Q: I live in a Fairfield subdivi sion and happen to live next-door to a family that does not take care of their house or yard. The yard might get cut every other month, the shrubs have not been trimmed since they moved in, approximately 12 years ago. The backyard is nothing but weeds and dirt. Is there anything I can do to get them to take care of their yard and house? I am afraid if I ever try to sell my home, the sight of this unsightly place will drag the price of my home down.
A: Obviously you are correct that your neighbor’s house will have an effect on the sales price of your home, not to mention the enjoyment you get from your property.
The city has an interest in the condi tion of the front yard from a health and safety perspective.
That means the city’s Code Enforce ment office can get involved if things get nasty enough. I’d suggest you look up their number and drop a dime on the neighbor.
If the owner is cited and does not remedy the problem, the city could take care of it and bill the homeowner.
Will this happen? I don’t know. It typically depends upon how bad the property is, how many times code enforcement has been called, and most critically, what the code enforcement office’s manpower looks like.
Code enforcement can handle any local municipal code violations.
Probably the most commonly violated ordinance of this type is the parking of a vehicle on the grass or dirt.
But remember, other than a number of rather limited issues, the city is helpless to make people keep their yard, or house, looking attractive.
Unless you can show a health hazard, such as dog excrement and the like, there isn’t anything you or the city can do about the condition of the backyard.
If there are, for example, bad odors
coming from the yard, you may be able to file a nuisance action. But other than that, you’re out of luck. If you live in a home built after the mid-1980s, you likely have some CC&Rs that govern your neighborhood. You may not even know it, but they’d be recorded at the County Recorder’s Office. That may have a provision against overgrown or dead landscape that would
Frankly, the exact problem you have is exactly what CC&Rs are designed
Q: My neighbor has put a swimming pool in his backyard. When he did, he changed the grading and now all the rainwater from his lot pours into my backyard and floods it. Is there any-
A: Your neighbor can’t change their grading if it unreasonably negatively impacts your yard.
The legal question is what constitutes unreasonable.
If you believe the amount of water flowing into your yard crosses the line, you have a right to file a lawsuit demanding that he remedy the problem. That usually means the installation of a drainage system.
I’m afraid there is no easy answer as to the level of intrusion that would constitute unreasonableness and make your neighbor liable.
Courts decide these issues on a caseby-case basis.
For the moment, the best you can do is document the problem with videos and possibly an inspection by a soils engineer to give you a better idea of whether there’s something you can do about it.
Tim Jones is a real estate attorney in Fairfield. If you have any real estate questions you would like to have answered in this column, you can send an email to AllThingsRealEstate@TJones-Law.com.
TOTAL SALES: 3
LOWEST AMOUNT: $580,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $751,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $662,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $664,333
1770 Clos Duvall Court - $751,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 2004 SqFt - 2003
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 08-21-13, $445,000
1582 London Circle - $662,000
03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 1440 SqFt - 1980 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 07-31-07, $455,000
873 Wainwright Street - $580,000
03-16-23 [2 Bdrms - 872 SqFt - 1943 YrBlt]
TOTAL SALES: 4
LOWEST AMOUNT: $533,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $615,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $605,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $589,500
990 Camelia Drive - $610,000
03-16-23 [4 Bdrms - 1959 SqFt - 2021 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 04-30-21, $563,500
220 Foster Lane - $533,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 1633 SqFt - 1990 YrBlt]
670 Heirloom Court - $615,000
03-14-23 [3 Bdrms - 1753 SqFt - 2021 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 09-09-21, $563,000
120 Victoria Court - $600,000
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 1599 SqFt - 1993 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 08-19-20, $502,000
