Neighborhood Annoyances: Part One

A few days ago, I blogged about the houses in our neighborhood. Continuing on with the neighborhood theme (and things I observe while I am out walking the dog) and questions of taste aside (and I must say there are some people around this neighborhood that seem to have very little of it), I'm going to write about several items that annoy, irritate, disgust and simply perplex me about some of the people in this neighborhood.

The first and foremost category the fits all of the above (annoy, irritate, disgust, perplex) are pet owners and in particular, dog owners. Ok, there are some cats that are allowed to roam around free which is, frankly, just plain stupid in a neighborhood full of construction trucks and heavy machinery; but, it isn't terribly annoying (although I really don't want to squish one while driving down the street).

So, dog owners. There are, of course, the owners that let their dogs crap all over the place and never pick up after them. Not only is this against the law (and against the HOA rules), it's just plain disgusting. I really wish I could catch one of these lazy slobs red-handed (or, rather, poop bag-less handed) because I'd let them have it (just ask the huckle berry that lived across the street from me on Saratoga Drive). Seriously, what I know I'd do is I'd catch up to them and hand them one of my (many) poop bags (I always carry a stash on me when I walk Lucy) and say, "Excuse me! EXCUSE me! It looks like you might be in need of one of these bags, you forgot yours, right?" and let them try to weasle out of THAT. I will never understand why people think it's ok to leave their dog's crap all over other people's lawns. You can rest assured that they don't let their dog crap on their OWN lawn.

In the neighborhood on the other side of ours is a house that has a sign in its lawn that reads, "Here lies the last dog that crapped in my yard". What is should say is, "Here lies that last dog OWNER that let their DOG crap in my yard"!

A funny (and tsk tsk tsk inspiring) story; I was walking Lucy a few days ago. Lucy's got "dog-dar" (like radar) for whenever there is another dog anywhere in the vicinity. So, her dog-dar perked up her ears and I saw a ways down the street a huge dude walking this little pip-squeak of a dog. He didn't see us; so, I watched while he let the dog crap in someone's yard. He started to walk away, and, for whatever reason, he turned his head and saw me and Lucy standing there watching him. And, get this. At that point, he walked back to the poop, pulled a poop bag out of his pocket, and picked it up. So, this goes to show if people KNOW they are being WATCHED, they WILL pick up after their dog. Maybe we need to form a neighborhood poop watch committee.

Another dog owner irritant; people that don't control their dogs, either while out on walks or at their own homes. There is one guy who has a dog that is wildly out of control. Whenever I see him and said dog, I try to stay away because the dog is also nasty towards Lucy. The guy, a smallish man, lets his dog literally drag him down the street. When the dog sees someone, it gets up on its hind legs and lunges towards the person. If it sees Lucy, it lunges and growls, which causes Lucy to get her 'tude on. The owner always says to me, "Sorry, sorry!" I want to say, "Dude, get control of your animal!" One day, he was across the street from us and observed Lucy sitting down at the corner. He said, "Wow, you taught her that?" Yeah, I did. Spend some time with your pet, why don't you? BTW, I'm pretty sure he's one of the ones that doesn't pick up after his dog but I haven't caught him yet.

And along the lines (of people that don't spend time with their dogs), there are several houses where I know there are dogs but I have no idea how many or what type because they are always locked up in the garage. I walk during several different times of the day, days of the week, etc., and some of these dogs are ALWAYS in the garage. Even when there are cars in the driveway indicating someone is home. Now, come on; why in the heck have a dog (or dogs) and just leave them locked up in your garage? These are people that should not own dogs. Get a cat, they are less maintenance.

My last two dog complaints and then I'll get off the dog-rant are folks that let their dog outside to do its business while they watch from INSIDE (there is one in particular, a small little yippy dog, that lives in the corner house on a very busy street). The dog runs around the front yard, then, if it sees someone, it starts to follow them. Yesterday Lucy and I came across Yippy out on the sidewalk. I stood there for a bit trying to figure out if I should go to the front door with the dog because it kept trying to follow us. Finally, I heard someone inside the house pounding on the window and the dog raced off to the back door. BTW, my guess is that the owner of this dog is grossly overweight and could likely use getting off their fat ass and walking their dog.

The final complaint are people that tie their dogs up outside. Across the street from Yippy is another small dog that, on nice days, is tied to a stake in the back yard. Whenever this dog sees us, it goes ballastic and runs around and around until it is wrapped around one of the porch pillars. One of these days, that dog is going to strangle itself. A few houses up is a beagle that is ALWAYS tied up outside in front of the house. I just don't get it. I feel so sorry for it as it lays there, mournfully watching me and Lucy walk by. I always say, "Hi, sweetie!" but what good does that do? Poor dog.

Well, this has gone on long enough for today. I'll post some of my other neighborhood observations later!

Mrs. B