Where Have all of the Responsible Pet Owners Gone?

Our handsome boys ready for a walk.

The other day Eric's grandmother told me she was talking to a friend who lives in our neighborhood.  The lady told her that she sees me walking my dogs every day and of course commented on how funny I look walking all 3 dogs.  I don't doubt I look a little absolutely ridiculous trying to walk all 3 of them at once, but it makes for much calmer inside dogs so I don't mind.  Plus I love just getting outside for some fresh air and exercise, as do they.

In the same conversation, the lady also told his grandmother how much she appreciated that I "clean up" after my dogs.  She said I am the only dog owner in the neighborhood who does that.  There was a part of me that was shocked at that, but at the same time not exactly surprised. I guess I just figured it was common decency to clean up after your pets when they relieve themselves in someone else's yard.  My mom always cleaned up after our dogs when we walked them, so I guess I was just brought up knowing it was the right thing to do.  It's obvious that we have some neighbors who don't, which you can tell if you walk along the street in our neighborhood.  After seeing the edge of my front yard the other day I seriously thought about putting up a sign that said something long the lines of "We clean up after ours, so please clean up after yours." Yes it will disintegrate eventually, but until then I have to look at it every time I go to my mailbox. And if you have a large dog, it might take a while!

This may be TMI, but I will not leave for a walk with less than 3 bags to clean up after my dogs, and usually end up using 2 of them (the third in my insurance policy). Do I look funny carrying used bags around the neighborhood?  Probably. But at least I know that my neighbors appreciate that I clean up after my dogs, even if I end up waving a bag at them as they drive by because my hands are full of bags and leashes!

Since we're on the subject of dogs.....I have been sweeping and vacuuming the floors like a mad woman the past couple of weeks trying to stay ahead of the dog hair.  It's awful right now.  I swept and mopped on Sunday, and by Monday night the floors were covered in dog hair.  I came the the conclusion that maybe I should brush the dogs out to see if that helps.  Can I just say I was completely shocked at how much extra hair they were carrying around?  I am pretty sure you could have made a fur coat for a small dog with the amount of hair that came off of Hawk, which yes was a pile larger than a beer bottle.  The pile was a good 3-4 inches high, too.

Is that a miniature Pomeranian?  Nope, just excess Hawk hair.

The moral of this story is please be a responsible pet owner and respectful neighbor.....it's not hard to do!
I do realize I just wrote an entire post about dog poop.
[end rant]