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Citizen complaint of the day: Toddlers shouldn't have to play in dog urine
By adamg on Mon, 11/10/2014 - 8:15am
A concerned citizen complains about a thoughtless dog owner in the park at W. 3 and B streets in South Boston:
Woman in park with dog off leash. This is a No Dog park. A neighbor went out to tell her and she was yelling at him and being very rude. Please have park patrolled and ticket people like her- tons of babies play there and I'm sure the Southie mother's group won't be happy to hear their kids are playing in dog pee.
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Comments
YES
This is the type of person that I am writing about in my latest blog entitled.
People I Hate. It will be infinity pages long.
http://cappyinboston.blogspot.com/
I agree...
....many parks, especially the smaller more urban ones, are seriously degraded by large quantities of dog urine (as well as feces). Ask yourself, are these parks for people or were they built to be doggie toilets?
Pissed
off?
Why, no one and I mean no one
gets to tell a middle manager at Fidelity who only lives in Southie so she can Cross-Fit to work what she can do with her designer canine mix that cost her eighteen hundred dollars but she felt it was worth it because her boss at Fidelity has the same dog and that kind of bonding over their mutual love of that breed will surely get her that promotion and then she can finally move to Cohasset where she won't have to listen to the complaints from the local plebes anymore about the dog she gave away to a shelter once that promotion came in.
LOL!
Hahahaha. That was great.
That is funny
I love dogs... i HATE dog owners.
Of course I don't let my GFs poodle piss and crap in anything but a dog park.
- The Original SoBo Yuppie
In the meantime said dog
In the meantime said dog stays locked up in a 900sq foot condo for 3/4 of the day waiting for doggy au pair to stop by and take fluffy out for its 20 min piss break.
Sadly, you're right. I had a
Sadly, you're right. I had a run-in with a dog walker on my street just last week in Southie. It was trash collection day, and as I was walking home from the bus stop, I observed a woman throw her plastic bag of dog shit into my recycling bin that had been left on the sidewalk while I was at work. I stopped her and told her to take it home with her. She looked at me and stated, "but, it's trash." (??). Really, it's not my trash! Also, not recyclable. Why do people do this? I see plastic bags of shit everywhere! If you want a dog, please remember, They SH#T!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5fTyrz63Qw
Obviously not recyclable but...
I only WISH the morons who literally let their dogs poop on our front walk and then leave it there once or twice a week would have the decency to pick it up and put it in our trash barrel which is visible about three feet away. I'm like--who does this? They let their dogs poop right at the foot of people's steps--is it vindictive? Just hopelessly inconsiderate?
Sure it's not yours?
That might be something you forgot elsewhere.
In all fairness, they city
In all fairness, the city could use a few more public trash cans. For dogshit, but also wrappers, plastic bottles, etc...
Trash in trash out - take
Trash in trash out - take responsibility for your own garbage and dog shit and there would be no problem. Wonder if the people who leave their dog shit and dog shit bags on my lawn would think if i took my kids shitty diaper and left it on their lawn. Even if it was bagged.
It is the same thing!
Fortunately most of the dog owners/walkers pick up after their pets.
This very accurate financal
This very accurate instance of financal firmification work-life seeping into other white collar biz is why I don't work in public accounting anymore.
Nail, meet Head
I've worked in the financial district and these women are all over the place. They're the same ones who get back to work four weeks after having a baby and don't understand when some slacker wants to take eight or a career destroying twelve weeks off after having her baby. Can't she and her lawyer husband just get a nanny?
FWIW: Most of the try-hards I've known make a pit stop in in Hingham before the hit the big time and move to Cohasset.
Better some dog piss
than the empty beer bottles and cigarette butts left out by the teenagers of the full grown deadbeat townies.
don't forget about the
don't forget about the needles with blood in them and empty lights and tin foil with heroin residue. Much better than dog urine
How about..
..we have neither!!!!
Dog owners in SoBo are out of control. They may be the most inconsiderate demographic of SoBo.
SoBo?
You're not much better than your typical dog owner!
More inconsiderate than the old Irish-Catholic clingers?
I don't believe it. I thought that the most inconsiderate demographic to you yuppies is the entrenched group of Irish-Catholics who won't just take the money for their triple decker and move to Quincy.
Depends..
..there are trashy townies and then there are nice, respectful life long residents.
