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Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What

2/23/2016

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The Icy Parking Lot on the Day Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I Learned I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What: minature dahchsund Wilhelm, Cardigan Welsh corgi Brychwyn, rough collie Huxley are traveling dogs at Snoqualime Pass, Washington, Cascadia.Not A Reenactment of The Icy Parking Lot
Typist: Bethany
The day that cleaning up my dogs poop almost killed me was one of those pet friendly adventure days of the highest highs and the lowest lows. Literally. I was high in the mountains of Cascadia and took a dozen or so rides on a ski lift. Then I was laid out in the parking lot on top of where I had just picked up after my dog. The parking lot that day was a thick sheet of ice dotted like Swiss cheese with potholes of slushy, smelly mud puddles. When we arrived at the ski resort, I quickly but carefully shuffled the dogs across the dangerous frozen muck so they could play in some of the lovely, freshly fallen snow the mountain had to offer. Cascade mountain peaks jutted into the sapphire blue sky 360 degrees around the dogs and I. The white, glittery trees weighted with snow sparkled like friendly ghosts in the late morning sunshine and the dogs blazed furry trails through snow drifts often higher than them. Well, especially higher than dachshund Wilhelm. Once all three dogs seemed content, we braved our way back across the dirty ice rink parking lot with a quick stop at the dumpster so I could dispose of the journey's full, blue plastic bags of dog poop. I settled the dogs safely in for a few hours of car rest while I did some downhill skiing.

It was a glorious day for skiing! I was so happy on the slopes but eventually it was time for lunch and to give the dogs another chance to also enjoy the mid-winter snow. I dined with the dogs and had my fill of ski replacing calories before leashing them up to again brave the harder than concrete, more slippery than an oil slick parking lot. We warily made it safe and sound to the glistening, deeply drifted fresh snow trails where Wilhelm, Brychwyn, and Huxley could safely sniff, romp, and wrestle. Once all three dogs had long tongues dangling joyfully from their heavy fog producing mouths in the cold mountain air, and my hardy lunch felt like it had done enough digesting for me to comfortably get more fantastically smooth ski runs in, the dogs and I turned back towards the dangerous drudgery that was the parking lot. The dumpster and the car were within view as we carefully crossed the slippery void when little dachshund Wilhelm began his "I have to poop" sniffing circles at the end of his leash. As Wilhelm squatted, I removed the glove from my right hand, tucked it firmly under my left arm, and ripped a poop bag from my roll.

Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What: A reenactment of poop bag break.
A reenactment of poop bag break.
Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What: A reenactment of the last thing I saw...
A reenactment of the last thing I saw...
My next, obvious move began the chain of events that lead to my near death dog poop scooping experience. It began with my hand going right through the bottom of the poop bag. Now, I had other poop bags with me, but really? This never happens! And my hand was already cold. I looked at the tiny pile of miniature dachshund poop and decided to fold the dog poop delicately into the torn bag and place it carefully, contamination free, into my left glove. I glanced towards the near-by dumpster. It was less than one hundred yards away. I could make it! I was wrong. The last thing I remember seeing was that precariously not-contained-in-a-tightly-tied-bag in my gloved hand. My next step was a doozy.
Harlequin blue merle Huxley laying in the icy parking lot on the day Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I learned that I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What.
A dog in the snow; what could be better?
I thudded down onto the ice on my left side, clutching that unsecured dog poop tightly in my left glove. At first, I thought the horrible crunching sound I heard when I slammed onto the freeze was my arm breaking. I believed I had landed on my elbow. Before the dogs could begin leaping on me as if we were beginning an icy parking lot playtime, I don't know how, but I scrambled to my feet, my left arm, right glove, elbow and poop gripping hand tucked tightly at my side. Ouch. It was hard to breath. I mumbled to myself "I am going to be okay." One of the things I love about taking the dogs everywhere is I can talk to myself and people within ear shot think I am talking to the dogs. I muttered "I am going to be okay" again, this time stepping ever so much more slowly and carefully towards the dumpster.
I was not going to let an iced over parking lot and the sound of broken bones echoing through my head stop me from properly disposing of this poop! What seemed like twenty hours and four hundred miles of walking later, but was in actuality was only a few minutes and a dozen steps, I confronted the dumpster. Still afraid to move what I thought was my broken left arm, I gently pried the formed blue plastic crumpled poop bag from my left glove with my still bare right hand. I vaguely remember asking the dogs not to get to near the stinky dumpster as I cracked it open and disposed of Wilhelm's poop. Turning my gaze on my next goal, the car, is an injured shock blur but I do remember exclaiming, "See! I'm okay!" to the dogs, of course. After all, the poop had been scooped and properly disposed of. What is more okay than that? Walking back to the car as if across shards of glass with bare feet, I wiggled my left hand, moved my left arm slowly and discovered that it was fine. Upon getting the dogs back into the car and sitting gently with them under the open back hatch, I braved moving my arm enough to decide that my shoulder may be injured but it was not broken either. Struggling to breath while examining my left arm movement, I remembered that same feeling from another fall I had a few years ago. A fall that, among other things, caused a few cracked ribs. Ah-ha! Honestly relieved that my arm, wrist, and shoulder seemed fine, but beginning to worry about the life threatening complexities of broken ribs, I remembered, at least I had scooped that poop. It was too bad that the days skiing was obviously done. The highest of highs was behind me except for a decent back to Seattle's sea level. But the lowest lows of the day had been worth it. These mountains are too beautiful to have left dog poop laying around!
Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, Cascadia on The Day That Picking Up Dog Poop Almost Killed Me, But I Learned That I Will Continue To Scoop That Poop, No Matter What
Not a reenactment of the end of the beautiful mountain day that picking up dog poop almost killed me.
My broken and separated, front and back, ribs from my fall that day are healing slowly, but I am impatient about these kinds of things. Thank you to my family, friends, readers, and followers who have wished me well and helped me care for five pets while recovering. I am truly thankful to "the poop grip," as it has come to be known, for preventing me from breaking my wrist, arm, or shoulder! I have discovered yet another reason that constantly cleaning up after my dogs, no matter what, without fail, is always the right thing to do.
Have you ever risked your life to do the right thing, cleaning up dog poop or otherwise?
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Homemade Poop Bag Dispenser Successes: Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop

