I have a funny story for you! This is the second time I’m writing this since I lost it earlier…
So a few weeks ago, Hubby and I returned home from some outing and he jolted from the car to the garage of our neighbor’s house (across the street). This was odd behavior. When he returned, I questioned him of course and learned that earlier that morning when Hubby was looking out the front window in our kitchen, he saw Neighbor-man walking his dogs. This is nothing new, he’s a fit 50-something year-old who walks them often. What happened was something we suspected but had never witnessed. We frequently find big dog poop on our lawn…we have a little dog and clean up…and never knew who the culprit was, until Hubby witnessed Neighbor-man walking his dogs, watch them poop on our lawn and walk away.
When he shared his story, I was annoyed.
So when I asked him why he went across the street, he told me he had picked up the poop and placed the baggy at the end of his driveway. To me, this wasn’t nearly going to have the impact I felt it warranted, in fact, he may not have even noticed the bag. So like any hot-headed half Italian American, I wrote a little note (see below) grabbed a piece of tape and marched across the street. I then picked up the little baggy and taped it, along with my note, to his front door.
The boys of course asked me what I had done. I explained what it meant to be a responsibly dog-owner, neighbor and member of the community. I talked to them about respect, respecting their home and belongings as well as other people’s things. I talked to them about laziness, how it’s not hard to clean up after yourself or your pet and that it’s part of pet ownership. Lastly, I talked to them about cleanliness, that the bottom line is that nobody wants poop on their lawn, it’s dirty, smelly and yucky. They agreed with everything I said and thought it was cool that I stood up for something I believed in.
Later that day, Hubby saw Neighbor-man who told him how sorry he was and that he wouldn’t do it again.
Here’s the thing, what prompted me to even tell you this story is that while making lunch today, I was looking out the window and saw Neighbor-man walking his big furry friends. They weren’t on my lawn, instead they were on the neighbor next-door to Neighbor-man’s house, pooping as Neighbor-man watched on. He did stop for a moment to look around (to see if anyone was looking since he probably saw me outside just minutes before), but then after a quick glance and thinking nobody saw him, he continued to walk.
I guess you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