I think the whole yuppie vs native fight is so 2004 and is pretty much over with.
However there is a new battle brewing. You have obnoxious yuppies that think because they live in the city they can make noise at all hours, trash the neighborhood, let their dogs piss and shit everywhere...etc You have townies that are always angry at everyone and everything, they leave their cigarette butts all over the sidewalks, they are into drugs, break into cars...etc
I'll call this group the Frat Boy/Trashy Townie Group .
Then there are the rest of us. The residents that are community focused and are concerned about quality of life. This includes higher end yuppies and life long residents.
I'll call this group the Community Group.
Although this battle probably won't be as entertaining as the original one.
- The Original SoBo Yuppie
Oh how hard you irish
Oh how hard you irish catholics in Boston have had in, in 100 years there was 1 mayor who wasn't irish catholic!
Your comment is apropos of nothing
Besides, I'm mostly Polish and originally from Dorchester. I have no skin in the Irish-Catholic Southie game other than being a Boston native who derives great amusement from SoBo yuppies who dream of Cohasset.
I derive great amusement from
I derive great amusement from parvenus who create ridiculous wannabee-New-York constructions such as "SoBo".
but...
SoBo sounds so much nicer than Southie!
Shit, for the prices triple
Shit, for the prices triple deckers are going for these days you can make it to Marshfield easy.
Honey,
Honey,
What should really worry you is the human piss that's there.
You can tell this chick didn't grow up in the 70's...lol.
Dog owner who totally agrees with complaint
this is just wrong. I once witnessed #12 himself let his beloved dog, Lua, off leash inside the gated playground on the Charles (signs stated clearly no dogs) and the dog peed on the slide.
In East Boston, we are getting an official off-leash, gated dog park, MassPaws by Massport. It will have water foundtains, an agility course and lots of space for the dogs to run. It should be finsihed mid-spring. We'll welcome our Southie neighbors and even #12.
there is a sign
dogs are allowed there just not off leash.
Reading problems?
The sign says:
NO DOGS ALLOWED
Maybe you need some new glasses.
Or is that just the translation from regular English to Dog Owner English?
Or is that just the
Exactly. That's precisely what that sign says: "No dogs allowed, unless they're on a leash, or unless they're really well-behaved and never attack anyone."
What's the big deal, I
What's the big deal, I thought urine was sterile? Patches O'houlihan misinformed me.
"I ain't crazy and I ain't a
"I ain't crazy and I ain't a guy"
Toddler height = Dog height = bites
Reformed dog rescuer here w/ a couple of observations:
Agree that dogs shouldn't mix w/ toddlers because toddlers don't have innate respect for dog space/pack mentality. They also are of an ideal height for dogs to mistake them as insubordinate pack animals and therefore, bite targets.
There is a program called Canine Good Citizen that is an optimal obedience/citizenship experience for urban dog owners. It's done in a group setting, uses only positive reinforcement and stresses owner partnership (you can;'t send the dog walker to do it with the dog). Everyone learns the "rules of the road" or sidewalk, as it were. Completion of the program involves a test of all of the behaviors and half of the score is owner derived. Dogs earn a recognized title of CGC - Canine Good Citizen, and this can be presented in court should a behavior problem be a later concern.
I ran as many rescue dogs as possible through CGC courses, and we all loved it. Dogs learn that corrections are not punishment, owner/dog communication is greatly enhanced, and everyone has fun. In my old neck of the woods, 4-H instructors were the norm, but the AKC has a CGC web page, and I think you can find instructors/classes there.
When I had my 2 last fosters in Boston, we were halted at a light (the 2 dogs sitting politely by my side). A BPD cruiser pulled up, and the officer motioned me to go against the light. I told her we were working - at urban obedience. She was delighted and amazed.
It should not be amazing that dogs are being worked on city streets in basic obedience, amirite?
(returning to my crate/den now)
Really?
Now were "victim blaming"?\
Agree that dogs shouldn't mix w/ toddlers because toddlers don't have innate respect for dog space/pack mentality.
It's not victim blaming
I used to have a toddler. They don't understand stuff like animals' personal space, roadways, traintracks, dangerous objects, etc., so you keep them away from this stuff except for when you're gradually introducing it with tons of supervision and prompting.
