My dog ownership career has been relatively short. I’ve had Cocoa, Brownie, and Lucky under my “wings” for about 2 years now. Every day with them is like a journey. Never know what they’ll do or how they’ll react to certain situations. So far, it’s been a blast and I hope to be with them for a very long time.

One thing that always bugged me was how other dog owners would not pick up their dog poop, some by mistake and some blatantly intentional.

Sure sometimes I miss a poop here and there, especially when I’m walking my 3 dogs at night. It’s dark and these tiny dogs’ poop in darkness are close to invisible. So sometimes, I just leave them and next morning I would come and pick it up. But usually I pick it up.

I made it a habit of picking up not only my dogs’ poop, but other dog poop I see along the usual daily walk route. No matter how big or nasty, I pick them up. Why?

For one, neither I nor my dogs wish to step in other dog’s poop. Very simple. Sanitary reasons.

Second, it’s not because others might see me walk past by, then assume it’s MY dog’s poop. Not all. I pick them up because I feel like I have a responsibility to this collective of fellow dog owners. We all (well, mostly) love our dogs. Having a dog is a privilege and with that comes privilege comes responsibility. I choose to be accountable for my and my dogs’ actions, no matter how gross. Even more so, i feel this civic sense of duty in making the neighborbhood cleaner because, quite frankly, no one gives a damn. So I give a damn. I pick up other dog’s poop. It’s the little things I do that can make a world of difference. So I choose to do it.

As “inspirational” as that intent sounds, the acutal duty is actually quite disgusting. Especially the big dog poop after he/she’s had some bad food that gives them diarrhea. Yes, gross. If you think reading about it is gross, try picking it up in person and see how much worse it is. And imagine the gross ness times 12 … or even 20. Because that’s how many times I have to bend over to pick them up. Especially at dog parks.

I don’t know if people notice, but usually when my dog are at the dog park playing and having fun, I don’t watch over them 24×7. Instead, I like to go around and pick up dog poop that other owners’ have “conveniently” forgotten to remove. On weekends, I would get 10+ lbs of dog poop in one dog poop bag. Yes, lovely. I can probably start my own fertilizer business just by visiting the local dog parks.

So this has been going on for months.. never once have I been noticed for doing it. It doesn’t matter, because I wasn’t doing it for recognition. Instead of recognition, I would prefer that people pick up after their damn dog.

A couple of days ago…. a bright light shined on my face: a lady said “thank you for taking the initiative to pick up the dog poop.”

Wow. Thanks lady. I feel like my work hasn’t been in vain.

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I often catch myself telling friends and others at the park that dogs are dog. If they want to hump each other (not procreate, but just social pecking order type of hump), I let them. If they want to link random places or objects, I usually let them.

I’ve even written a post about how I REFUSE to neuter my dog based on one and only one principal: that it’s a form of “species”-centrism and a violation of the natural principals. God made them that way for a reason. How DARE we think that we know what’s best for God’s awesome DIVINE creation.

So when I see people doing things that seem rather, unnatural to the dog’s design, I find myself a bit disturbed.

*deeep breath * Here we go..

Doberman Pinscher, for example, is one of those dogs bred for looks. Sure, not for “pretty” looks… but a look of intimidation and fear:

But the “cost” of creating this Doberman look is rather cruel + unusual. People call it “ear cropping”. I call it “chopping the ear off”:

For example, this is how Doberman look as natural puppies:

Once the ear gets “clipped”, people “re-resurrect” the ears to a certain shape:

Does it look like this dog is enjoying this process? This isn’t aesthetics. This is borderline animal cruelty. And for what? Make them look scary? Do you want your dog to look scary to your family + friends?

OK, so this post is more about my personal vent than anything. If you sense negative energy, I apologize. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about dog abuse and it really ticks me off. Had to vent.

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