The Dog Cafe

[JudyN]

Isn't that always the way?

 

[Flobo]

Dog poo is a huge problem every where there's green space in my area, I've even noticed a rise in it on the verges and along residential streets!

A pair of dogs I walk have a rather large appetite for these abundant 'tasty' morsels and there is only so much distracting I can do to keep them from following their noses to find the gold. Even on lead they still manage to grab odd bits because as I'm steering them away from one lot they've already zoned in on another bit and swiped!
I end up with a fair few extra poo bags on a walk as I have to pick up everyone they want to eat, if I don't they will remember and return to it on our way back!

I know we have a lot of group dog walkers around here and I know absolutely they do not pick up every poo, because I see them not even looking. If you have 8 dogs or more, even 6 dogs, unless you work diligently, how can you watch where they all poo, even with the best intentions while you're picking up one it will be inevitable you will miss another... and then I wonder if because there is so much poo everywhere some people walking their own dog think 'why bother picking up my dog's poo?'

I don't know what the answer is(other than paid dog walkers should walk much smaller groups, but that is my personal opinion), I get people need dog walkers, but we have some beautiful walks around here that have just become so messy, it is incredibly sad as well as a health hazard...

 

[Tinytom]

On our morning walks in the beautiful woods ...I have been picking up full poo bags ...people pick up and leave it by the gate and dont take it , I took home 15 bags of poo ...3 Costa cups ...11 coffee cup tops and a pair of sunglasses....we are incredibly lucky to have woods 5 mins from us but it is the commercial dog walkers around here that are ruining it.....
When I passed past the woods one lunchtime there were 6 dog walking Van's parked up .....I wont walk there during the day as many of them walk too many offlead dogs whilst on their phone ......

 

[Flobo]

Yes, that's the problem here, in most spots there is at least 6 vans parked all with large groups and as one leaves another turns up. If you think at least 6 vans, each with around 8 dogs walking each spot probably twice a day, that's 96 poos(not counting the dogs that poo twice!)(I even see some using cars with loose dogs on back seat and boot!)

There is supposed to be legislation and licencing coming in for dog walkers, as it is recognised this problem is out of control, and it can't come soon enough I reckon! I heard they(defra) are thinking that 4 dogs per walk should be the max. But then as with the boarding licence, the good ones jump threw all the hoops to get licenced because they care and loads get away with not doing it...
We have only one dog warden in our whole area, who is responsible for pretty much everything, strays, licencing, inspections, court cases etc so enforcing these things is the problem sadly.

 

[Tinytom]

That's interesting @Flobo when I started dog walking many moons ago my insurance only allowed me to walk 4 dogs at once ...​

 

[Flobo]

@Tinytom my insurance covers me for a max of 6 dogs, which I think most insurances for dog walkers probably stipulate. So then we have to wonder how many are properly insured for the number of dogs they actually walk eh..
I used to see one woman with 14 dogs, never mind the concerns when they were walking but what about the transporting of them, I'm pretty sure she didn't pick them up in a small bus!
I think if you like to walk in a group then 4 should be the max.

 

[JudyN]

I'm back to picking up dog poos in the garden...

No, we haven't got a new dog, but long story short, the hedge between us and the new neighbours has gone, and they're not in a position to put up a fence yet because of all the building work they have planned. I've told the neighbours I'm quite happy with this, as the alternative would be them restricting the dogs to a small toileting area they've created, and I've said I'd rather the dogs had access to a decent sized bit of garden.

They're nervous dogs - at first, they would run round and bark at us, then run away nervously if we spoke to them, but since we went round for evening drinkies the male is a lot calmer. The female is improving, but apparently she's become very nervous since having a litter a couple of years back. I shall take it slowly...

Next door are mortified that I'm having to clear up the occasional poo but really, it's not that difficult, is it? I've had plenty of practice! I just have to get back into the habit of looking where I step...

We still miss Jasper terribly. It's over a year now, but I couldn't bring myself to mark the 'anniversary' or even mention it to Mr N - it would have set me off. As happened when I saw that the forget-me-nots I sowed in his digging spot (or rather the one he was allowed to dig in) had flowered. But on the other hand, we are really enjoying our freedom, even things like the freedom to jump up when the doorbell rings without worrying about setting him off, or being able to go for a wee within an hour of teatime without him assuming that I'm getting up because it's teatime and then whingeing for an hour. We can go wherever we want, whenever we want, and will be off on holiday to Scotland soon. And, of course, we have a 1-year-old granddaughter who is often here, and I know what it's like managing dogs round little people...

Maybe, one day... though we're thinking nice, calm, gentle mature greyhound

 

[Hemlock]

What a lovely attitude you have re. the dog poos. And your neighbours sound the right sort.

We never really get over the loss of our animals, if we have had such a good relationship with them. Kudos to you for fixing on the positives. Hugs and empathy for the rest.

 

[arealhuman]

I'm back to picking up dog poos in the garden...
We still miss Jasper terribly. It's over a year now, but I couldn't bring myself to mark the 'anniversary' or even mention it to Mr N - it would have set me off. As happened when I saw that the forget-me-nots I sowed in his digging spot (or rather the one he was allowed to dig in) had flowered. But on the other hand, we are really enjoying our freedom, even things like the freedom to jump up when the doorbell rings without worrying about setting him off, or being able to go for a wee within an hour of teatime without him assuming that I'm getting up because it's teatime and then whingeing for an hour. We can go wherever we want, whenever we want, and will be off on holiday to Scotland soon.

I'm with you on that. For me, I think our loss will be permanent. We went out in our camper earlier in the week for a long day away (10 hours driving!) and we missed Jimmy so much. He'd been with us previously to our destination and it was strnage, and sad, that he wasn't there. I get upset at the slightest of things, the anniversary will be tough.