TOTAL SALES: 17
LOWEST AMOUNT: $225,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $785,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $550,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $573,147
816 2nd Street - $445,000
03-15-23 [3 Bdrms - 1042 SqFt - 1952 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-23-08, $105,000
674 Berkeley Way - $535,500
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 1549 SqFt - 1972 YrBlt]
5210 Conley Lane - $642,000
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 2430 SqFt - 2014 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-15-20, $590,000
231 Del Luz Court - $225,000
03-13-23 [2 Bdrms - 805 SqFt - 1974 YrBlt]
2344 Hanson Drive - $650,000
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 2214 SqFt - 2020 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 05-11-20, $505,000
3401 Hartford Avenue - $450,000
03-14-23 [2 Bdrms - 1591 SqFt - 1979 YrBlt]
3284 Inwood Place - $550,000
03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 1409 SqFt - 2005 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 07-07-20, $495,000
5059 Lakeshore Drive - $490,000
03-14-23 [2 Bdrms - 1072 SqFt - 2004 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-03-17, $360,000
1643 Meadowlark Drive - $520,000
03-17-23 [3 Bdrms - 1204 SqFt - 1976 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 02-28-20, $385,000 3116 Muse Way - $665,000
[4 Bdrms - 2105 SqFt - 2019 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 04-08-19, $616,000
Oakbrook Drive - $561,000
[3 Bdrms - 1168 SqFt - 1984 YrBlt] 826 Ohio Street - $510,000
[4 Bdrms - 1425 SqFt - 1915 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 02-15-23, $178,000
These are the local homes sold recently, provided by California Resource of Lodi. The company can be reached at 209.365.6663 or CalResource@aol.com.
3 LOWEST AMOUNT: $257,000 HIGHEST AMOUNT: $400,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $336,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $331,000
8 Esperson Court - $336,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1570 SqFt - 1992 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 01-27-23, $255,000
628 Main Street - $257,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1129 SqFt - 1914 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 06-21-11, $72,000
120 Saint Gertrude Avenue - $400,000
03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 1251 SqFt - 1930 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-19-21, $330,000
TOTAL SALES: 8
LOWEST AMOUNT: $500,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $607,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $560,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $554,375
1697 Hickam Circle - $560,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1839 SqFt - 2003 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 05-20-03, $325,229
1426 Langley Way - $560,000
03-15-23 [2 Bdrms - 1050 SqFt - 1985 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 06-16-17, $340,000
903 Liberty Drive - $585,000
03-15-23 [3 Bdrms - 2096 SqFt - 2005 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 11-10-08, $235,000
1007 Mayfield Way - $510,000
03-17-23 [3 Bdrms - 1564 SqFt - 1997 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 07-16-09, $233,500
1200 Michael Court - $500,000
03-15-23 [3 Bdrms - 1353 SqFt - 1977 YrBlt]
1773 Newark Court - $607,000
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 2117 SqFt - 2004 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 11-22-04, $472,199
814 Ruddy Lane - $538,000
03-15-23 [3 Bdrms - 1320 SqFt - 1976 YrBlt]
921 Whitney Avenue - $575,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 1766 SqFt - 1985 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 08-07-03, $298,000
TOTAL SALES: 12
LOWEST AMOUNT: $305,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $695,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $557,500
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $526,583
927 Arbor Oaks Drive - $630,000
03-16-23 [4 Bdrms - 1917 SqFt - 1990 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 00/1991, $194,000
542 Arcadia Drive - $305,000
03-16-23 [2 Bdrms - 910 SqFt - 1983 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 09-29-20, $225,000
924 Bergenia Street - $620,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1547 SqFt - 2020 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 07-08-20, $518,000
130 Deodara Street - $435,000
03-16-23 [3 Bdrms - 1144 SqFt - 1961 YrBlt]
181 Glacier Circle - $393,000
