lowest of the low !!!

[Rick Denney]

I've never understood what the big deal is.

The big deal is me having to pick it out of my shoes after mowing the yard, or not noticing until after I've tracked it into the house.

I live in the country, and we have animal droppings everywhere. Wild animals are kinda particular about where they leave their droppings (except birds). They generally prefer the spots away from people. Pet dogs are happy to leave their poop right in the middle of the sidewalk, where I will step on it when walking from the car to the house (remember, it's the country--no lights).

But our neighbors finally put in an electronic fence, and we no longer have that problem.

Rick "who has foxes, deer, gophers, groundhogs, turkeys, cats, rabbits, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) but who has only had problems with dog do-do in the places where people walk" Denney

[Joe Baker]

I've never understood what the big deal is.

Pet dogs are happy to leave their poop right in the middle of the sidewalk, where I will step on it when walking from the car to the house (remember, it's the country--no lights).

I can agree that if it's left up near the house it'd be a problem. I'm thinking out by the street, where I never walk (except when I mow; but the mower typically dispatches any remaining dessicated bits, so there's nothing to step in.

Of course, I know I'm in the minority on this one, and if I were ever to take our little band of terrorists on a walk around the neighborhood, I'd carry along a baggie. But I still say it doesn't bother me in the least if someone else's dog leaves a pile on my yard.
____________________________
Joe Baker, who spent too much time in the country as a boy to get worked up over a little manure.

[MartyNeilan]

Of course, some of us don't need the constant affirmation that comes from having a dog and prefer to have an animal that can think for itself.

[Joe Baker]

Sorry Joe, but it's really about my rights ...

I'm not suggesting that a person doesn't have the RIGHT to forbid pooch-poop on their property. Of course they do. I'm just saying I don't understand why it's a big deal. I have a right to do many things that I choose not to do. I have the right to tell the neighbor's kid he can't push his bike through my yard to get to the (safer) street I live on; but it doesn't bother me, so I let him. My neighbors have the right to insist that the metal shed behind my house (in violation of deed restrictions) be removed; but it's unobtrusive, not rusted, and not bothering anyone, so they don't demand their rights. Likewise, I agree that it's my right to keep people from camping their crapping canines on my curb; but it doesn't bother me, so I don't enforce that right.

Go back and re-read what I've written. I've never suggested a person shouldn't have the right to forbid terriers tossing tootsie-rolls on their turf; nor have I suggested anyone should allow their schnauzer to shitzu under someone else's shade tree. I've merely said I don't understand why it's such a big deal to so many people.
_________________________
Joe Baker, who apparently has an unusually high boiling point.

[Joe Baker]

Of course, some of us don't need the constant affirmation that comes from having a dog and prefer to have an animal that can think for itself.

"...have an animal..."? Referring to a cat? People don't "have" cats; people are "had by" cats. Grudgingly. This I know, since I had cats for the first 26 years of my life. When I got my first dog, I understood that animals can actually provide companionship, not just their occasional presence. So give me a dog -- even Mr. Big Stuff -- any day!!

__________________________________
Joe Baker, who just took Mr. Big Stuff and his other three dogs to their annual vet appt. yesterday (Mr. BS is 11 years old, 3.4 lb, and the picture of health).

[Dan Schultz]

Sorry Joe, but it's really about my rights ...

I have a right to do many things that I choose not to do. I have the right to tell the neighbor's kid he can't push his bike through my yard to get to the (safer) street I live on; but it doesn't bother me, so I let him. _____________________
Joe Baker, who apparently has an unusually high boiling point.

It's nice that folks overlook some of the 'simple stuff' in favor of just getting along. However, you won't have a leg to stand on if one of these days someone declares that part of your property is 'imiment domain' (sp?) because you were nice enough to let the neighborhood kids use it for a bike path. I think it's just a good situation when everyone abides by the rules. Fences make good neighbors. My dog is inside my fence on my property. I would not take kindly to any creature (canine or otherwise) to take a crap in my yard. I have a neighbor who would just love to make a circle drive out of part of my property. Every once in a while I'll see tire tracks where they are not supposed to be and I soundly remind him that this is not something I will allow him to do. He understands, but nonetheless, keeps trying.

[Joe Baker]

If the neighbor kid wants to use my yard, he had better ask.

He did.

[TubaRay]

It's not so much that it's a big deal that I have **** in my yard, it's that people think they have the right to do it. I have an EXTREME issue with that. And, since I don't want dogshit in my yard, I shouldn't have to have dogshit in my yard.

If the neighbor kid wants to use my yard, he had better ask. He has to get permission, just like anyone else that wants to use my yard for something.

