Phil Duffy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 13/01) - Noticing that her parents were getting rather sick of cleaning up unpleasant doggy presents left on the front lawn, Dawn Gould made a little sign for mom and dad.

Josie Gould and her dog Keesha stand behind their humorous warning to other dog owners. - Phil Duffy/NNSL photo

"Here lies the last dog that crapped on my lawn!" is what the miniature white tombstone in the front yard of the Gould residence says.

Howard and Josie Gould put up a fence to discourage people who walk their dogs on long leashes, from letting their dogs do their business in the front yard of their corner-lot house.

"The fence we put up isn't very high, so while it discouraged smaller dogs from coming in the yard, larger dogs were hopping over it like it wasn't even there," said Josie.

"The tombstone was a Christmas present from our daughter. We just considered it a joke, but then a couple of weeks ago my husband and I got fed up with stooping and scooping crap that didn't even come from our dog, so we decided to put it out to see if it would work," she added.

So far the humorous experiment has worked like a charm. And, no, the Goulds didn't actually kill a dog and bury it there.

"We haven't found any more unpleasant surprises on our lawn," said Josie.

The tombstone has attracted some attention from dog walkers who generally take the message with the humour with which it was intended.

"I can hear the laughter of the people who stop to read it. No one has had anything detrimental to say about it either." she added.

Rick Story is a member of the roofing crew who was working on the house next door. He had a superb view of the reactions of passers-by.

"I have seen several people stop to read the tombstone, and I could hear them laughing from up here," said Story. I think it's pretty funny myself," he added.