03-16-23 [2 Bdrms - 1152 SqFt - 1965 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 02-07-00, $138,000
164 Lassen Circle - $395,000
03-16-23 [2 Bdrms - 1043 SqFt - 1964 YrBlt]
123 Lassen Circle - $399,000
03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 1152 SqFt - 1964 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 01-13-20, $347,000
1136 Parkside Drive - $642,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 2237 SqFt - 2010 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 08-23-13, $425,000
436 Rolling Oak Drive - $665,000
03-13-23 [4 Bdrms - 2126 SqFt - 1990 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-19-18, $486,000
113 Seneca Way - $695,000
03-14-23 [3 Bdrms - 1540 SqFt - 1977 YrBlt]
124 Shady Glen Court - $495,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 2508 SqFt - 1989 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 11-11-03, $495,000
619 Somerset Drive - $645,000
03-17-23 [3 Bdrms - 2066 SqFt - 1989 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 09-13-11, $242,500
TOTAL SALES: 20
LOWEST AMOUNT: $320,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $975,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $557,750
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $584,125
1101 Azuar Avenue - $698,000
03-13-23 [4 Bdrms - 2208 SqFt - 2006
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 04-18-19, $525,000
876 Beechwood Avenue - $500,000
03-14-23 [3 Bdrms - 1020 SqFt - 1951 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 06-30-22, $487,500
244 Daniels Avenue - $346,000
03-15-23 [2 Bdrms - 1104 SqFt - 1940 YrBlt]
101 Denio Street - $550,500
03-14-23 [3 Bdrms - 2350 SqFt - 1961 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 01-07-16, $300,000
1317 Farrell Street - $440,000
03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 992 SqFt - 1940 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 09-27-17, $310,000
123 Hunter Court - $590,000
03-17-23 [3 Bdrms - 1780 SqFt - 1986 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 12-19-00, $265,000
1512 Landmark Drive - $825,000
03-17-23 [5 Bdrms - 2828 SqFt - 2002 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 03-19-08, $585,000
1867 Landmark Drive - $975,000
03-17-23 [5 Bdrms - 3297 SqFt - 2002 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 06-25-21, $900,000
710 Lassen Street - $415,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1036 SqFt - 1954 YrBlt]
122 Mar Monte Court - $500,000
03-13-23 [3 Bdrms - 1092 SqFt - 1955 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 01-22-18, $350,000
6924 Mortara Court - $830,000
03-17-23 [4 Bdrms - 2410 SqFt - 1999 YrBlt],
- 1919 SqFt - 1953 YrBlt]
8 Santa Paula Way - $502,000 03-17-23 [2 Bdrms - 1086 SqFt - 1928 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 05-16-00, $138,000
Sereno Drive - $320,000 03-14-23 [3 Bdrms - 1040 SqFt - 1956 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 01-03-00, $137,500 149 Sunrise Way - $675,000
[4 Bdrms - 1752 SqFt - 1978 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 11-16-10, $225,000
3124 Terrace Beach Drive - $660,000
03-14-23 [4 Bdrms - 1836 SqFt - 1998 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 08-11-04, $508,000
258 Voyager Drive - $565,000
03-15-23 [3 Bdrms - 1387 SqFt - 1986 YrBlt]
271 Windjammer Drive - $430,000
03-13-23 [2 Bdrms - 1168 SqFt - 1986 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 09-08-03, $254,500
BLOOMBERG
U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 22% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, according to a report from real estate data analytics firm ATTOM.
While still below pre-pandemic levels, foreclosure activity has increased on an annual basis for
23 straight months. The uptrend reflects higher jobless rates, ongoing economic challenges and backlogged foreclosures working through the pipeline after the lifting of government interventions to help struggling homeowners during the pandemic, said Rob Barber, chief executive officer of ATTOM.
“However, with many home-
owners still having significant home equity, that may help in keeping increased levels of foreclosure activity at bay,” Barber said in a statement.
The number of foreclosure filings has been climbing since the federal moratorium ended in mid-2021. During the pandemic, an estimated 2 million homeowners fell behind on their mortgages.
Major metropolitan cities with populations of more than 200,000 that had the most foreclosures starts last quarter included New York (4,674); Chicago (3,549); Los Angeles (2,210); Houston (2,120); and Philadelphia (1,985).
