Hey! Pick up that poop!

I had a strange thing happen on Monday.

So I’m out running one of my client’s dogs. This is in a peaceful, well-established neighborhood on a golf course with big trees and nice homes.

This dog and I (she’s a small, shepherd mix) tend to see some of the same people out and about each time. Everyone is generally laid back and respectful.

So, there’s this woman with a little Bichon dog who we see maybe once a week. I’ve never thought anything but positive thoughts about them. The woman always wears a cute sundress and sun hat. Her dog never barks.

So this day, we happened to pass her three times as we made sort of a figure-8 through the neighborhood.

I generally move to the other side of the street when we pass other dogs, just to allow some space. On this day, I saw her looking over her shoulder at us, and I thought, that’s really nice of her to be aware of where we are. Because, you know, let’s face it, most people are not very aware.

So we continue on our way and make another loop. By this time I’m carrying a bag of poop, as I usually am by this point (so predictable).

And then we pass the woman again, and as I prepare to move across the street, she goes, “Mam, excuse me? Mam?”

And I think, oh, she’s going to start some chit-chat, as dog people tend to do. I figure she’s going to tell me how nice my dog is.

Only she goes, “You need to start picking up after him.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I saw you. You need to pick up after him.”

And I go, “Oh, I always do. I agree! People should always pick up after their dogs.” (I’m literally holding the poop.)

And she just goes, “Yeah. Pick up after him,” and keeps walking.

WTF?

So I keep running, and I’m not really mad, but shocked. Like, how random is that? If only she knew I’ve been a professional dog walker and blogger for the last six years and I literally pick up after my dog and my clients’ dogs Every. Single. Time.

Sometimes (usually?) I’m running with two or three used bags in my hand wishing there were more trash bins.

Sigh … what can you do?

I suppose she must’ve had me mixed up with someone else. But no, the more I thought about it, I realized when she was looking over her shoulder she saw my dog squatting and peeing, and just assumed “he” – who is really a she – was, um, pooping.

This dog is a skinny, leggy dog, so when she squats, she does look pretty awkward. But what can I tell ya? She was peeing.

Sigh again …

There’s not really much of a point to this story, I guess. I just thought it was so weird and random, and I thought maybe some of you might have similar stories.

There was another time when I was running with a male dog, and the dog squatted and peed in the grass, and this man across the street hollers, “Hey! Aren’t you gonna pick that up?”

I just kept running that time.

Because, what can you do?

First world problems, I guess.

You got any stories like that?

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