10/20/2014

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 Make a Community Poop Bag Share Station, Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop
Click on the photo to view the post with instructions on how to make your own community poop bag share station.
 DIY Neighborhood Poop Bag Share Station Made Better By BuildASign.com | #ScoopThatPoop
Just a few days after I revamped my neighborhood poop bag dispenser, it was completely full of shared bags.
Typist: Bethany
In July, I revamped the homemade poop bag dispenser I had put up on our Seattle street last year. I also put two new community poop bag share stations nearby, one at the park and one on a neighbors fence post (per the neighbors request.) Just like the do-it-yourself poop bag holder I put up last fall, the two new dispensers took a little while to catch on. I am pleased to share that both
re-purposed materials poop bag holders have been pleasantly filled for a while now and Jason and I have definitely noticed less poop on the ground nearby.

These overwhelmingly positive results have not been without risk. The original utility pole poop bag dispenser that I put up is technically against City of Seattle code. I kept a close eye on it to make sure that it hasn't been an eye sore, made or turned into litter, which I believe is the main intent of this law. Also, for the safety of utility workers, I cleared old staples and nails from the pole when I put the poop bags dispenser up and when I re-did the station. Obviously, if it was removed or I was asked to take it down, I would. I couldn't find any city park regulations about putting the poop bag share station up in the park, I was fully expecting city park workers to remove it. However, that station was also one I was most hoping would catch on. The third homemade dispenser that is on private property was the least risky I installed but I feared it would not be used. In a passing conversation with the neighbor, I found out a poop bag holder attached to her fence post might help in keeping the public space behind her property cleaner. It's worked!
Homemade Poop Bag Dispenser Successes: Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop
Completely filled fence post poop bag holder. There is noticeably less poop in the surrounding area since this station was installed.
Homemade Poop Bag Dispenser Successes: Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop
Community poop bag share station at a city if Seattle park...
Homemade Poop Bag Dispenser Successes: Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop
..generously filled with many rolls of bags to help all responsible dog owners scoop that poop.
Bring poop bag share stations to your neighborhood.
Have you tried adding a community poop bag share station in your neighborhood?
A lot of readers have expressed concerns that their cities or neighborhoods might not allow such scoop that poop reminders. Here are some suggestions to help clean up your neighborhood, provide poop nags for those who might occasionally forget or run out (it happens to the best of us!) and spread the Scoop That Poop word:
  • Know the law. Check your neighborhood rules and laws about posting signs and items. If you are not allowed to install neighborhood poop bag share stations on public property, add them on private property. If you put a successful station in your yard, other neighbors might want them in their yards too.
  • Change the rules. Attend neighborhood, park or city meetings. If city, park or neighborhood officials know the importance of adding community poop bag share stations to your streets or parks, they can create an allowance. Perhaps you can get them to allow one as an experiment (like I did with my first one.) It could prove a poop bag share station can help and not look ugly. Personally, I think anything looks better than poop on the ground!
  • Seek allies. If you work with other neighbors either to change the rules to allow poop bag dispensers to be installed or to put community poop bag share stations up, more people will learn how important it is to clean up after their dogs. Talk to other dog owners on your street, ask neighbors whose yards often have a lot of poop, or pass out flyers to find other neighbors that agree your neighborhood would benefit from a poop bag exchange. The neighbor whose fence post I put a poop bag dispenser on does not have dogs but has been pleasantly surprised by the results of the poop bag holder. I soon hope to find more neighbors willing to host community poop bag share stations.
Homemade Poop Bag Dispenser Successes: Help Neighbors Remember To #ScoopThatPoop
The laminated waterproof paper signs do not last long but the taped over paper on the re-purposed water bottle have lasted through all seasons.
With the weather in Cascadia rapidly turning more wet and cold, it is the season of more and more dog poop getting left behind. That also means more disease gets washed into our fragile water ways. I hope to soon install a few more homemade poop bag dispensers around my neighborhood. Even the best of responsible dog owners forget or run our of poop bags every once in a while. It is possible for neighborhoods and parks to allow dog owners to help each other do what is best for the community and the environment and always, always scoop that poop.
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DIY Neighborhood Poop Bag Share Station Made Better By BuildASign.com | #ScoopThatPoop