Meanwhile, on a percentage basis, Michigan topped the list of states with a 41% increase in
foreclosure filings from the previous quarter.
Major metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in the January-March period included Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 526 housing units); Cleveland (one in 582); Atlantic City, N.J. (one in 661); Columbia, S.C. (one in 671); and Bakersfield (one in 688).
THE WASHINGTON POST
When Rashida Banks renovated the small rear patio of her Washington, D.C., home, she wanted to include a space where her pit bulls, Jax and Chase, could “do their business.”
“We, of course, walk our dogs,” she says, but in between those longer jaunts, she craved the convenience of just opening a door to let them out. Her solution: DIY-ing a section of artificial turf. “When they first encountered the turf, they sniffed it, walked around a bit, but went straight to doing their business,” she says.
A place to pee is one of many considerations when creating an outdoor oasis for a dog – and yes, you can create an oasis, even without a sprawling backyard. “Choose opportunities for enrichment that [your] particular dog or even potentially the breed of dog is more likely to want to engage in,” advises Ciera Moberg, a coowner and behavior consultant at Instinct Dog & Behavior Training. In a compact space, dogs can still be fulfilled if you create surroundings that “mimic how they would engage with the natural environment on their own,” she says.
So, if you’re looking to turn a modest patch of the outdoors into a fun and safe environment for your pup, try including some of these expert-recommended components, all of which are designed to activate the canine senses. (And, of course, none of this is meant to replace taking your dog for a nice long walk.)
Gravel or “a little patch of grass” are both viable options for a petite potty area, says Kris-
tina Carmody, owner and training director at Indigo Dog Training, though she agrees that Banks’s use of fake turf was smart since the material won’t get muddy and is easy to sanitize. “But it
does require maintenance, and it does get hot in the sun,” Carmody adds, suggesting that dog owners cool down artificial grass with water on especially warm days.
To install her turf, Banks and
ABOVE: Rashida Banks used large, heavy planters that her dogs can’t get into.
LEFT: Rashida Banks added to her small D.C. patio artificial turf for her dogs.
her husband dug three to four inches into the ground across a roughly 25-square-foot area, which became quite strenuous.
“You might think, ‘Oh, that’s not a lot,’ but the whole area has to be dug out at that level, so it does become a bit laborious,” she says.
They hand-tamped the soil before laying down a weed barrier and finely ground stone. After another round of hand tamping, they watered the subbase to ensure an even surface. Meanwhile, the turf was laid outdoors for about
two hours, which “softens it up, gets all the wrinkles out and makes it more flexible to work with,” she says.
They secured the turf using six-inch galvanized nails, then brushed sandlike infill over the top. The project took about four days of “working nonstop,” Banks says. (The materials would’ve cost her about $500, including a $140 wheelbarrow, but Banks works as a design influencer and got the supplies gratis from Home Depot.)
If your dog likes to dig, consider creating a spot just for that activity. One method is to hollow out a pit in the ground and fill it with sand or crush-proof balls. But Moberg says a store-bought kiddie pool will also do the trick: “It’s kind of the easiest, temporary way, especially if you don’t want a permanent digging pit in your yard for the wetter months.” Plus, come summer, you can fill the pool with water to give your dog a place to splash and cool off.
Carmody says a children’s portable sandbox with a lid also works well for this purpose. “They’re really sturdy and it’s convenient because you can cover it if it’s going to rain.”
Tinctures and sprays that emulate scents of animals like possums, pheasants and raccoons can offer stimulation in the yard, “especially for dogs that live in urban environments and don’t necessarily pick up those scents as much as they would if they were living in a more rural
See Dogs, Page 12
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Icalled AAA three years ago from my cellphone and the customer service was out of this world. My phone call was answered, and I was prompted to punch in my AAA account number. I was immediately connected with a customer service woman. She politely said something like, “How are you Mr. Porter, what can I do for you today?” I said my darn battery was dead and my jumper cables were not working. I think she somehow knew I was calling from my home on my cell and asked if the car was there with me and I said, “Yes.” She then said with a little bit of a warm southern country drawl, “Well golly Mr. Porter, I can have a technician over there in 30 minutes.” I said that would be great. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with today, I said, “No thank you ma’am,” and then she said something like, “in that case Mr. Porter, thank you for the call, have a nice day,” and hung up.
