are great hunchers and I am rarely required to do the after wipe except on the rare chocolate pudding days. And don't tell me you don't know what I mean.

Just yesterday I was running Elsa when I discovered that many people had not picked up.  It is completely disgusting not to pick up after your dog.  Sure there is always that one time when you are out of bags but other than that, PICK IT UP.  We have a local neighborhood pooper which lives across the street and a bit down from me.  The owner lets the dog out daily to poop on everyone else's yard.  Having my office at the front of my house allows me to visualize this daily as well.  Elsa lets me know when the dog is out choosing it's daily spot and most days it is on a spot between the two houses across the street.   There must be a whole lot of s*&t piled up in there by now.  It is disgusting to allow your dog to go on someone else's yard and turn a blind eye.  If they go somewhere other than your house PICK IT UP.

Having dogs is a responsibility; one of those responsibilities is to PICK UP after our dogs.  Don't want to pick up poop?  Buy a dog statue or stuffed dog to grace your home.  Honestly.

Have a great day all you dedicated dog people ;)