A responsible dog owner is more than happy to either work with a parent ("hi, beautiful dog, we're working on approaching animals safely, can we say hi?" "great, this is Fluffy, he likes to smell your hand first, you can pet his neck") or politely tell parent and child that the dog isn't good with strangers and to please back off.
Yes, I know kids move fast and accidents happen, but if there's some asshole who isn't controlling their dog, do you stick around and teach you kid a "lesson" that the park is for kids, not dogs, and let them learn this by a trip to the hospital and scars? Or do you teach them that sometimes when something unsafe and against the rules is happening, the best thing to do is to just leave and be safe instead of staying there because you have the right to?
Or
Just call 911.
Given the type of immoral creep it takes to bring a dog into a playground, do it with mace in your other hand.
Eeka's rationale is victim-blaming, pure and simple. Telling parents their toddlers don't have a right to have playgrounds be free of dogs is the same as telling women they don't have a right to walk around safely at night.
Yeah, I'm sure the cops will
Yeah, I'm sure the cops will be there in seconds, with lights blazing. "An off-leash dog! Good thing you called us, ma'am! We'll be right there, and don't be afraid!"
Glad to hear that you apparently have no children. There may be hope for humanity yet.
Eeka didn't say anything about playgrounds
only made an educated, common-sense observation about toddlers and dogs. I've had both toddlers and dogs and I agree 100%. I have a medium/small dog who's a magnet for toddlers and young kids so we have a lot of teaching moments on the street about asking owners if you can say hi, being gentle and quiet; I make my dog sit down politely. Still, I had one adorable, enthusiastic little girl once lunge back at him for a "hug" that I didn't see coming--she scared him so badly that I was thankful that he didn't snap at her. No blame--kids are kids and dogs are dogs, but you have to manage them carefully together.
Managing both carefully together
Is a wonderful idea, and should be done in every place where it is legal to have both together.
A playground is not such a place. It is illegal to bring a dog into the playground, such as the one this thread is about. Your opinion of the dog or its social and educational mission or its feelings is not relevant. There is a sign on the fence saying NO DOGS ALLOWED because no dogs are allowed. Managing together is a matter of kids on the inside of the fence, dogs on the outside. Done.
I know that's difficult to understand for some. Some think it's their social or educational mission to bring their dogs into spaces where NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED, or that because they're so unique and special laws don't apply to them. A playground should be a safe place for children to play, running, squealing, throwing things, and all those behaviors that dogs don't like or understand. Children can engage in these behaviors safely in a playground in part because NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED.
If you or eeka want to talk about bringing your dog into restaurants or into forests or streets or somewhere else besides a playground, perhaps you should talk about that instead. In this case, in this thread, you are justifying bringing your dogs into playgrounds where they are illegal, and that is wrong.
Given that the park in question is a playground where DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED, Eeka's question "do you stick around and teach you kid a "lesson" that the park is for kids, not dogs, and let them learn this by a trip to the hospital and scars?" is justifying breaking the law, injuring children, and blaming it on them. It is despicable.
Agreed, not blaming.
...but maybe the "toddlers" thing threw you. The fact is, most people don't have respect for dogs' space. Would you allow strangers to just come up to you and touch you whenever they felt like it? Even if they weren't hurting you? Even if they were saying nice things when they did it? Wouldn't it feel kind of creepy to you, and if it happened when you were tired or stressed, is there a chance you might not react very well?
My rules of dog space are:
F_____ Your Dogs Space
Keep your mutt on a leash, because if he come to close to me and invades my space. I may very well dropkick Fido back to your hometown of EastBumFuckVille, USA.
I love dogs and I love
I love dogs and I love children. I've both but actually have been very fortunate to be able to have a dog with me most of my life (longer than children). I'm the first one not to trust my dog around children. I know my dogs limits especially with strange people around - that's all dogs, not just my current.
No one can assume to know how a dog will react, especially around someone at eye level, so why chance it.
But, I can't tell you how many times my current dog (always leashed) has been charged by a toddler. I love my dog but my dog will happily bite the little fingers that continues to poke it. I tell parents right away to keep their child away from my dog. If it means making my dog out to be a monster, so be it. I"m not chancing any child getting hurt. Some of my past dogs have been more tolerant, but I still don't trust them. What I am surprised at, is the parents that think its no big thing for their 3 year old to charge a strange dog. Of course if something happens, it's automatically the dogs fault, that's why I'd just assume all unfamiliar children just keep a distance until they can approach the dog in a proper way - with me tightly holding the leash and collar and the childs parent/guardian near by.
