Poop de Doo

We Fort Collins residents love our dogs. But you may have noticed that some dog owners apparently don’t love cleaning up after their dogs. My old dog and I find at least one abandoned poo on our daily walk—a fact which she appreciates more than I do. Perhaps those dog owners want to show up Jerry Seinfeld, who said, "Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?"

But not everyone is content to let sleeping poo lie. Sue Carroll--Owner, Chef, and Biscuitologist of Bones Du Jour--organizes the annual Poop de Doo cleanup at Spring Canyon Dog Park. I had wanted to attend last year’s inaugural event, but I wasn’t able to make it. (Please follow this link to see photographer Heidi Muller’s pictures from 2010.) So I'm glad I had the chance to join in the aptly named Poop de Doo #2. Get it? Number Two. Isn’t that funny? (Insert cricket chirp here.)

Where does one get a feces license?

Thanks to my uncanny mother’s intuition, I knew better than to ask my boys to spend their first Saturday morning after back-to-school picking up poo left by strange dogs. After all, they can go to the backyard and pick up their own dog’s poo any old time. But on my way out the door, I asked my husband if he’d come along so I’d have someone to talk to. And he agreed to join me. (No, he has not recently suffered a head injury.) I’m so glad he did, because he has a great sense of humor and wields a mean pooper-scooper—two excellent qualities for a partner in a poop-scooping event…and, come to think of it, for a life partner in general

We began in the grassy area outside the dog park. It was kind of like an Easter egg hunt, except with turds instead of eggs. But that didn’t stop me from channeling my inner egg-hunting child and exclaiming “there’s one!” every time I spotted an anonymous dog’s little present peeking out from the grass. Perhaps this goes without saying, but we got a few strange looks from the Alzheimer’s Walk participants passing by, who no doubt thought we were part of a county work release program.

Scooping our first quarry

After a thorough sweep of the area, we headed for ground zero inside the confines of the dog park. Spring Canyon is a big, well-attended park, and I’m sure even the most diligent owner’s dog has left behind the occasional stealth poo. We did our best to find them, and an hour of scooping netted at least three pounds' worth...and one cleverly hidden rubber dog turd which earned us a gift certificate for The Cupboard. That’s right, there were prizes! And goody bags, and tennis balls for the dogs, and Sue’s amazing dog treats.

Our haul

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's rubber.

Hats off to Sue for turning a necessary chore into a fun community get-together. She hopes that future events will include simultaneous cleanups at all the local dog parks. It’s a great idea because, face it, dogs can do a lot of things, but picking up their own poo isn’t one of them. At least that’s what my dog tells me

Why, hello there!