Situation: Where I live there's a fantastic new area with different playground stations. It's a huge car-free zone, clearly intended for the safe use of children. In big patches throughout is grass and pathways. Naturally it's also become a dog meeting, walking, and free-roaming mega center.
Problem: Most people are not leashing -not on pathways, not near the ducks, but especially not when they see kids coming or as their dog nears the actual playground areas. In fact some are even using the play equipment to train their furry companions.
I've found that dog owners are extremely sensitive to any critique of their dog; the answer is much the same... my dog doesn't bite / chase / jump / yodel, or whatever... "It must be the way your son looked at him", one owner told me after his Sheppard fem bound up and onto the seat of the pram my son was sitting in. We've had dogs run at us, take food from my son's hand, and nip my leg. One came up to the fixture my infant was playing at and had a lovely, long pee. I swear he winked at us as he moved on.
This brings me to the most irritating point: Urine. Dog urine.
Our four-legged creatures are allowed to urinate in the sand and pebbles of the playground and on the wooden poles that children love to climb and hop on. Ugh! I'm basically expected to pick up my playing infant because a pooch is approaching the grounds? I don't go to dog parks, wait until they hounds all settled and having a good time, then pull up my skirt and wet their premises. Not the same thing, I know, I know; the dogs would likely love it. I'm merely illustrating how common place and accepted dog urine seems to be, because no one says a word. Whereas I would likely be carted away to some hygiene rehabilitation program and stripped of my citizenship.
There are no signs prohibiting unleashed dogs at this park (despite Gemeinde rules that dogs should be leashed in public areas). Parents look away and say it's no big deal -it's "just a dog". One man told me that my culture of people naturally hate dogs. How he knew what culture I'm from is beyond me; maybe he's psychic or maybe I ate his dog in another life. Who knows.
Dog owners, I implore you... since when did urination became a non plus? Supemarkets shelve a huge variety of toilet cleaning supplies, so obviously we've got some basic understanding of hygiene. Doctors ask for urine samples in search of bacterial infections -and I've never seen anyone at a doctor's office pick up that little cup without gloves. We drum it into our kids to wash their hands after the loo or the boogieman germs will get them. We're meant to close the lid of the toilet before flushing and keep toothbrushes out of the area. We've got huge underground systems built especially to get urine as far away from us as possible.
And yet somehow, and too often it seems, people think this doesn't apply to dogs. Is dog urine magical? Does it vanish into nothingness?
Solution: I'm thinking of going A Modest Proposal route; extreme, to drive home the point. I'll put masks on the kids, bring disinfectant and toilet brushes to the park, and basically walk around armed and ready to spray anyone who dares lift a hind leg. Or perhaps I should personally take to squatting over the pebbles when the urge strikes? You know, those poles would make great target practice for my potty-learning kid. Heck, I say if you've got anything cute with legs at home, gerbils, rabbits, iguanas... bring'm on down! Just call'em Rover and no one will protest.