I was texted immediately with a confirmation and then it dawned on me that I just had a delightful back-and-forth conversation with a robot. AI is real and it isn’t getting dumber.
I have no idea what the real estate industry will look like in 2050 but I am sure that for the next 10 to 15 years, robots will not be driving buyers around in self-driving cars showing houses, but 2050 is right around the corner.
When Freddie and Fannie started using artificial intelligence for underwriting, I was worried that computers would not be able to see the whole story or make credit decisions based on common sense. I was concerned that it would be a lot tougher for people to qualify because a computer cannot read a letter of explanation from a borrower about why something negative is on their credit report or explain a gap of employment.
I was wrong.
Yes, FICO scores have become a dominant part of the mortgage world, which occasionally really stinks because some people have perfect credit or maybe very little credit and no debt, or some may have reporting errors on the credit report, which can result in a low FICO score.
One thing is certain, though, the artificial intelligence underwriter rarely wakes up on the wrong side of the bed in a bad mood. Prior to AI, loan approvals were manually underwritten by humans and if the underwriter came into work after a huge fight with his or her spouse or if the underwriter had just been reprimanded by their boss for being a little too loose on a loan approval the week before, us loan officers would have to beg or fight for the approval or go over the head of the person to their boss, which was never fun. Pizza, chocolates and flower deliveries to my underwriters were very common back in the day.
Every bank, credit union and mortgage banker uses the Freddie-Fannie AI program or some type of proprietary system to approve or deny loans and only rarely are exceptions made because the AI works effectively with no emotions involved, and approvals are based on the level of risk, the odds and analytics, and the quality of the loan application input by the loan officer. Great loan officers know how these systems work and what the robot underwriter likes and dislikes. The robot is color blind and emotion free. It’s all about the math.
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager and senior loan adviser of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
CALL 707-427-6989.
BLOOMBERG
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in March by more than forecast, underscoring a housing market that’s still on shaky footing despite some signs of stabilizing. Contract closings decreased 2.4% last month to an annualized pace of 4.44 million after an outsize jump in February, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 4.5 million.
“Home sales are trying to recover and are highly sensitive to changes in mortgage rates,”
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. “At the same time, multiple offers on starter homes are quite common, implying more supply is needed to fully satisfy demand.”
Some 28% of homes sold during the month went above list price, Yun added. About 5% were classified as vacation-home sales, down from 7% a year ago.
Even though mortgage rates
have come off their peak, many homeowners locked in much lower rates in recent years and are reluctant to move. Also, the Federal Reserve will likely raise borrowing costs again and credit conditions have tightened notably since several banks collapsed last month.
However, Yun suggested that, barring any large jump in mortgage rates, existing-home sales may have already bottomed. Before February, sales had dropped for a record 12 months in a row.
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‘This is not no regular toilet bowl,” gushes DJ Khaled on Instagram, fawning over a new toilet that rapper Drake sent to his home. “This is the most amazing toilet bowl I ever seen in my life.”
The Neorest NX2 toilet is a $21,181 porcelain throne. Designed by the Japanese company Toto, it features a remote control, heated seat, deodorizer, night light, and, as DJ Khaled says enthusiastically, “water that splashes up” after you’re done.
In other words, it’s a very pricey bidet. Khaled’s paean may be the high-water mark of the bidet’s profile in American pop culture – so far. Once viewed as an overseas oddity,
From Page 5
area or if they had more land or a larger yard,” Moberg says.
