Dogs

Dogs are quite important here in BsAs. Many people have them and an industry has grown up around looking after them. It's fairly routine to see dog-walkers with around eight to twelve pooches attached to their belt. Have a look here for more details.

The downside of this is, of course, the debris said dogs leave behind. Most pavements in BsAs are covered in doggy debris, in fact it's had to walk more than a couple of metres without encountering some and this, combined with poorly maintained pavements, makes walking around the city a little bit of a challenge.

Today I saw a few dog related incidents.

Number one, on the way into the school. A man watching his alsatian pooping on the corner outside a cafe. It was obvious that the man had no intention of hanging around and clearing up the mess When the dog had finished. However he hadn't anticipated another man who got out of his parked car (maybe to have breakfast in the cafe) and shouted at him to clear away the mess. The last I saw was the first man trying to punt the debris into the gutter without actually touching it with his trainers (somewhat impossible, wouldn't you say?) while the second man looked on.

Number two, on the way home. A slightly older man walking a poodle in a harness. The dog was desperate to squat and do it's business. The man was blithely unaware of this and thus dragging the dog along in a squatting position. Dogs do slide.

Number three, also on the way home. At the junction of two fairly busy roads, by the underground and outside a corner cafe (which, of course, has tables and chairs constricting the pavement), a dog stretched out for a nap. And people stepped over it and around it (including me).

Sometimes I envy them (but not often).