There are strict rules when it comes to a dog pooing in public - the owner must pick it up and dispose of it, or face a $300 fine. But it's more than that, picking up your dog's dump - sorry to be so crass, but it bugs me - is a social responsibility.
Not that you'd know it, judging by the state of the lawn outside our house. Every time we walk out the front gate to get into the car I have to say to the girls: "Watch out for the dog poo."
We don't have off street parking, so we have no choice but to walk across a grass verge to get to the car each morning, and brave the dog poo minefield. There are little ones, big ones, and downright obscene ones.
And I am a poo magnet. Always have been. Put it in front of me and I will walk in it. Just ask my wife. Back when we had just started going steady I turned up at her door step oblivious to the fact that I had trodden in some poop on my walk to her house and it had gradually squelched, rubbed and worked its way up the inside of my leg.
Kids are poo magnets too. They don't look where they're going, they just go - and though my little Mia hasn't trampled poo into the house, there have been some close calls. Also, kids are fascinated by these foreign dog logs and stop to study them intently.
It seemed, not that long ago, that carrying a plastic bag with you as you walked your dog was a proud and honourable thing to do - even though there was bound to be a slightly shameful moment when you had to pick up a steaming hot turd.
