Return                             Reasons to Pick Up

Most people don't give much thought to the task of poop cleanup. Once the dog has joined the family and the need becomes apparent, some people tend to avoid cleaning up. This can lead to problems.

Dog waste contaminates the ground and becomes a means of passing intestinal parasites and infections to dogs and people. Your own dog can be repeatedly reinfested by parasites in this way. Picking up the feces prevents a great deal of the contamination, especially if diarrhea is not involved. Cleanup can reduce veterinary expenses and might even save on human doctor bills.

Because of contamination as well as smell and mess, dog waste is highly offensive to many people in the community. It often becomes a reason to ban dogs from areas. Of course the dogs can't clean up after themselves, so this is a people problem rather than a dog problem. It's easy to enact "no dogs allowed" rules, and then the people who clean up suffer right along with the ones who don't.

If happiness for you is being able to have your dog live with you in an apartment or condominium, be conscientious about cleaning up. Dog waste damages landscaping, offends other tenants, and costs money to landlords and homeowners associations. In markets where there are plenty of tenants available to rent the property, landlords tend to eliminate dogs to get rid of these problems.  It pays to not only clean up after your own dog, but others, too, whenever the poop is especially conspicuous.

Neighborhood disputes over dog poop can escalate into real misery. In some localities it is illegal to allow your dog to relieve on someone else's property unless you have that person's permission. The very existence of such laws is an indication of how seriously people take the cleanup issue!

If you've ever tried to have a pleasant outdoor meal next door to a yard contaminated with foul-smelling dog feces, you have some idea of how quality of life can be affected by cleanup neglect. If you've found your lawn mower stinking up the tool shed because of dog feces on the mower blades after mowing your own yard where someone else's dog deposited poop, you surely weren't pleased.

Keeping the yard clean keeps the dog cleaner, since the dog won't be stepping or playing in the mess on relief trips outside. A clean yard also gives both people and dogs a lot more exercise space.

Be Proud

There's no place so isolated that you can be sure dog poop would not put some animal at risk of catching something from your dog, or some person or animal at risk of stepping in the mess. Picking up is just part of having a dog. If everyone would do it, there would be far fewer objections to dogs living and traveling in human communities.

Be proud to be seen picking up dog poop. It may seem silly at first, but people who see you do this will know any mess left behind is NOT from your dog.  Picking up shows pride in your community, in yourself, and in your dog. You set a great example for others, and you help create a brighter future for dogs and their people.