7/22/2014

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DIY Communty Poop Bag Share Station
My poop bag share station after ten months on a Seattle utility pole.
Typist: Bethany
About ten months ago, I put up a homemade poop bag dispenser in our Seattle neighborhood. It took a while for people to actually share plastic bags for cleaning up their dogs poop at my do-it-yourself community poop bag share station but I can now report that it has been a huge success. The only failure was the sign. I printed Sugar the Golden Retrievers awesome Scoop That Poop infographic on waterproof paper, covered it in clear contact paper and sealed it in a plastic sleeve, it still didn't last long in Cascadia's windy, wet autumn. Even though neighbors have been using the outdoor poop bag holder that I made from a plastic water bottle, I have been wanting to replace the long since removed sign it started with. So when I was contacted by BuildASign.com to try out their website and giveaway a $25 gift certificate* to one lucky Cascadian Nomads reader, I knew exactly what I wanted to do:
BuildASign.com Screenshot: Poop Bag Share #ScoopThatPoop
BuildASign.com Screenshot
BuildASign.com made making my durable, plastic signs simple and fun. They have an almost overwhelming amount of templates to choose from. There is an easy option to start from scratch and make a fully custom sign, including uploading and layering photos or logos. I chose a simple BuildASign.com template and worked to make my desired Scoop That Poop words fit. Once the words flowed, it took just minutes to line everything up on the sign, preview and order. My signs came surprisingly fast, ready to be put up with my community poop bag share station.

