The Guardian of the Grass

Picture it:  It is 7 am on a Sunday morning and I am walking the dog that I just slept with for 3 days.  She woke me up at 6 and after trying to sleep for a little bit longer, I gave her breakfast and medicine and we headed out the door.  This morning I also had another dog to get to around 7:30 as well as a diabetic cat over 12 blocks away.  Instead of going our usual route up to 4th and Washington, I  decided to change it up and walk down Queen.  She peed a few times and we were passing Mario Lanza Park where she likes to roll around in the grass. ( only dog that I walk that stops mid walk to plop down in the grass and roll around)

Before I go any further, let's keep in mind that this dog has a dog park on one side and then "dog free" grass.  Why is it dog free?  Can they not sit down in it ? Can they just not use it as a bathroom?  It says it is a family friendly area, but I have seen families bring their dog with them to sit in the grass and picnic. I also passed by 2 piles of poop in said "family friendly dog free area".

Anyway, it's 7 am on a Sunday and I am just trying to get her to do her business and enjoy her outside time.  She walks over to the edge of the grass next to the bench where there is pretty much just dirt and leaves and she poops.  As a am standing there with poop bag on my hand waiting for her to finish, someone comes out of their house across the street with a dog to tell me that they really like to keep that area "dog free."  At 7am. On a Sunday.

She is going on about how the grass dies and how they seed and it's backbreaking work.... yada yada.  I am literally on the edge of the grass PICKING UP THE POOP and looking at her as though she is crazy.  I told her that I understand (which is true), but I am not IN the grass. And that she likes to roll around, it's her thing.  Why wouldn't that be allowed in a park?  They have fenced the area to seed it in the winter, I have seen it.  I know it's costly and a big pain, but here is the issue that I see.  This is a PUBLIC park.  The park is in the middle of a neighborhood with hundreds if not thousands of dogs.  Grass is scarce in the city - this park has 2 areas of grass.  Even if you walk a dog by the park, they say to themselves, "LOOK! IT'S GRASS!!"  The only way to even attempt to keep the hundreds of dogs off this grass is to build a fence around it. Even then, people would still feel entitled to put their dogs in the fenced area.  There is no such thing as a "dog free area" in this city, no matter how many people want to think that there is.  Trying to keep an area "dog free" is pretty much the equivalent saying that Philly restaurants are "child free zones." It is crazy and it's not gonna happen.  If you put a bench out, someone will sit on it.  If you have grass, a dog will pee on it.  That's just how it is. People bring their dogs ANYWHERE they want, regardless of signs, manners, or even laws.

I have seen people bring dogs into fenced in playgrounds with kids on Fitzwater between 9th and 10th.

I have also seen people put their dogs in the tiny fenced area on Bainbridge between 3rd and 4th.  They literally took the space to plant flowers down the strip between parked cars and people plop their dogs in there

People don't care, they will bring their dogs anywhere. And in a park with no fence that so many dogs walk through on a daily basis? Come on Queen Village Neighbors Association.  It's nice to think that you can keep the grass dog free, but you can't.  I understand where you are coming from completely, but it is a futile effort.   Especially when the 3 other neighborhood parks are closed and being renovated.  And you know what?  Public parks not only have dogs wanting to use them as a bathroom, but they have neighborhood cats and human beings that use parks as bathrooms when no one is around.  Trust me, I have seen it all.  There is human as much human pee on city surfaces as there is dog and cat pee.  And to have someone come out to talk to me about it at 7am on a Sunday when I am picking up poop on the edge of the grass is just ridiculous.  How about going after those who are leaving poop piles everywhere?  Or those who insist on walking their dogs off leash through the park?  Choose your battles QVNA people, I'm not the one that is causing any kind of trouble in this neighborhood.  I am all about the safety and cleanliness of the streets.  Watch out for those people that are actually breaking a law before you confront them on a Sunday morning at 7am and scold them for doing their job and obeying the law.