Must Love Dogs
As I reflect on being a youngster growing up on the North Shore, in Sunset Beach, Hawaii, our family always had one or two dogs at least one of them would have a Hawaiian name, like Kimo. But dogs back then had a lower status in the family hierarchy. Basically, their lifetime assignment was to remain wherever they happened to be tied up in the yard and do security work. See somebody coming, bark your head off and that was basically it. They were fed whatever cheap dog food happened to be on sale, often mixed in with whatever leftovers that was available. That combination usually was pretty tasty as far as I could tell from the way they gobbled it down. Oh sure, we played with them when we could but I wouldn’t have considered them a part of the family. They were pets, watch dogs and not much more. They were not taken for a walk nor did they make regular visits to the vet. Dogs came and went. Poi dogs is basically what we had. They were free puppies from someone who had a female that was “in heat” much to the delight of the male dogs in the neighborhood caught wind of it and came to call. Dogs do not discriminate and I’ll just leave it at that.
There are legitimate reasons why dogs have been referred to as being “man’s best friend”. They tend to be loyal, loving and don’t expect much more than to have their basics needs fulfilled, those that include food, shelter and attention. Unconditional love some will say from an animal that seems to have adopted you as their parent. Having one dog is great. Have three dogs like we do and theoretically you get three times as much love back. However……with that comes three times as much dog poop in the back yard. I’m not sure if I would consider it a plus or a minus that two of them seemed to have developed a fondness for occasionally snacking (after the fact)on some of what they rediscover drying in the afternoon sun. (Don’t even think of licking my face!) One dog does a pretty good job of leaving several piles of poop in random spots in the yard. Add two more dogs and now if you’re not picking those piles up on a regular basis, you end up with a veritable “minefield” of dog dirt. (Have you noticed that without even looking, a dog will never step on his own or another dog’s poop? It’s almost as if they have a built in radar and can romp throughout the yard and never step on anything like that. And if you think about it, they’re risk is actually doubled by having four feet on the ground). Ever had a dog that enjoyed rolling around in poop? Fortunately, none of ours do. Whew!
So how am I to minimize the risk of taking the wrong step. First of all, never walk around the yard in the dark. Secondly, regular poop patrol with scoop and mini rake. It seems that even when I’m certain I picked up every pile, I’ll find a few more. It’s essential that you not miss a single one because my philosophy is that if you smell it before you scoop it, it’s too late. You’ve already stepped on it and it’s now on the bottom of your shoe ( and often both shoes). So do you suppose, and this is just theoretically speaking, that if I fed them half as much food, that there will half as much to pick up? Didn’t think so.