MIA: the Winter Poop Elf

A couple weeks ago, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrote in his blog that the Winter Poop Elf is a myth. His post focused on dog owners who, rather than picking up after their dogs when there is snow on the ground, artfully cover up the poop, in the mistaken belief "that the Winter Poop Elf will be along soon enough to dispose of it somehow."

I would like to attest that 1. I, too, have noticed an increase in offerings to the Winter Poop Elf, including actually witnessing a live preparation; and 2. my back yard in the winter is sufficient confirmation of the fact that the Winter Poop Elf does not exist -- unless, for some reason, s/he is intentionally neglecting us.

Cleaning up after one's dog is not the most appealing of jobs, no matter the season. Most of us haven't been picking up the "public" dropping of our dogs for that long, in my case, probably about a dozen years. My mother says she won't have a dog because she can't bring herself to pick up after it while on a walk. In fact, she is fearful of even taking a dog out for a walk in case they make a poop which she would have to clean up. I seem to recall that when Debs first got Jake, cleaning up after him was one of her biggest challenges, but she can tell you all about that!

Do you remember when there was a photo in a magazine of Brooke Shields (I think) on the beach, carrying a bag which contained dog poop (her dog was running around nearby) and the French couldn't believe that she was carrying poop. I wonder if they couldn't believe that a person (never mind a celebrity) would pick up poop... the last time I was in France, there seemed to be a lot of poop on the sidewalks, or that she didn't have someone to do her poop picking up for her.

Anyway, do tell..... have you noticed an upsurge in offerings to the Winter Poop Elf in your neighborhood, or has s/he visited?