A little thing called walkin’ the dog

SHERWOOD KIRALY

A dog-waste removal company wittily called Entre-Manure, which works

our local parks, has reported that it picked up 30% less waste last

year than the year before, presumably because dog owners are picking

up 30% more.

Dog owners in general are fine people, and this evidence suggests

that they are getting finer. It’s nice to see an authoritative source

like Entre-Manure giving credit where it’s due.

In my own small way I’m contributing to this pickup in pickup,

although I confess that as a boy in the Midwest I didn’t pick up

after my cocker spaniel Tippy. I don’t believe I ever carried a bag

when I walked him, nor do I recall other people carrying bags. I

guess the world was covered in it back then.

Today, though, I assiduously police our Welsh springer spaniel

Booker, even though in doing so I sacrifice a certain amount of manly

style and panache. A man picking up after his dog is the opposite of

Zorro.

Yes, the Kiralys are responsible now ... I don’t leave home

without my baggie, and on the fire road, my wife Patti Jo takes

everything but a roll of Bounty to soak up the moisture. One day, she

only brought two bags and Booker had a three-bag morning; she had to

beg a bag from another walker and never forgot it. She has also noted

that no one seems to be picking up after the goats. This may or may

not be an Entre-Manure issue.

There are still a few dog-walkers who look at the sky and pretend

it isn’t happening, but by and large we’re conscientious today.

And of course if we do falter, we’re fortunate in that every

neighborhood has at least one lookout standing in his front doorway

like Yul Brynner in “The King and I,” watching for anyone who might

neglect his duty, so to speak.

A couple years back, Patti Jo was accosted by a gentleman who

accused our previous dog, Sashi, of -- well, let’s shorten it

slightly -- hit and run. Patti Jo denied it categorically, the man

didn’t believe her, and she came home mad.

I, on the other hand, am flattered by this kind of interest -- in

fact, the more belligerent these people are, the better I like it.

I’m always happy to show anyone who’s interested the inside of my

baggie.

I would suggest, though, that a thumbs-up or a “way to go” might

be in order to all us pickup artists for the improvement in our stats

this last season. We bagged 200 extra pounds, pardner. That’s a lot

of crunchies.