What a lovely attitude you have re. the dog poos. And your neighbours sound the right sort.

We never really get over the loss of our animals, if we have had such a good relationship with them. Kudos to you for fixing on the positives. Hugs and empathy for the rest.

Totally agree with all of that!

 

[JudyN]

What a lovely attitude you have re. the dog poos. And your neighbours sound the right sort.

We're lucky - they're lovely. And so far, they've removed a hedge between the gardens that really annoyed me (because every year it grew 6" and Mr N cut it back 3"... and we've been here 29 years...), and weeded the bit by the front fence where my cooler bag for the milk delivery was disappearing below the campanula. Actually, they've removed the front fence too!

The poor man was mortified the other day. He had a couple of workmen round helping out the front. A delivery van pulled up, the driver said, 'Move your effing van' to one of the workmen, the younger one - just a lad - answered back, and things escalated. As I headed home from the shops with DIL and GD, we saw the delivery van hurtling down the road, closely followed by the young lad waving an axe they'd been using to remove hedge stumps, yelling 'I'll effing 'ave you!!', as Mr Next-Door looked on in shock.

We went inside, and within a few minutes we had a policewoman at the door, asking what we'd seen, wanting descriptions, and asking if we'd be prepared to give full statements and go to court if it came to it. We heard later that there were police motorbikes on the main road, and even a helicopter circling overhead Then later Mr Next-Door came round to apologise profusely - he'd moved here as it's a nice area with a very low crime rate!

I suspect the lad just got a caution and/or a right telling-off - whoever called the police had presumably seen him wielding the axe, and not known that he'd gone back to next door and had been separated from it.

But yeah - back to dogs. The Boston terriers seem to be very sweet dogs, but boy do their jaws and bug eyes look deformed to me

 

[JudyN]

I'm with you on that. For me, I think our loss will be permanent.

For some reason, the loss seems to be harder now than it was a few months ago. It's as if the feeling has moved from grief that he's not here at the present moment to the realisation that he won't be here again ever. And ever feels like a very long time. Not so much the loss, as the absence.

It would be lovely to think that there is an afterlife when we will be reunited, but I don't have that belief.

 

[Tinytom]

After having dogs my whole life the loss seems to get worst the older I get ..I think having lost our 5 dogs in such a short space of time was something I dont think either of us will get over ...Tom was my heart dog and I have never felt so bereft over a dog ...he was such a special dog even thinking about him makes my heart actually hurt ....I keep looking at jack Russell's...I know I cant ever replace him but I really miss a terrier in the house ...I know exactly how you are feeling Judy ...

 

[JudyN]

What is it they say - never walk with dogs and children?

This is my granddaughter L and her other gran's dog, P. Needless to say, L insisted on holding the lead. She then discovered a great new game - letting P get some distance away from her, then dropping the lead and watching the handle go bumping along the path until it caught up with P This didn't seem to bother P, but after a while we decided enough was enough and bunged L back in her buggy, which resulted in some loud protests!

Mostly I walked P while t'other gran pushed the buggy. Lord, I hate flexileads, I was all fingers and thumbs when I wanted him to be closer to me - I often ended up just holding the thin string. At least at nearly 13 he wasn't about to dart off in a direction I wasn't expecting and remove a finger...

 

[RGC]

What is it they say - never walk with dogs and children?

View attachment 111981098 View attachment 111981099

This is my granddaughter L and her other gran's dog, P. Needless to say, L insisted on holding the lead. She then discovered a great new game - letting P get some distance away from her, then dropping the lead and watching the handle go bumping along the path until it caught up with P This didn't seem to bother P, but after a while we decided enough was enough and bunged L back in her buggy, which resulted in some loud protests!

Mostly I walked P while t'other gran pushed the buggy. Lord, I hate flexileads, I was all fingers and thumbs when I wanted him to be closer to me - I often ended up just holding the thin string. At least at nearly 13 he wasn't about to dart off in a direction I wasn't expecting and remove a finger...

What lovely photos! You must be over the moon. Good on you. Absolutely wonderful.

 

[JudyN]

What lovely photos! You must be over the moon. Good on you. Absolutely wonderful.

Let's just say that her Nanny and I often talk about how she is cleverer, more advanced, prettier, livelier and cheekier than any other child of her age and how lucky we are. Which is 100% true, obviously

She is also diddier than other children of her age, so it looks like she might take after me (including all the attributes in the previous sentence).

Poor old P though, he had 9 teeth out a couple of weeks ago and seems more subdued than usual (though seemed quite happy on our walk). Hopefully it's just the after-effects of the anaesthetic and/or uncomfortable mouth, and he'll perk up again.

 

[JoanneF]

Isn't it typical though, you can never coordinate both looking at the camera at the same time!

 

[JudyN]

Isn't it typical though, you can never coordinate both looking at the camera at the same time!

True - P doesn't respond to his name because of his hearing, and L doesn't even respond to 'Whassis?'

 

[RGC]

True - P doesn't respond to his name because of his hearing, and L doesn't even respond to 'Whassis?'

At a certain age we’re all entitled to our agenda. Was trying to show off - in this instance is ‘agenda’ accusative? In which case it’d be ‘agendam’ or ‘agendas’ (pl). Gotta go - it’s visiting time.

 

[JudyN]

The plural of agenda is 'agendas', and I will die on that hill. Just because a word is derived from another language doesn't mean it should follow the same rules as in that language. So many English words derive from Latin for which we wouldn't dream of following Latin conventions - that would just get silly.

 

[Hemlock]

At least you don't have "agendae".