Gone to the Dogs

I have come to the realization that I am not a dog person.  In particular, I am not a city dog person.  There is a woman who lives across the street from us who, several times a day, walks her dog across the street so it can pee on the sidewalk in front of our apartment.  Then she walks  back across the street where she lives and goes inside. 

There's no question that dog pee is less disgusting than dog poo, but still.  Ewww.  The sidewalk smells like dog pee when it's hot or when it rains, and when you have a toddler who loves, loves, loves to color with chalk on the sidewalk in front of his apartment (even if that is a crime), well, there's not enough Purell in the world to make you feel clean.

And, of course, there are the charming individuals who won't deign to clean up their dogs' shit.   May they be sentenced to a Dantesque hell in which they spend eternity covered in the droppings they leave behind.

Nonetheless, the Boy, has all the makings of being a dog person.  He loves them.  Or is at the very least dog curious:  he likes to look at them and excitedly yell, "Dog! Dog! Dog!" while wrapped tightly around the leg of a parent.  One of his favorite things to do is visit a spot in the park known as Dog Beach, where dogs can swim in a little man-made lake and children can watch them and/or feed  the ducks.  Last week sometime after we left that area, a large dog attacked and nearly killed a small dog. 

We have not been back.

But dogs are everywhere, and it doesn't really matter to me whether they're small balls of fluff or large masses of sinew--I tense whenever we get close.   And I'm not sure whether it's the dogs I mistrust or their owners because, really, if you think  it's a reasonable thing to let your dog pee in front of your neighbor's house every damn day,  how rational a person can you be?

Comments

[K&M]

Oh my lord, I am having a flashback. This past summer, some old hag wrote a letter to the editor at my parents' local newspaper about the "narcissistic" Brooke and her vandalism of a local park. How much Brooke clearly thought of her self and how much she loved "Steve", how it was allll over the sidewalk at the local park.

Brooke is my 9 yo niece, she used chalk and Steve is her daddy. She drew hearts and flowers in chalk. Thank goodness there's no law against kids using CHALK at the park, but I tell you this...there were LOADS of angry letters to the editor after that one! That od bat assumed it was a teenager *smacks forehead* and went on to say what a bunch of no account delinquents here entire family must be.

I'd call 311 on the dog owner personally. Ew.

[midlife mommy]

I have never understood the dog thing. Never. Especially the licking. That turns my stomach. Once, we were over a friend's house, and they thought it was great fun to let the dog lick a small baby's face. That was just wrong, on so many levels. Poor kid.

[Amy]

I imagine dog ownership is a different experience in New York. I have a backyard and that's where my dogs do their business the majority of the time, but if we go for a walk I don't think twice about them peeing in other people's yards. Just seems weird to try and stop them from peeing on a walk, but I guess I'm not taking them to the exact same yard every time. (And I do clean up dog shit.)

[cat, galloping]

One day when I was working from home, on a conference call, staring out the window, I saw a woman let her dog pee on my freakin' recycling bin. I disrupted my meeting with a GASP because, WTF? That's not a TREE! We have to pick that up and bring it back to the HOUSE!

And meanwhile, there's this dog that's been loose in my neighborhood a lot over the past couple of weeks. On Sunday we were walking with Gatito in the stroller and it was basically guarding our driveway, barking aggressively at us and scaring the crap out of me. I was actually worried that he was lost, but no, shortly there after a neighbor called to him from down the street.

I actually kind of like dogs from afar, but it scares me how strong some of them are and how irresponsible some owners are.

Of course, I think your neighbor is completely rational... why would she want the dog to pee in front of her OWN house?! ;-)

[Kristin]

In some countries, when an owner doesn't clean up their dog's poo, it's legally permissable to pick it up yourself, follow them home, and deposit it in their mail slot.

I wonder if your neighbor would still act the same way if you could do the same with the dog's pee?

[rabi]

what happened at the dog beach is really horrible. I'm glad the dachshund survived but I'm sure everyone involved is pretty traumatized.

I have a dog and as much as I know she LOVES kids, I would never let her be unsupervised around them, let alone running around in the park after off-leash hours end. I don't trust other dog owners who ignore off-leash rules or who seem unwilling to control their dogs while walking around the city. to me, keeping my dog under control is for HER protection as much as it is to keep people safe.

as for the pee thing, that's gross. can't she make her dog pee in front of her own apartment?

[rabi]

what happened at the dog beach is really horrible. I'm glad the dachshund survived but I'm sure everyone involved is pretty traumatized.

