Sh*t happens - at the wrong time, in the wrong place

I am a responsible dog owner.  I make sure my dog is fed, that he has water and shelter, and that he is de-flea-ed, registered and vaccinated (note to self: check when vaccinations are due).  He gets inside time and outside time, occasional baths, and lots and lots of love and hugs.  And when I walk him, I  always, always have a plastic bag tied to the lead for poop-scooping purposes.

Except for last Saturday.

We were heading off to a wedding, and I wanted to take 'Basco for a late-afternoon run just before we were due to leave, so I took him to the beach over the road, which is pretty muddy when the tide is out, but is quite good for swimming when it's in, and I figured it would be fine either way as I was taking the ball and thrower, so I should have been able to give him a decent run.

It's not a particularly busy beach as the ones a few minutes' drive away are sandier and more pleasant for swimming, sunbathing and building sandcastles. On the day in question, I was the only person up my end of the beach, which I get to down a narrow staircase at the end of a small cul-de-sac.

The tide was quite far out, which wasn't ideal as I had been hoping to tire 'Basco out by making him swim after the ball, but I figured he'd be ok just chasing it up and down the beach.  No such luck.  I'd brought the cheap-rip-off ball thrower instead of the proper one, and honestly, I could probably have thrown it further by hand.  Plus, the ball kept ricocheting off in all kinds of weird directions, while Tabasco took off completely the opposite way, usually leaving the ball splat in the middle of a pile of muddy sand. Eventually I took my sandals off and just waded through the mud to get it, cringing about the extra time it would take to get re-washed and ready to go out.

The whole walk was a bit of a disaster, but the 'highlight' came about 20 minutes into the walk (I say "walk" - we were hanging around  on the same section of beach so hadn't walked very far!). A couple had come down the same stairs I had, and were sitting on a little bench at the bottom of the path.  My charming dog decided that today of all days he was going to take a giant crap right in the middle of the beach, directly in the line of sight of the aforementioned couple.  And of course, as I mentioned, I had no bag.

I thought for a moment it was going to be ok, as I raced towards my defecating dog, as both of the people happened to be looking down.  But just as I reached him (and before I could get between him and their line of sight), they both looked up. There's no mistaking what a dog is doing when he gets into that awkward-looking horseshoe-shaped pose, so I knew we were snapped.

I used the otherwise useless ball thrower to dig a hole, and buried the pile of poo as deeply as I could.  I filled it back in, and for good measure I chucked a couple of fish skeletons on the top, to further deter any holiday makers avoiding the crowds from hanging out and building sand(mud)castles in that particular spot.  I knew I'd done enough, that the tide would come in and wash the evidence away, and that no-one sunbathed or built sandcastles on that beach anyway, but boy did I still feel guilty and shamefaced.

I really wanted to leave at that point too - the walk had been a failed attempt, and I needed to get ready for the wedding, especially now that I needed another wash, but I Did Not Want to walk past that couple to get up the stairs, and feel their Stare of Shame upon me.

I walked a little way down the beach, around a small corner, and kept peering surreptitiously round the corner to see if they were gone yet, while I pretended to keep throwing the ball for my disgraced mutt, but apparently they were there for the long haul.  I started to get really annoyed with them - why were they just sitting there, silently, anyway?  Didn't they have anywhere better to go, or anything better to do.  Finally, a glance at my watch convinced me I was just going to have to suck it up and walk past. They barely glanced at me, but I felt their silent reprimand, whether real or imagined, and my cheeks flushed with the indignity of it the whole way home.  Which was less than five minutes, but still..!

I am now very careful to ensure I always have a bag to hand wherever 'Basco and I are walking.  But I still managed to have another embarrassing poo moment the other day... a story for another time!  (I bet you can't wait).