The plan, and thoughts about dogs

I've been planning out where paths and so on should go, and made a rough diagram. Of course this is subject to change, depending on how plants do, what path materials can be found, etc.

The image at left shows areas of plants, and paths, the location of benches for sitting, and steps to get up the steep part at the back. And last but not least the dog area!

As a past dog owner, I worry about dogs and cars, so I thought a thin border at the edge there would provide at least a visual barrier. Obviously some dog owners feel comfortable letting their dogs loose there, but I don't know of too many who'd think it wise to play ball or frisbee next to an unfenced freeway! So, clearly this area is for dogs to poop, not to exercise. No plants will go inside that area, and it will be up to dog owners to pick up poop, or step over the poop left by others.

Could a fence be built? I don't know - I'll ask Caltrans. I'm also going to ask them if we can have a trash can on site for poop (the ground is much too rocky to put in a dog poop composter.) The city one at 18th St is not far away, it's true, but someone keeps leaving poop in bags in front of Gary's business which seems to be their way of communicating displeasure about the removal of the trash can there.

Unfortunately, that poop-filled trash can stank, and bred a lot of flies, and Gary's employees and customers suffered because of it. Can you imagine working in a warehhouse that smells of dog poop? With millions of flies? The poop can had to go!

So why is this person leaving bags of poop there every day? My guess is that they don't know the story behind why the can had to go, and feel that they can force Gary to return the can by leaving their "messages." I bet that if they understood the whole story they wouldn't mind walking 50 feet to the city trash can at 18th.

When I used to walk my dog there I picked up my poop. It's not a lovely task, but it's a part of the responsibility of dog owning. I miss my dog so much, and would love to have shared this garden with him - perhaps I could get another dog who could help me dig holes. That would be the ultimate garden dog :)

That's a picture of my dog Sebastian. He was a great guy. *snif*