A garden of interesting-smelling plants can also entertain a dog, says Carmody, who recommends rosemary, basil and dill. Keep in mind that herbs in your doggy garden should not be used for cooking. And most importantly, be sure to consult the ASPCA’s list of plants that are toxic to dogs, so you know which varieties to avoid.
If you want to plant herbs for personal use, Moberg suggests using hanging planters that your dog can’t reach, even when standing on her hind legs. “Make sure that wherever you hang, it is very sturdy so that there is no chance of it falling, especially if your dog’s hanging out in the yard,” she says.
the bathroom fixture has exploded in popularity over the past three years. Retailers report sales leaping tenfold during the pandemic, and remaining strong The vast majority of Americans still exclusively use toilet paper, though. For many, the bidet remains a fusty porcelain basin vaguely associated with the French. But the technology has evolved. Multibillion-dollar incumbents like Toto, as well as newcomers such as Tushy and Luxe, have stormed the U.S. market, along with a flood of cutrate manufacturers on Amazon. Bidets that promise to work with almost any toilet are now within reach of every American: Simple versions can be had for just $30.
For the world’s northern forests, that’s great news. The pines, birches and aspens that fringe the Northern Hemisphere are a primary source of virgin
When Banks decided to add flowers to her patio, she chose to use large planters that Jax and Chase couldn’t get into. “There were bushes there before. but the dogs came and peed all over them and they died,” she explains. The new pots, which she surrounded with decorative rocks, have held up well.
Depending on your pet, Moberg says, you may want to keep in mind that some plants are better at attracting birds and other critters. “If you have a dog that has a good amount of predatory motivation, you probably don’t want to be attracting birds and squirrels and other small animals that your dog might see as prey,” she says.
“Being able to go up and down can be enriching and fun for dogs and can give them more opportunities for exercise as well,” says Moberg, adding that climbing
pulp to make toilet paper, particularly older, mature trees with longer fibers that manufacturers want to create an ultrasoft texture.
And no one buys more TP than Americans. The typical person in the United States uses about 24 rolls of toilet paper per year. That’s roughly three times more than Europeans – and among the highest per capita consumption of any country. Were the country to switch to bidets, millions of trees would likely remain standing every year.
I bought one in 2019 and never looked back.
But can bidets persuade Americans to set aside their rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft Cushiony Touch? It’s an easier sell than you think.
Water, not paper, has long been the world’s gold stan-
objects don’t have to be “permanent or expensive fixtures.” Logs, tree stumps or rocks can “mimic a larger outdoor environment,” she says, while benches or stools can also work for climbing over or under.
Carmody suggests recycling old car tires and stacking them to create a climbing platform. A single tire can also be filled with sand or gravel for another digging opportunity, or herbs for sniffing, she adds.
Make sure that any climbing object is sturdy, stable and a safe height for your pup’s size.
Just like humans, dogs love to lounge outside. Moberg recommends Kuranda beds for outdoor spaces, since they’re elevated off the ground and don’t hold onto moisture. “It can be really nice for them to smell the smells while laying in bed or hear outdoor sounds in the sun or shade outside,” she says.
dard for cleaning up behinds. The Quran details prescriptions for cleaning with water in the bathroom. More recently, a 1975 hygiene bill in Italy made it illegal not to have at least one bidet in every public lodging, reports The Guardian.
Although the bidet is thought to have been invented in France in the 1600s, Japan
has embraced the device like few other nations, with an estimated 79% of households owning at least one.
In the United States, the bidet has barely cracked the mainstream. Our historical prejudice against the apparatus dates back to World War II, when many
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service members’ first encounters with it were in a French brothel. That created an association with sex work.
The rest of the world, meanwhile, has embraced the concept, with the bidet evolving into myriad forms. I encountered the most basic version for the first time living in Southeast Asia: a handheld sprayer on the side of the toilet, similar to a sink faucet with a hose. The cheapest ones can cost just a few dollars.
