What Does it Mean to “Curb Your Dog”?
If you live in a bigger city, are visiting, or have just come across signs asking you to “curb your dog”, you may have left scratching your head. If you’re not familiar with the phrase “curbing” and you own a furball, you should probably get to know the rules of “curbing” for future reference! Here’s all you need to know about “curbing your dog”.
Curbing?
In the most general sense, curbing your pup means not urinating or defecating in a specific area. For example, you may come across hundreds of curbing signs on the sidewalks of New York City to prevent pet-owners from letting their dog do their business in the controlled area.
There are two different accepted definitions of what constitutes “curbing” for dogs. On one hand, some people think of curbing as just keeping your dog under control and supervision (i.e. making sure you don’t leave feces in the street and properly dispose of it). On the other, people define curbing as actually going to the end of the street, where the gutter areas are, and having your dog do their business there (and pick up what they leave behind)!
Origin
If you’re not native to a big, walkable city, you may have never encountered a curbing sign/area! Signs stating “curb your dog” began to appear in NYC in the 1930s to eliminate extra waste plaguing the city. Especially during the time of origin, there was an extreme amount of feces (and other forms of trash) from horses. The problem was out of control so the city came up with “curbing” as an effort to eliminate extra feces from the city sidewalks.
Another law to control defecation was put into law in 1978, referred to as the “pooper scooper law”. This required owners to pick up whatever their pooch “dropped” and deter urination on plants as canine urination can actually kill some species!
Overall, the general understanding for these signs is to not let your dog “go” anywhere they please and to be sure to clean up after them! Check out your local dog-friendly areas and don’t forget the poop bags!