Lately on our morning walks I\u2019ve been noticing a lot more trash.<\/p>\n
This morning Jesse got to a chunk of pizza crust someone had most likely thrown from their car.<\/p>\n
This terrifies me simply because there are those assholes in the world that would poison stuff like that just for kicks. They\u2019re probably thinking of hurting wild animals but the reality is that it\u2019s most likely innocent dogs and cats in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Fortunately I was able to recognize what he had before he gulped it down. Once it\u2019s down his throat there\u2019s no getting it back. I told him to drop it but that was a lost cause. Once a street dog, always a street dog. It earned him a \u201cBad Dog\u201d and just for kicks I dropped his leash and kept on walking. (We were in a safe place relatively close to home.) That really got his attention and he literally ran to me dragging the leash.<\/p>\n
He sat in front of me looking very worried, then raised his paw. I was \u201cMad\u201d so I ignored him, then he tried to jump up on me, I moved not letting him touch me. I started to walk again. He got in front of me and sat again looking up at me pitifully. He knew he\u2019d done a bad thing.<\/p>\n
I picked up the leash, and he walked right by my side the rest of the way home. We were nearing the 15 minute window when we got home (15 Minutes is about the maximum length a dog will worry about being scolded), so instead of taking him up the front steps and into the house, he went in the backyard via the gate in the fence.<\/p>\n
When I got inside he was on the deck ears laid back and whining.<\/p>\n
Point made\u2026 At the end of his \u201cTimeout\u201d I let him back in and he\u2019s been very attentive since.<\/p>\n
Hell, I can\u2019t be mad at him for long. He gives me this face, and I melt.<\/p>\n
Back to the original point, there\u2019s now an old stereo receiver tossed on the embankment of the wash, Someone purposely left it there, it didn\u2019t fall off a truck from someone moving. There are plastic and paper cups and other items at most of the road crossings along the wash. Things like broken lighters, vapes, empty cigarette packs, condoms, and even the occasional needle.<\/p>\n
In the past during winter, we\u2019ve had people leave trash, diapers, food wrappers, food boxes, empty beer cans, that kind of thing, but we\u2019ve rarely had the quantity of trash I\u2019m seeing now.<\/p>\n
This is different. It\u2019s purposely being left in areas that a car can park, empty their detritus and drive on. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s from visitors to town, nor do I think it\u2019s trash blowing out of trash cans or trucks from the weekly trash pickup.<\/p>\n
Something has changed. I wonder if it\u2019s something in the makeup of the town itself. Even the walking path that\u2019s maintained by volunteers is being trashed. Jesse insists on pooping there, but I\u2019ve always cleaned up his mess, it\u2019s becoming more of a problem now. There are a lot of people who don\u2019t pick up after their dogs. That in turn makes him more likely to want to poop there.<\/p>\n
You know it\u2019s bad when one of the volunteers stops you on your walk just to say, \u201cThank You,\u201d after seeing me fussing at Jesse not to poop on a bush or plant because it makes the cleanup so much harder. This person also thanked me for not letting Jesse kick dirt over the walking path and they\u2019d seen me putting the rock boundary back as I walked the path.<\/p>\n
These are all \u201cnormal\u201d things from my perspective because I use the path and don\u2019t assume anyone is going to clean up after me.<\/p>\n
Even if Jesse & I are walking in the wilder areas I\u2019ll clean up after him, and carry the poop back to the house. (Unless he\u2019s done his thing off the various trails in the bushes.) I do this because there are people who run, walk, and ruck, through those areas. Avoiding deer and bear poop is hard enough without adding dog poop to the mix.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s more trash and debris around the buildings in town too. It\u2019s like the people who\u2019ve moved in over the years have reached a critical threshold where they\u2019re just completely uncaring about it. They seem to assume \u201cSomeone else will take care of it<\/em>\u201d. The critical threshold is that there are more of those that don\u2019t care if the town looks like a trash heap, than there are who\u2019ll clean it up.<\/p>\n There are trash cans conveniently placed throughout town, and even secured bins along the walking trail. There are even free poo bag dispensers conveniently placed equidistant between the secured bins so cleaning up along the walking trail shouldn\u2019t be that big an inconvenience.<\/p>\n The poo bag dispensers have saved me more than once with Jesse. I\u2019ve got bags on the leash but there have been times when I\u2019ve used the last bag and Mr. Sneaky decides to go one more time, than I have bags to clean up with.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just that people don\u2019t seem to care.<\/p>\n It makes me wonder if maybe I should sell before the town is so trashy people don\u2019t want to live here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lately on our morning walks I\u2019ve been noticing a lot more trash. This morning Jesse got to a chunk of pizza crust someone had most likely thrown from their car. This terrifies me simply because there are those assholes in the world that would poison stuff like that just for kicks. They\u2019re probably thinking of … <\/p>\n