But Japan ushered the French invention into the modern era. In 1980, Toto released the Washlet, integrating the bidet into the toilet seat itself. The underlying technology is simple. A small “wand,” or sprayer, extends from a housing under the seat to direct a precise stream of water that cleans the buttocks. When the water is turned off, the self-cleaning wand retracts behind a shield.
But things have gotten pretty extravagant from there. Today, Toto’s high-end models offer adjustable water temperature, air drying, a heated seat, bowl cleaning, personalized settings, a night light, remote controls, and even an automatic air deodorizer. More than 60 million of the devices have been sold around the world since 1980. Just not many in the United States.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, few Americans were interested in the fixture. “Bidets weren’t really gaining traction,” says Bill Strang, a Toto executive in the United States.
After March 2020’s toilet paper shortages, bidets climbed the e-commerce rankings, coming in just behind items such as disposable gloves, masks, hand sanitizer and toilet paper, reports Toto. “We sold out of our product in about four weeks in North America,” Strang says. Remote work has increased this momentum. As people spent more time in their home offices
and bathrooms, they poured money into “refreshing” their homes – and behinds.
Start-ups such as Tushy have capitalized on this wave of interest, tailoring the often-complicated Japanese models to suit American tastes. Tushy makes several models starting at $69. The base model offers controls such as spray angle and intensity, as well as irreverent marketing: “Save Your A--, Save Your Money, Save the Planet.”
Founder Miki Agrawal says sales jumped fivefold during the pandemic. “It went from being something that seems weird, shameful and awkward to a boastful thing you show your friends,” says Agrawal, who says Tushy has more than 1.4 million customers.
Should you join these new converts? There are three reasons for taking the plunge: the environment, savings and performance.
The main one is to reduce clear-cutting mature forests. Every year, Americans flush the equivalent of millions of trees down the toilet. Much of this toilet paper comes from trees logged in Canada’s species-rich boreal forests, the vast landscape of plants and wetlands growing below the Arctic Circle. Nearly a quarter of the world’s
last intact forest landscapes are in this region, says the Natural Resources Defense Council, storing about the same amount of carbon as three decades’ worth of fossil fuel emissions. By the time it reaches your bathroom, every roll of toilet paper has used up an estimated 1.5 pounds of wood and more than 6 gallons of water.
Bidets, meanwhile, require about one-eighth of a gallon per use, a fraction of the water required to make the amount of toilet paper needed for the same purpose. And since bidets tend to cut household consumption of TP by about 80%, they’re “a great alternative to using tissue products,” says the NRDC. It can also pay off in less than one year. A paper industry analysis by the research firm RISI found Americans consume about 24 rolls of TP per year on average – some estimates
put it above 85 rolls. At today’s prices, the typical person would spend at least $30 annually on toilet paper. Since the cheapest bidet seats sell for about the same price, it’s an investment that can pay off in the same year. Savings for families are even larger.
In my experience, bidets just work better. You can never get as clean with toilet paper, or even wet wipes, as rinsing with water. “From a hygiene perspective, it just clearly makes sense,” says Evan Goldstein, an anal surgeon in New York City. Bidets also can reduce the risk of illness, from E. coli to urinary tract infections.
When I finally thought about it, the way we use toilet paper didn’t make much sense either.
We don’t shower by rubbing paper towels across our bodies. We don’t scrub our hands with dry scraps of tissue. Yet for the most demanding cleanup job in our daily lives, we employ a few thin sheets of paper.
Toilet paper is not going away. Nor should it, necessarily. But we have far better choices than standard TP available to us, from bamboo to recycled tissue, along with a bidet. It’s a purchase that sends a message about what options we want in the store. “Consumers have a lot of power here,” writes Shelley Vinyard, a boreal forests campaign director at the NRDC, who says companies are starting to make products without virgin tree fiber in response to demand. One day, we may come to see wiping our bums with extra-soft toilet paper from virgin forests as we do smoking cigarettes: mainly a good idea for the people who sell the products.