With animals and children - I love them both and would prefer to keep it safe.
No you wont
Internet tough guy, you wouldn't do anything like it in real life.
I have the greatest respect for a dog's space...
however, and most unfortunately, dogs in parks have invaded my space more than I have invaded their space by inconsiderate dog "the rules don't apply to me" owners who let their dogs roam off leash in parks where they should be on leash. Worse, they will not or can't curb their dog (Fido will not return to them when called).
Canine Good Citizen
I agree 100% -- can we arrange for a Human Good Citizen training class? I've seen a LOT of people who really need one.
The CGC course is scored on the human's
performance, too. So in effect it is a human good citizen course. =^}
Want to clarify above relative to my phrase of innate respect. It was a poor choice of words, but it was intended to mean that toddlers don't have a natural sense of needing to keep distance for safety. I am absolutely NOT BLAMING children here.
However, that comes with a caveat that the adults who are responsible for the children and for the dog(s) are all responsible for maintaining safety.
Dogs are to be under voice or restraint control at all times. Period. CGC titled dogs all have been tested on long (3 minute) off lead down stays at a distance of 25 feet or more from the handler. If they even begin to move, they fail. It only takes one time darting into traffic or leaping on someone with food to have a tragedy, so responsible owners only off lead in allowed, fenced and supervised areas.
Good on you
Now can we make this course required for a dog license in Boston?
Interesting idea
Maybe give a license discount to CGC dogs?
Toddlers....
And their lack of respect...... Total jerks
Have you... heard of the CGC?
So... my dog just earned his CGCA, and we're waiting on TDI testing...
Which... you know... yay us. Glad you're teaching that.
But just to be clear... both the CGC program, and CGC testing has nothing to do with positive-only dog training. I only point this out, because, while... if you practice positive only... that's great... But again... the two are concepts that are in no way associated with one another.
Translation
Woman in pahk with dog off leash. This is a No Dog pahk. A neighbah went out to tell huh and she was yellin' at him and being very rude. Please have pahk patrolled and ticket people like huh - tons of babies play they-ah and I'm sur-ah the Southie muthahs group won't be happy to he-ah they-ah kids are playin' in dog pee.
Based on my experience
with Boston mother's groups, I am guessing that not a single one of the women in the Southie Mother's Group has that accent.
They do, however, have a Bugaboo stroller and a Chanel purse.
When I was a kid, we played
When I was a kid, we played in nothing but dog urine. It built character. Kids these days are babied a bit too much.
Good for ya!
Builds their little microbiomes!
I know, right?
These stupid yuppies, talkin about "hygiene" and "disease". Back in the day, we used ta play in dog piss for eight houahs a day befoh runnin down the packie to get a cahtan a Pahlaments fa Sully's old man. Why don't these stupid whiny yuppies just talk to theah neighbas?
Yeah...
The Yuppy was the one with the dog. Not the one complaining about the piss.
I can't tell them apart
I can't tell them apart without a scorecard. Adam, please start indicating in all Southie articles which party is the snooty yuppie and which party is the inbred townie. TIA.
it was most likely a yuppie
it was most likely a yuppie complaining about the dog also!
See my post above.
- The Original SoBo Yuppie
Don't kinkshame
Peeparties are all the rage these days with some people.
Hey Now!
Hey Hey Now!
Whatever floats your boat.....or gets your boat all wet .....
Dog urine?
You were LUCKY to play in dog urine. All we had to play in was radioactive sewer runoff and a ball pit filled with shards of glass. And we LIKED it. "You kids can play in the glass pit with the sewage," our moms would say, "Or we can go swim in the Charles." Kids these days. No respect.
And we never lost ONE kid
Not one kid died, not one broken arm, leg, or broken anything. Maybe a little gash here and there. But that's OK.
Then the City put in - the MONKEY BARS. - Bill Cosby
Polio water!
Polio water!
DOGS
Nothing nicer than to stand in the street talking your neighbor who is holding a a plastic bag with a pound of digested dog from her 100 pound LABRADOODLE and wondering where she's GOING TO PUT IT.