I have a dog and as much as I know she LOVES kids, I would never let her be unsupervised around them, let alone running around in the park after off-leash hours end. I don't trust other dog owners who ignore off-leash rules or who seem unwilling to control their dogs while walking around the city. to me, keeping my dog under control is for HER protection as much as it is to keep people safe.

as for the pee thing, that's gross. can't she make her dog pee in front of her own apartment?

[Libby]

Alright. I have to say something. I have a dog, and when I walk her, she has several places she wants to 'go'. I've pulled her around, trying to find new places, trying to even the score, as it were, but it hardly ever works. She has her 'spots' and that is that. Sometimes it's just to hard to reason with your pet. ; )[thank goodness, one of ours is in front of a house that is under construction, so no one to complain. We aim for that one, a lot. Or the houses where I know dogs live.] Although, I bet if your neighbor took her dog on longer walks, she'd find other places. Not just one. That is pretty rude.

Anyway, I know that not everyone is as crazy about dogs like me, and yeah, my dog licks my kid, and pees on our street, but I find most people like her.

I'm sorry you are bugged by your neighbor's crappy habits, and I know it's futile to argue a personal preference, but there is something so cool about kids and dogs together. I'm rooting for the Boy and the Girl to get a Dog. ; )

[AmyinMotown]

Our dog has her pee preferences as well, but I do think it's out of line to bring a dog across the street to pee in front of someone else's house EVERY day(why not just have it pee in front of her house if it's so nonoffensive?). We do pick up poop religiously though. And our dog has this odd habit of peeing in the driveway aprons that lead down into the street, so she's not *really* peeing in front of someone's house.

And the dog attack you wrote about? Two weeks ago, some idiot was walking a 100-lb bull mastiff WITHOUT A LEASH. The dog saw my elderly neighbor with his miniature schnauzer, ran across the street, and attacked the schnauzer. I haven't gotten the update but last I heard they were not sure if the schnauzer would make it, and my neighbor broke his finger getting the big dog off his. The owner just stood there like an idiot and let a 75-year-old man wrestle with his dog. This happened right across the street from my house--I saw it out my front window. I ran out, helped my neighbor get home, and somehow got blood on myself. We've been having a serious problem with wandering dogs around here--my husband found a Rottweilier in our yard the other day and it wouldn't leave (I have had nightmares about what could have happened if Maggie was with him) and there's a big pit bull we've seen wandering. The neighborhood police liasion has agreed to get animal control over here a lot more often. If you can't keep your pet on a leash in a city situation, you don't deserve one. Dogs might belong ina city, but some dog owners do NOT.

[Amanda]

I am a dog person. I trained for a living. I've been pee'd on. I've been bit...quite a few times. I can tell you first hand that 99% of the time it is the owner. Thinking you know how to handle a dog, and actually properly handling a dog are two different things. The 1% of the time that it is the dog...that is just a bad, bad situation. It's hardwired and unless you are Cesar Milan you aren't going to change anything.

I can also tell you, that if your kid is a dog person you need to allow him to be exposed to "good" dogs (read: good dog owners) so that he doesn't take on your fear. Fear of dogs just perpetuates the whole situation. Dogs really do pick up on it.

And I would talk to the neighbor across the street. I do know that my dog has places she wants to pee...but if I am the alpha of my pack she will pee where I tell her too...and not where kids chalk!

[crazybunny]

Don't hate dogs. Hate owners.

[rosie]

i live in the city, too, and i freakin' hate dogs. my kids love them and dog-owners are always saying things like "oh, don't worry, he's friendly". but that's just not good enough to let them near my children. and the pee and poop everywhere...shudder.

[Rebekah]

Lol, love that last bit ... how can a truly rational person look the other way while their dog takes a leak in front of someone else's home? Only in Brooklyn/NYC, I tell you! It is one of the things about living in the City that we will most definitely NOT miss. My SIL and I used to joke about walking around in the summer ... "Mmmmm, eau de dog pee". Fun fun fun!

[Monica]

Since having kids, I don't think I'm a dog person anymore, which is particularly bad for the two dogs I already have!

[Libby]

I like dogs just fine, but would never own one. I do agree that much of the time it's the owners that are bad, not the dogs. I confess I particularly loathe the conversations my two nearest co-workers have about their dogs - they don't have kids (by choice), so they treat their dogs like their offspring - it's very annoying. And yes, I know I am being judgemental.