A teacupper enjoyed her day at the park. Ahhhhh!
Archive for the 'Dogs' Category
Teacuppers redux
This morning at Grant Bark Park a huge poo was left on the asphalt near the north entrance. This is very unusual. Sure, we’ve reported on poos at GBP before – but typically those are found in the large pea gravel area next to the tracks. To see something this massive out in the open, and on the hard surface of the park… very odd.
The poo bag dispenser at the park was empty, too. It “could” just be coincidence.
Continue reading ‘giant poo. empty dispenser. it “could” be coincidence.’
poo battle in Naperville
Lady got pissed about stepping in teh pooh in front of her neighbor’s house…
A suburban Chicago woman is accused of tossing dog feces at her neighbor’s door after stepping into droppings left outside her apartment.
Police in Naperville say Susan M. Miller appears to have retaliated by heaving the feces at the door of her neighbor who owns a dog. Miller, 43, a tax accountant, was charged with disorderly conduct after Wednesday’s alleged protest.
She denied the charges Friday, but admitted she did get upset with the neighbor and hung bags used by residents to pick up their dogs’ waste on shrubbery near the woman’s door. (AP)
dog-gets-woman’s-goat-in-‘puppy-poop’-case!!!
naperville-woman-steps-in-dog-poop-loses-her-mind!!!!
Ms. Miller was also interviewed on WGN-TV.
The Daily Dog Poop
Want to keep up with DDPs from around the country?
Now there’s another ally in the good fight – the Daily Dog Poop:
I am raising poop awareness: reminding owners to pick up the poo and speak up to those that don’t. I stand for cleaner beaches, safer parks and poo free shoes.
They’ve got a Facebook page, too.
And, if you send your pics in, they’ll post them as a DDP – here’s ‘I poop alone‘:
There’s no Poo Fairy?
Pickin’ up the poo… on YouTube!
We were wondering whether there would be any ‘how to’ videos on YouTube… so we searched ‘how to pick up dog poop’… and, hey, there are a bunch!
Are they any good?
Let’s see…
The first one starts out out of focus… that doesn’t bode well… and the dispenser is empty! And it stays out of focus, even as our narrator ruminates about how we should be dropping poop into “big holes in the ground“. But at least you get to see the DogiPot diagram. Oh well. Not much here.
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This one’s a special treat. A vet’s ‘clinical‘ take on picking up poop… you gotta love the ‘technical language’, and don’t forget your stethoscope! But, ha ha ha! How about carrying around a box of rubber gloves so you’re always ready to pick up the poo!?! An ‘academic exercise’, perhaps, but probably not relevant to the ‘man on the street’.
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do we have a theme song?
Who knew that Barbie would be the one to come up with it ?!?
What will he do?
Number one or number two??
Crazy cute! cute!! cute!!!
What will it be!
Uh, puppy poo or puppy pee!
It’s catchy – everybody! Sing along!
And – get the kids to sing along, too!
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The Poopsta!
A lot of people are uncomfortable with the ‘hand in the bag‘ method (or, more concretely, the ‘hand on the poop‘ method…). But, now there’s something different to consider, and you might want to take a look – it’s the new Poopsta.
This is a goofy device if I ever saw one… but if it helps people deal with picking up and carrying the poo, that’s great! And all y’all who live in the US, don’t worry – you can get one too!
The Poopsta can be ordered from Poopsta.com for only $29.95 (+ $9.95 Postage & Packing), shipped straight from the UK!
We’d love to see a couple of these popping up around the South Loop!
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But I gotta say, that grey cylinder sure looks boring. Here’s an idea – paint your Poopsta! or add some decals on your Poopsta to make picking up poop FUN!
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There are a bunch of videos on the website. Check ’em out!
a teacupper’s present
a nice poo in the setting sun
Tony Hayward sez:
… the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is relatively tiny compared with that big huge ginormous ocean!
oops! it was halliburton’s fault…
no! it was transocean’s fault! hee hee!
A sweet sixteen
This is awesome – we hear from the John Kelly’s Washington column at the Washington Post about Wayan Vota and his dog Taxi, fellow orphan poo activists! His bag of orphan poo was pretty heavy.
Ha ha ha check out the video!
This is similar to what some of our park Poo Angels have reported in Chicago (e.g. at Grant Bark Park), too – when you start picking it all up, you end up with a lot of poo in the bag! Nobody pays attention to this, of course. We’ve tried suggesting that they post a record – “bags of orphan poo collected today” – at the entrance to the park. Maybe we could get a small scale, and make it a game: How big (or tiny) is your pup’s poop? Who’s got the biggest poo today?
a tetrad of poo
Curb your ‘Curb Your Dog’
There’s a sign hanging above a streetside garden at Roosevelt and State. What do our neighbors at Dearborn Park mean?