I completely agree. That is exactly the issue. It seems to me that the "founding fathers" understood the basic issues very well. They were well addressed in the Constitution. Our modern society seems to have a bit more difficulty with it. I believe you have it pegged.

[Rick Denney]

Get a FEMALE cat and have it spayed. ASSUME that it can be trained, and teach it the rules regarding indoor behavior and areas in the house in which it is allowed. SPEND TIME with it, and it will want to spend time with you...

Some of my worst typing occurs when reaching over the cat sitting in my lap. When I call, she comes running.

Now, if we could just figure out how to get her not to yowl when we sleep in the bedroom with the door closed (that's where the pet rabbit's cage is, and cats and rabbits have to be raised together to enjoy each other's company, and ours weren't), we might be able to sleep there instead of the upstairs guest bedroom.

I kinda like having a raggedy old tom roaming the house, too, though it's been 30 years since I've had one. I still have the scars.

Rick "whose cat acts like a dog--but not to an offensive degree" Denney

[Chuck(G)]

Get a FEMALE cat and have it spayed. ASSUME that it can be trained, and teach it the rules regarding indoor behavior and areas in the house in which it is allowed. SPEND TIME with it, and it will want to spend time with you...

Hey Joe, you want a spayed female cat, CHEEP?

I've been resigned to living with a psycho female calico (eyes are different colors), who weighs 16 lbs. and is schizoid. When she sleeps indoors, she sleeps in the dog crate; the dogs sleep out on the floor. They won't have anything to do with her, no matter how much she teases.

I don't dare let her roam the house for fear of what she'll do. She's already demonstrated her dislike for tubas in a very liquid way.

Close? When she was only 4 weeks old, she went everywhere with me--she rode in the pocket of a sweatshirt. She'll come up to you and purr and proceed to take a hunk out of you--while purring.

She's got the racoons scared--no kidding. The other neighbors get their cats picked off by coyotes--you think they'd do the same for me, but NOOOOO...

Stupid coyotes.

[Dylan King]

I have a dog and always clean up the poop after her. I see poop all over town that people leave, and it just isn't right. We all share this world and excrement isn't something anyone wants shared with them

Deu 23:12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

[tubatooter1940]

You guys complain about dog and cat poo showing up on your lawns. Around here we got sea gulls dropping loads the size of your fist and pelicans dropping bombs the size your head.
Most birds are not satisfied to let their load fall into open water. No no, they want to hear that satisfying splat it makes on my boat's new blue sail cover or better yet the boats owner. Shooting them out of the sky is not an option.
Two ladies were walking down the street and a bird shat on one of them. The target lady cried, "I wish I had some toilet paper." Her friend (a blond) replied, "Why, dear, that bird's a half a mile from here by now?"

[MartyNeilan]

and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.

[MaryAnn]

Yes, I had a calico with a mind of her own. It was her demise, in the end, but she lasted thirteen years.

But dark tortis are the other end of the spectrum...mine is on my lap now; can't get rid of her for long. She follows me all over the house and always has. We are currently having a "discussion" over the broken threads about cat-claw-height up some new chairs, but I will prevail. One way or another...I hear sticky tape is a good solution. Or cat mittens; can't get the claws any shorter.

On the cat that yowls outside the bedroom door....my calico and her kitten used to play "race car" over my bed at 4 a.m. Nothing I did stopped them....shutting the door created a new toy; did you know you can rattle a door seemingly forever by pulling and releasing with a paw? It's a really fun game to get Mommy to get up, open the door, and yell loudly enough to wake the neighbors.

But I did eventually outsmart them. Chased them a couple times with the hair dryer, to make an impression. Then...put it just outside the door with an extension cord to the plug by the bed. When the rattle-rattle started, I plugged it in. Only took twice...they weren't dumb, just stubborn. And fortunately didn't like hair dryers.

MA

[Tubaryan12]

If the neighbor kid wants to use my yard, he had better ask.

He did.

.....and in a related story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11934121/

[Dan Schultz]

Take a look at this... hot off the wire:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ ... TE=DEFAULT

[TubaRay]

.....and in a related story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11934121/

It is best not to mess with some people. I can understand that the kid/family probably kept pushing the guy's buttons. It is not acceptable to shoot the kid, although I certainly understand the urge. Surely he could have come up with a means to stop the offensive behavior.

[Chuck(G)]

.....and in a related story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11934121/

It is best not to mess with some people. I can understand that the kid/family probably kept pushing the guy's buttons. It is not acceptable to shoot the kid, although I certainly understand the urge. Surely he could have come up with a means to stop the offensive behavior.

It's called a "fence".