Dog potty problems in East County

I always have been somewhat of a dog guy, ever since our family dog, Prince, ruled our neighborhood.

Considering the area mostly was made up of dairy farms and quiet, crowned, country roads, it wasn't alarming to see a dog, all by his or her lonesome, wandering like a wolf along the road.

Prince had his own set route, going from our home about 1 mile along the road into the upstate New York hamlet of Howells, then turning back down the railroad tracks for a more direct route back to his food bowl. This was a daily trek about nine months out of the year, minus the nasty winter months. Prince was no fool.

Now for a little background. This was a society that was comfortable with animals, and all the noises and messes they made. I remember one local farmer teasing the local kids with the stories about his childhood, when he would play baseball barefoot in the pastures and hit that occasional cow pie. We all would giggle and say "ewww" as he would get descriptive about oozing between the toes.

Indeed, people had a tolerance and a sense of humor about animal droppings, even in the canine class.

So it was no surprise that Prince not only was a part of our lives, but our neighbors' lives as well. If we took him on a family trip, and they didn't see him on his daily walk, they would stop by the house to inquire if everything was all right.

I am sure Prince made the occasional mess on these people's lawns, and they loved him anyway.

Fast forward 50 years, and I am acutely aware that my current dogs, a pair of cute but somewhat annoying Shelties, are no longer part of a one-dog-per-acre community in Lakewood Ranch.

The prevailing wind vilifies any owner who lets his pooch poop in a neighbor's yard, whether or not the evidence is collected in a bag and removed. Although I believe the biggest part of this is bagging and removal, I get it.

Being someone who checks the Manatee County Sheriff's Office reports every week, I know this too-many-dogs and too-many-humans in an urban setting problem is building. Last week, I read one report in which a lady in East County was walking her dog, who decided to relieve himself on a neighbor's lawn. The homeowner, another lady, came bolting out to confront the dog owner, who was busy scooping up the bad news into a doggy bag.

The altercation actually became physical, so Sheriff's Office deputies had to respond. Although the dog walker issued a whack to the lawn owner's nose, no real damage was done. But it could have been worse. Deputies advised the dog owner to change her route so she didn't come near her combatant's home anymore.

It was not an isolated incident. If you sift through police reports, you can see other clashes between pet walkers and neighbors who want to keep their lawns pristine.

Being a dog walker myself, I am hyper sensitive to this issue. I try to plan our walk down the center of the street when we leave home, until we get to common areas where I let them roam. I try to make sure I have extra bags in case my Shelties have the rare extra output. I freak out when I see another dog walker not clean up because I don't want to be lumped into that class. I make sure my dogs aren't hitting the same spot or tree every day because I know that eventually is going to cause a burn.

Inevitably, when you walk 365 days a year, you are going to have a hiccup. One day I was walking the dogs home and they were, I thought, completely finished. I took them up on the sidewalk a few houses down from my own. My female Sheltie must have had an extra scoop of food, because she pulled up to a neighbor's yard from the sidewalk and let go.

At that instant, my neighbor came pulling up in the car, looking at me like I was the grim reaper creeping around his home in the middle of the night. I bent over and did my best cleaning job, knowing that my neighbor would always remember me, despite the other years of clean dog walking history, as the idiot neighbor who let's his dogs kill his grass.

My plea, therefore, is the common refrain, "Stay calm people."

We really can live in doggy neighborhood peace. For dog walkers, go out of your way to clean up after your dogs. Alter your walks so no neighbor feels picked on. Remember there is a Manatee County ordinance that says you must clean up after your dog. If you do encounter a truly nasty neighbor, just avoid that home.

For those enraged by dog droppings, have a little patience. Nicely let your neighbor know that it drives you nuts, so they can veer away from your lawn. Verbal tirades don't help anyone. Don't dig up your lawn with a backhoe and tell people the dogs did it.

Don't end up in the Sheriff's Office reports.  They aren't the doggy poo police.