The phrase ‘Curb Your Dog’ originated in the 1930’s in New York City. Citing (from barrypopik.com) the Chicago Daily Tribune, 4 December 1938, “Mostly About Dogs” by Bob Becker, pg. F10: “Curb Your Dog” Good Advice:
“In New York, truly a doggy city, an ordinance has been passed to make for a cleaner city and at the same time compel the indifferent dog owner to consider public welfare. The ordinance demands that dogs be curbed. There are signs everywhere with the request, “Curb your dog.” It means that owners cannot allow their pets to soil buildings, nor can a dog make a nuisance of himself on the grass of the parkway or on the sidewalk. As a result there are practically no complaints about the dogs soiling sidewalks or grassy places which the public uses.”
That is, ‘Please Curb your Dog’ meant ‘Don’t let your dog do its business on the sidewalk. Let your dog do it in the road’.
Makes sense.
Here’s another sign typical of the Chicago Park District:
Signs like this appear at the entrance to parks, and even have appeared at the entrances to CPD Dog Friendly Areas. What in the world do our helpful and overworked sign makers at the Park District mean?
A dog is sniffing a flower. The dog will never escape the 10 lb link chain around its neck.
‘Let your dog sniff the flowers’? We need a sign for that?
‘Control your dog with a 10 lb link chain’? Vicious Froufrou might go wild!
Text of a Chicago ‘nuisance’ ordinance fills the bottom of the sign:
“An ordinance prohibits dogs to be permitted to run at large or to commit any nuisance upon any sidewalk, parkway or public park. Ordinance Sec 30-7-2”
‘Don’t poop on the grass’? Could be… but where is Froufrou going to go?
‘Make your dog poop in the gutter’? What, in a park??
‘Clean up after your dog’? Well, if you read it into the text… maybe.
It’s not enough to state, ‘well of course they mean…‘ – because there are three or four different meanings of Curb Your Dog in common usage. Using the google, it’s easy to find them.
There’s the original meaning (to cause to keep near the curb: Curb your dog.) – ‘do it in the road’:
Here: There is also the gentle reminder to, “Curb your dog!” meaning “Please have your dog do its business at the side of the road.”
Here: To lead (a dog) off the sidewalk into the gutter so that it can excrete waste.
Here: There are signs everywhere with the request, “Curb your dog.” It means that owners cannot allow their pets to soil buildings, nor can a dog make a nuisance of himself on the grass of the parkway or on the sidewalk.
Here: Existing city law literally prohibits pet owners from permitting dogs to defecate on any public property; however, in the past this law has been interpreted to mean that defecating dogs should be “curbed” – kept off the sidewalk – and even this interpretation has not been rigorously enforced.
Here: It also commands the owner to “curb” his dog, which means that the performance so crucial in the life of every dog owner must take place in the gutter and not on the sidewalk.
Here: Dogs can be trained at an early age to go on the curb, but there is no guarantee that they are always going to make it. More important: forcing a dog off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic can be very dangerous, needless to say.
There’s a second meaning that’s consistent with common usage of the word ‘curb’ (to control as with a curb; restrain; check) – ‘control your dog’:
Here: The term “Curb Your Dog” basically has two meanings. One meaning is to keep your dog under control and out of trouble … ie; keep your dog leashed and/or confine to your property as to keep them from causing trouble for others.
Here: I asked the John to curb his dog so it didn’t get hurt by the grate or knock me over. John curbed his dog a little but the Jaxon was so anxious that he was uncontrollable.
Here: He has been asked several times to please leash and curb his dog.
There’s a final meaning, this one is a ‘secret code’ – ‘Pick up after your dog’:
Here: It also means to pick up your dog’s poo when they are out of your property … EX: while on walks and/or at the local park you should carry plastic bags and watch for when and where your dog takes a crap and clean it up!
Here: There are several dog owners in our community and several “curb” or clean up after their pets.
Here: I ask her–in a polite tone through the gate, to please curb her dog. She tells me in such an emphatic tone “I AM picking it up!”.
There are also anomalous meanings – usages that are unclear on any concept – for example:
If “curb your dog” means to prevent your dog from defecating on the sidewalk or grass, then what does “do not curb your dog” mean? Should we force our dogs to defecate on their lawn? (And, while we’re at it, any dogs that wander past while we’re there?) Or is this mysterious sign the work of the Anti-Animal-Constipation League, telling us that it’s allowed (but not required) for our pets to relieve themselves there?
Ha ha ha! So ‘Curb your dog’ is understood by some to mean: ‘Poo your dog’!
Yikes.
Our guess is that the Dearborn Park I sign means ‘do it in the road, anywhere but here‘, and it seems to be a legitimate request that should be respected.
And our guess is that the Chicago Park District sign, even though it reads ‘no nuisance on any sidewalk, parkway or public park’, means ‘pick up after your dog‘ – clearly, doing it in the road in the park makes no sense.
But these usages raise some questions. Do we really want dogs to leave their poo at the ‘curb’? Is dog poo left in the road really going to be OK? Maybe let the rain wash it away or wait for the street cleaners to come by…?
Most people probably would prefer not to step in poo to get to their car.
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If we are to pick it up, why use what is clearly an ambiguous code for ‘pick up your after your dog’ (e.g. in the parks) instead of something more direct.
