Der Schweizerhund

Don't be alarmed by the apparently intimidating title of this post--it's only Hobbes's German name, "The Swiss Dog." We're also learning to say, "Er ist sehr freundlich!" which means, "He's very friendly!" because he presents quite a spectacle--larger and hairier than most dogs here. Also useful is the phrase, "Er spinnt!" meaning "He's nuts!"

Never fear, I won't blog on on the minutiae of dogdom (although now that we're spending more time together, Hobbes and I partake in a daily contest to see if I adopt more dog traits then he adopts human traits), but it does provide a nice segue from the previous post on recycling to another Swiss trash system, disposal of dog waste.

You may recall we paid 75 CHF (abbrev. for Swiss Francs) to register our son at the Kloten Gemeinde; that's actually the prorated fee for 1/2 year (unfortunately they don't prorate more, so we paid for six months of 2007 but will live here only two). For 2008 we'll pay another 150 CHF (or whatever Zürich charges). Ouch, eh? Don't worry, We're used to it already as EVERYTHING is expensive here. So what does that earn us? The Robidog System, of course!

All over Zürich and Kloten, especially near parks and trails, are so-called "Robidog" stations which provide free (or shall we say pre-paid?) biodegradable opaque plastic bags for picking up dog waste and a nicely covered trash bin for instant disposal of said waste. There are two such stations available on the two-block walk to our nearby hiking trail and a third before you reach Steph's bus stop. And so far the bags are never missing and the small bins are never overflowing. Also the Gemeinde gifted us with 50 extra bags to keep at home.

So as we're learning with so many other Swissisms, the rule of thumb here is--like it or not--you pay more to get more. In this case, for non-dog owners, no dog poop anywhere in the city OR countryside and not even any nasty used bags visible in open-air public trash containers. And for dog owners, an apparently well-maintained and convenient system for obtaining the prior. I'm certain the Swiss would tell you that the quality of everyone's life has been improved--for a fee, of course.

[By the way, for those who enjoy the minutiae of dogdom and/or additional pictures, check out our first snowy Saturday at the link below. A human even appears once or twice...]

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2hd8fyj.2sh9z5pr&x=0&y=eezepg