A Cluttered Path

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Maggie and I are walking 4-5 days a week in the mornings before I go to work. 90% of my walk involves sidewalks along somewhat busy streets and a small portion of my walk is through my actual neighborhood. I need to vent a little bit about rude sidewalk users. Who in their right mind thinks that letting their dog pop ON THE SIDEWALK (not the massive amounts of grass on either side of said sidewalk) is a good idea??? And furthermore....what dog in America is willing to poop on cement and not grass??? Mine certainly won't - that's why I had to shovel the snow in my yard in Toledo when we got a blizzard, so that Maggie would have some special grass to go potty on. Plus, when they go poo on a cement sidewalk, it takes forever for it to decompose, rather than in the grass where nature and the ground kind of absorb it. Also - I do not like dodging piles of poo at 6:30am! Those dog owners should be picking up their dogs' messes anyway, but if they must leave it, why couldn't they scoot the dog over to the grass???

Also on my walks, I run into broken bottles, food items, and once last week, I found a condom (thankfully it wasn't used). Maggie has a very sharp nose and wants to sniff and check out EVERYTHING and I find myself pulling her off of things ALL THE TIME because there are inconsiderate sidewalk users who feel that the sidewalk also serves as a garbage can! HOW RUDE!!