Like ‘When your dog poops, pick it up’. Like ‘if you own a dog in the city, you pick up its poo’.
The message of ‘Curb your Dog’ is: We’re afraid of poo. We’re afraid to say poo.
But if we’re ‘afraid of poo’, then the failure to pick up by some dog owners is completely understandable. They’re not a@*h#les. No, they’re just like us. Afraid and uncomfortable talking about, much less picking up, poo.
One of the arguments of this site is that we can change this.
A first step is to be grown-up about what we’re asking. Use direct and honest language – and make it clear that if you own dogs in the city, you agree to pick up their poo.
Our signage should reflect this.
‘Curb your Dog’ should go.
Our ‘little dog’ friends have so carefully placed this fresh one amongst the stones!
Froufrou is a true artiste.
And, our ‘big dog’ friends have artfully placed this one so that it can ruin some kid’s day at the park!
Well done Champ, thanks for your massive contribution. Looks like the poo flaggers got to it first.
there’s a book for that
this is a book for aficianados. the story of pooper scooper law in NYC told in Michael Brandow’s “New Yorks Poop Scoop Law: Dogs, the Dirt, and Due Process” is actually pretty interesting. it’s important for those of us working on this issue, I think, to be aware of the historical narrative. there were no pick up laws before the 70’s. change doesn’t not happen just because people are a@&$?/!s. there are legitimate differing social and personal perspectives on poo. it can be a slow transition to the modern age. 🙂
An interesting paper about poo
There’s an interesting paper available on the tubes: ‘Dealing with Dog Waste in Vancouver Parks’. It’s well-written, thoughtful and well worth reading for the issues that it raises, issues that we can hope someday to be able to address here, too. (Things like disposal, and composting.)
For now, the dog waste issue may be too polarized in the South Loop to allow sober discussion. Too bad. But there’s information in the paper that’s worth highlighting.
First is the adult (read ‘Canadian’?) discussion of the social and environmental impacts of uncollected dog waste that serves as the introduction.
It’s worth quoting a few paragraphs:
Dog waste left in public spaces also contributes to conflicts between those park users with and those without dogs. It also undermines public support for off-leash park designation, since off-leash dogs are perceived to be more likely to leave waste in parkland, as their owners may not see their pet’s feces–or feel as responsible for cleaning them up- when their pet is not close at hand.
Dog owners who knowingly leave their pets’ waste in public areas reduce the usability of parks for all. This behavior exacerbates the perception of some non-dog owners that permitting dogs in parks will necessarily result in uncollected dog waste. It also undermines the efforts of the vast majority of dog owners who do clean up after their pets.
Conflicts arising from uncollected dog waste detract from the reality that dogs are very important in our society. For people of all ages, dogs provide an irreplaceable source of companionship, affection and fulfillment. Dog ownership throughout North America continues to grow. Addressing the issue of uncollected dog waste is key to achieving greater public understanding and appreciation of the place that dogs now have in our society.
Exactly.
Second, there’s a summary of actual survey data about cleaning up after dogs. This provides a useful baseline for thinking about the problem here, and ‘what is to be done’. For example:
Maryland (HGIC, 1996)
- 62% always cleaned up after the dog; 23% sometimes; 15% never.
Washington (Hardwick, 1997)
- 69% claimed that they cleaned up after the dog; 31% do not pick up.
Chesapeake Bay (Swann, 1999)
- 59% of dog walkers clean up most/all of the time; 41% cleanup never or rarely. Of those who never or rarely clean up, 44% would not cleanup even with fine, complaints, or improved sanitary collection or
disposal methods. (!?!)
Only ~60-70 % ?!?!
The fraction in the South Loop who pick up after their pups must be greater than that! But, is it?
Finally, there’s a list of surveyed ‘Reasons for not picking it up’:
- because it eventually goes away
- just because
- too much work
- on edge of my property
- it’s in my yard
- it’s in the woods
- not prepared
- no reason
- small dog, small waste
- use as fertilizer
- sanitary reasons
Respond to that!
We’ve heard a lot of these ‘reasons’ before (‘teacuppers’!). They provide a focus for addressing the issue here in the South Loop.
It seems that some in our community aren’t picking up after their dogs.
- ‘it’s biodegradable’
- ‘it’s really small’
- ‘the rabbits and coyotes leave their poo, why can’t we?’
- ‘ewww’
- ‘nobody will notice’
… but that’s not going to cut it in an urban environment, and in the winter, particularly, ‘orphan dog poo’ becomes a real nuisance and a flash point for resistance to coexistence with dogs in the South Loop.
What are we going to do about it?
Contribute your ideas in Comments.
Cottontail Park Teacupper
man, are these are some huge sidewalk poos!
the first is on Clark St just north of 15th:
WTF? these are by no means overlooked ‘orphan poos’.
aren’t these our neighbors taking a big ‘ol fart in the faces of the people around them?
or were they out-of-towners?
or alienated big-city youth?
or timid and shy ‘i can’t pick that up!’ poo cowards?
hmm… 🙂
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