Spain's Hilarious Plan to Keep Dog Poop Out of Parks Is a Success

It turns out that mailing people their dog's poop is a good way to keep public areas clean.

In June, we wrote about the Spanish town of Brunete, a middle-class suburb of Madrid, whose officials were mailing people their dog's "business" back to them when it showed up in parks. Really: Volunteers were scouring local parks, and when they saw negligent dog owners ignore the squishy payloads their dogs had just dropped, they scooped them up, bagged them, boxed them, and sent them to the homes of those owners, whose addresses they got through a little detective work. 

We had a laugh over it. It was insane, right? Mailing dog poop back to owners to encourage people to pick up after their dogs? Well, the New York Times just got on the story, and the owners' tardiness in picking it up has resulted in a nice addition to the story.  

It's working.

According to Mayor Borja Gutiérrez, the mailing-dog-poop has resulted in fewer payloads scattered around parks and streets and more dog owners walking around with little baggies, "a sight that is still extremely rare across Spain," according to the Times.

Though the campaign lasted only two weeks, with 147 boxes of malodorous dog cigars mailed to residents, the mayor estimates that, months later, he's still seeing a 70 percent improvement.

The Times headed to a town park near City Hall to see for itself, looking for crap on the ground. There wasn't much. Indeed, people were holding poop bags. The Times was satisfied with the volumes of poop in bags and not scattered underfoot in this leafy oasis, and then headed to a quiet table in the back of a bar where the locals drink, to finally begin working on the novel.

Some residents didn't like the campaign at all, and they are mostly people who own dogs. 

"There is a campaign against dogs in this town, and what has this dog ever done?” said a woman who refused to give her name. She said she always picks up after her dog. The Times notes that everyone they spoke to said the same thing. 

“It’s your dog, it’s your dog poop,” said the Mayor. “We are just returning it to you.”

Though the campaign was nutty, it's not quite as crazy as one we saw in 2011, in which New Taipei City in Taiwan offered raffle tickets in exchange for each bag of dog poop residents submitted to the government. The prizes? Gold ingots worth hundred and even thousands of dollars. A total of 85 people won prizes, including household appliances, and the streets were blissfully clear of poop, according to the BBC.  

Unfortunately, authorities had to stop the campaign when they realized they couldn't keep giving people gold for dog poop. 

Via the New York Times

View the original article here

Win a Book on Creating Success the Canine Way

Do you want a book by this dog author? Read on!

Dogsters, today we bring you something special: A guest post from a boxer. Bella the Boxer is author of Secrets of a Working Dog: Unleash Your Potential and Create Success. The book teaches people how to live successful and well-balanced lives by adopting the techniques that come naturally to dogs of all shapes, sizes, and pedigrees.

This book is for anyone who seeks straightforward and simple advice on how to balance the responsibilities and challenges of modern life and still have fun. Publishers Weekly says: “Delightful and insightful, Bella’s pearls of wisdom will entertain while imparting more than a few valuable lessons.”

Her human, Ellen Galvin, has kindly consented to give away three books to Dogsters. How do you win? Leave a comment about something you read in Bella’s article below. Agree, disagree, question, sit, stay, roll over — do whatever you like, just leave it in comment form below. Only one entry per household, please. We’ll do a random drawing from the qualified contestants (via Random.org). This will be a quick contest, though! You need to submit your entry by 5 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, September 17. We’ll announce the winner on Monday. So start reading and commenting!

— Maria Goodavage, Dogster dog blog editor

Creating Success, the Canine Way
By Bella the Boxer (with help from Ellen Galvin)

“In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.” — Edward Hoagland

I like to think that I have an instinctive and evolutionary advantage when it comes to living a well-balanced life. I build relationships by wagging my tail more than my tongue. I’m excited to give new things a try, and resilient enough to bounce back if they don’t work out. I blend work with fun and have a zest for living that doesn’t revolve around shiny gadgets and beeping gizmos.

Keep in mind that I’m not a know-it-all. I’m anything but the perfect “Zen dog” I’d like to be. Plenty of things throw me off-kilter and make me feel less than a success. Things like the sudden arrival of a new two-legged little sister. I admit that I was a handful when I was a puppy, but I had no idea that such a little human could be the source of so much chaos and confusion. Whether it’s sharing the previously undivided attention of my humans or being herded around the house by a tyrannical toddler, there are days when I feel anything but well adjusted.

And yet, every night I curl up on my dog bed and drift off to sleep knowing that my day was a success and that I was a success. Humans like to say that “every dog has her day,” hinting that everyone has a chance at success at some point in their lives. But once again, humans have their dog idioms all mixed up. Success isn’t a one-shot deal. Success is something that every dog makes happen every day.

You see, chasing success for its own sake is a lot like chasing your own tail — even if you manage to catch it (not an easy feat for a stub-tailed dog like me), you can’t hold on to it for very long. Worse, if your eyes are always fixated on something else, you’ll miss the small victories of life that are right under your nose. The only true path to success is living an honest, authentic life, where the things you do and the decisions you make are in sync with who you are and what you value. I like to think of success as a good game of tug-of-war: Sometimes you pull the rope toy closer toward you and sometimes you watch it slip away. The rope toy never stays balanced for very long, and that’s okay — as long as you play the game with focus, determination, strength, balance, teamwork, and a sense of fun.

My hope is that humans slow down and tune in to the four-legged teachers (dogs!) who have so much to share about living successful, well-balanced lives. Dachshunds, beagles, and greyhounds do things differently, but they do it the way it works best for them. All you can do is be the best dog (or human) that you can be. Start by asking the questions that a smart dog would ask herself:

• Do I know what makes my life “zoom”?

• Do I do what’s best for my body and mind?

• Do I search for the positive side of things?

• Do I focus my attention on what matters?

• Do I listen carefully and communicate clearly?

• Do I follow my instincts and go after my goals?

• Do I build relationships with the people around me?

• Do I show appreciation for what I have?

• Do I make time to laugh and to play?

• Do I try to be present in my own life and in the lives of others?

Sure, these are deep questions. Do they all have to be answered “yes” to have a successful life? Of course not. My answers change every day, because life is messy and unpredictable. It’s also spontaneous, joyful, and exciting. Asking the questions puts me back on track so that every night I curl up on my pillow and sleep soundly, knowing I did the best I could do and was the best boxer I could be.

Here’s to you wonderful humans being the best people you can be. My parting advice? Be real. Be authentic. If you can’t be a dog, be human.

Visit Bella’s website, where you can order her book, connect with her on Facebook and Twitter, and watch the video trailer.

View the original article here

Dog Training Success

This information packed 90 page eBook will show you exactly what you need to do to change your dog from disorderly nuisance to a well behaved pet that everyone wants to be around!

Check it out!