Which Sign Would You Choose?

Here are a couple of examples of dog-related signage around Ashland:

 The top sign is at the dog park. Seems reasonable enough, right?

The second one is the old sign from the SOU practice field. It's cranky, but has been replaced by an even stupider one that demands dogs remain on leash. It's very tough to play ball or Frisbee with a dog on a leash, right?

The bottom sign is at Bellview School. The same wording is up at Lincoln Elementary and probably other places.

The interesting thing about the Bellview School sign is that the sign says No, but there is (or was, since I don't go there anymore) a mailbox with poop bags in it on the school grounds with a sign that asks people to clean up after their dogs.

Mixed message, right?

Omar and I were run off Bellview School grounds by two huffy ladies, one of whom called the cops.

I know of another incident at the SOU field which resulted in a 60 year old woman being tackled to the ground AND ARRESTED for playing with her dog!

Got this comment to my initial blog post:

The city should try an experiment. Open up a park to dogs. Provide poop pickup bags and a trash can. Place a sign explaining that as long as the area is kept clean, dogs will be allowed. If it works out, open another park, and another…

Good idea! Great, in fact! What would it take for this to happen?

Let's Get This Party Started!

I confess I have not always been a friend of our furry friends. I banished all dogs from my house and grounds for many years. I blamed the dogs, of course.

Truth is, most people let their dogs be idiots who run the asylum. Don't get in a huff! It's soooo true.

But now I have a dog. A really nice, well-mannered, unstinky, unslobbery standard poodle named Omar. Sigh. I am reformed.

I would like to say that everyone says the same about their pooch--nice, well-mannered, etc. I've found that's not always the case. People have dogs they can't--mostly won't--manage. People have dogs they call stupid. People have dogs that run amok, attack other dogs and people, dogs that have to be tricked into coming when called.

I'm not as kind as Cesar. I also don't have a show I'm trying to keep on the air. So I can say I'm fed up to HERE with people who think their humping, growling, aggressive, uncontrollable dogs are cute or beyond help. FED UP TO HERE, I AM!!

People are the main reason why I've been reluctant to begin a crusade to make more public places accessible to dogs. In Ashland, dogs are forbidden in ALL public parks (except for the dog park), ALL schoolyards (including practice fields at Southern Oregon University . . . basically everywhere except the dog park.

This means that ALL of our tax money that goes to maintaining these places is pretty much wasted. ALL that water to keep ALL that grass green and ALL those groundskeepers employed while ALL we can do is stand outside the fence and look at it.

Pretty soon there will be an explosion of rhododendron flowers in Lithia Park. I will not see it again this year because I won't walk through there without Omar.

Once the kids are out of school, either for the day or FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER, hundreds of acres sit empty while the kids sit on their expansive bottoms playing video games. In the time I used to play with my dog at Bellview Elementary, I never ONCE saw a kid playing on the field inside the running track. (By the by, I have never ONCE seen a kid running on the track!)

Why are dogs banned from these luxurious places? Because PEOPLE don't pick up poop! Because PEOPLE bring obnoxious and dangerous animals to these places! Because PEOPLE bring dogs to these places and then ignore them. Because PEOPLE refuse to treat their dogs like dogs!

I'm sorry I have to start this ball rolling with a rant about human irresponsibility, but if we want to make changes--and I'm hoping I'm not the only one!--we are going to have to accept RESPONSIBILITY.  We're going to have to PROVE that we mean it. We're going to have to be twice as good to get maybe half the access.

So: are you with me? It's gonna take a village. I gave up being the little red hen long ago, but I am willing to get this party started.

So: are you with me?

I invite guest bloggers to express their views. I really do want to know if we can start a movement!