When it comes to being a dog owner, you have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth!
There is nothing worse than stepping into a pile of dog poo. Not only does it smell awful, but you have to stop whatever you were doing, not walk anywhere for fear of smearing it around, and spend time cleaning it off the sole of your shoe.
I suppose it is even worse to fall over into a smelly pile when you are horsing around or playing sport. I remember one particular walk, where I had already picked up behind my dogs, and they were enjoying a game of tag in the woods with my (then) seven year old son.
Then he took a tumble, and next thing I knew his hands and shirt were covered with poo. Even worse, there was no possibility of washing it off properly until we got home. Gross!
It’s not just the smell that was unpleasant, but the risk of infection too. All dogs pass roundworm eggs in their poo, unless they get a worm dose such as one of my modern spot-on products for combined flea and worm protection every month. If these eggs had got into my son’s system they could have caused blindness – or worse – as they embedded into his body.
Some pets pass other germs too, including Salmonella, Campylobacter and Giardia. Even bugs that are not harmful to a dog can be very dangerous to an immunocompromised person, a person on certain medications such as transplant medications, and pregnant women.
So I do get really annoyed when I walk somewhere and see that another dog owner has been lazy about picking up. What a horrid thing to do! I would argue that any person getting a dog should automatically accept that picking up dog poo is part of the deal, twice a day (or more!), every day. After all, there is no Dog Poo Faery to come and do it for you!
With that in mind, the faery community and I are planning a little educational event this Sunday. The local Faeries and Elves have hidden some treasure in the gardens at Beechurst. I would like to invite all dog owning families with young children to join our Enchanted Dog Walk at 2pm on the 16th August, to search for the treasure and learn a bit more about why there is no Dog Poo Faery, and what that means to us as dog owners. For more information go to themewesvets.co.uk/news-events/events