First, though, the outdoor poop bag holder and utility pole needed a little clean up. Ten months had been surprisingly kind to my community poop bag share station but it was being held up only by the top zip tie. The bottom zip tie had come loose and most of the staples were gone. After tidying up the utility pole and reinforcing the poop bag holder, I stapled and nailed up my new BuildASign.com sign.
A Ten Month Tune-Up for a DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station
I removed the unstuck staples from the loose (lower) zip tie for proper, safe disposal.
A Ten Month Tune-Up for a DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station
While I was at the utility pole with pliers, I removed some other unused staples and nails.
A Ten Month Tune-Up for a DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station
I re-stapled the loose (lower) zip tie and reinforced the staples on the upper zip tie.
A new BuildASign.com Sign for a DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station #ScoopThatPoop
A renovated community poop bag share station complete with a new sign from BuildASign.com
A new BuildASign.com Sign for a DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station #ScoopThatPoop
Huxley, Brychwyn and Wilhelm admire their community poop bag share station handiwork.
Since this outdoor poop bag dispenser had stood the test of time and endured the elements in addition to being accepted and used by dog walking neighbors, I decided it was time to add more community poop bag share stations to the neighborhood. I had chatted with a neighbor many months ago about the unscooped dog poop problem she was having in the green space behind her house. This neighbors vinyl fence is exactly the right place to test out the other way of hanging my outdoor poop bag dispenser is designed for- around a pole! The last time I had walked past this neighbors fence, she had taped a sign up asking people to obey the law and scoop that poop. Yet it had since fallen down so I added a "5 Reasons Dog Owners Must Scoop That Poop" sign. I told the neighbor that this sign would not last long and recommended she check out BuildASign.com for something more durable.
A DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station Zip Tied to a vinyl fence post #ScoopThatPoop
A new poop bag share station zip tied to the outside of a neighbors fence (with permission, of course.)
My next mission was to put up another community poop bag share station at a nearby park. The park itself is usually poop pile free but the blocks surrounding the park can be pretty gross. I think that an obvious and centrally located dog poop bag dispenser could be a big help. Both the do-it-yourself water bottle poop bag holder and the sign from BuildASign.com had to be attached to a pole at the park with zip ties. This is definitely a dog poop bag share that I hope will last and gain active community participation.
DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station at our neighborhood park #ScoopThatPoop
DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station at our neighborhood park
I am indeed very pleased that our first dog poop bag exchange has been a success. Hopefully our two new ones will be just as productive. Maybe someday everyone will know how important it is to scoop that poop, they'll never forget bags and the neighborhood will be clean!
What would your BuildASign.com Scoop That Poop sign say?
Tell us in the comments and you'll be eligible to win!
*
DIY Community Poop Bag Share Station at our neighborhood park #ScoopThatPoop
Wilhelm admires the new poop bag share station at our neighborhood park.
Cascadian Nomads received complimentary product from BuildASign.com in exchange for our honest review. We were not otherwise compensated for this post. Cascadian Nomads only shares information that is relevant to our readers and all opinions are always our own.
*Cascadian Nomads is hosting this $25 BuildASign.com giveaway, will choose (at Random.org on July 28th) and notify the winner (via e-mail) but BuildASign.com is responsible for prize fulfillment. BuildASign.com offers more than just signs and the winner can use the $25 towards any product. Cascadian Nomads Scoop That Poop sign and any comment ideas are simply meant to inspirational.

If you missed our post on how to make your own versatile community poop bag share station by re-purposing a plastic water bottle, check it out here. Did you make one? Please let us know how it has worked out!

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Admit It, Dogs Poop Habits Are Funny, So Laugh It Up And #ScoopThatPoop

6/17/2014

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Typist: Bethany
Let's be honest, shall we? Poop is funny. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that everybody does it. And if you have been living under a rock, there is probably poop under there. Poop is not icky and gross, it's just a fact. Okay, maybe it is icky and gross but it is still an unavoidable part of being alive and living with other beings. For me, part of the constant enjoyment I get out of life with my dogs includes laughing about their bathroom habits and smiling while cleaning up their poop. I treasure any and all precious moments with my dogs and in all truthfulness, those happy thoughts include their poop.
Picture
When we were hiking a closed road in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest last month, the dogs had a vast array of choices as to where to poop. Yet they all chose to poop on the sparse patches of melting spring snow. Yes, all three of them. Two of them more than once. This was hilarious! Granted, cleaning up poop off of melting snow was not the most fun I had on our hike, but the dogs fondness for squatting in the snow is a memory I shall always treasure.

Speaking of memories, Tynan was a shy pooper. He always pooped in tall grass or in low shrubbery. It was as if he was using the landscape as a stall to go into and do his business in "private." He was particularly fond of pooping in heather. Why do I remember how and where my deceased dog pooped? Because I loved absolutely everything about Tynan, even his poop! And I wouldn't have noticed these charming things about him and had the memories to make me smile, had I not been following him around with a plastic bag on my hand to scoop that poop.
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I remember the poop habits of my families litter mate huskies too. They were marking poopers. Each one pooped just one little turd on almost every corner of every block. Did I mention these were my families dogs when I was a preteen and teenager? Yeah. Nobody thinks poop is more icky than a teenage girl. But my parents taught me responsible pet ownership so I dutifully cleaned up each and every poop. At that time, I am sure I fussed and complained and possibly even screamed while doing it but that is not what I now remember. Today, I smile and think of all the wonderful walks I had with those huskies. I loved watching them walk next to each other as if they were a sled team. And I loved that they pooped side by side too.

Every memory of all the dogs I have ever known and loved, and remembrances of travels I have taken with pets, include some sort of reminiscence of their poop. Which is in and of itself hilarious. But my point is this: go out into the world and smile with your dogs. Snicker at their antics. Giggle at their silliness. Grin at their cunning. Beam at their unconditional love. And, yes, laugh at their elimination habits. And always, always, scoop that poop preferably with a smile.
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