When I was 12, while walking my dog, she did her business in someone’s yard. I was young and dumb, so I just kept walking. I am considerate, but my older brother would mow our lawn and never bothered picking up the puppy piles. He told me it just helps fertilize the yard. It made sense to me. So I just thought that is what everyone did. Well, one day, while me and Snuggles (my cocker spaniel dog) were walking by the same house, the elderly lady came out and yelled, “Hey kid, thanks for the dog stuff!” I, being naïve, said, “Oh, you’re welcome, but my dog did most of the work.” I was 12 and stupid regarding the social contract of picking up after your dog, but what’s Seattle’s excuse?

A recent survey by The Dog Advisory Council went and sifted through data from Twitter for dog complaints. Not necessarily “dog shaming”; those can be funny, but more focused on the dog owners and the bad behaviors of the ones holding the leash… even if the dog isn’t on the other end! The looked at complaints dealing with barking at night, off the leash, and of course, the poop!

On Average, per 100,000 people, Seattle got 84.2% of complaints, dealing with dogs being off their leashes, barking at night, and picking up the doggy doo. 58.3% was the doo alone! In fact, out of the research, Seattle ranked the 3rd worst city for bad dog owners (Pittsburg, PA, at #1 and Newark, NJ, at #2). But Seattle is the top dog for the dog’s drops (beating out Pittsburg, PA, at #2 and Washington, DC, at #3).

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Dog waste can not only smell and be a real pain if you step into it, but it can also harm humans and other animals. The droppings can contain organisms like E.coli, roundworms, and Giardia, so use a bag and pick up what your dog puts down!