The Obamas debuted the newest addition to the First Family on Tuesday when Bo (named after Mr. Diddley—and in loving homage to Michelle Obama’s dad, who also used it as a nickname) pranced across the White House lawn. 

There were lots of questions about how the girls liked him.  “I love him—he’s perfect,” Malia sighed.

 And lots of questions about who would walk the dog.  “Everybody is going to take turns walking the dog,” the President said.

 Even a question about whether Bo would be allowed to sleep in a bed: “Not my bed!” the President said quickly, which made his wife and daughters laugh.

 But not one question that’s just as important: who’s going to pick up after the dog?

 Before Bo arrived, the President told the press he was going to sit down and explain to his daughters that the fun of living with a dog came with considerable responsibility.  Well and fine to caper with him on the leash and get puppy kisses, but they’re also going to have to take care of what he called the “business end” of the dog.

 Good for him.  Because far too few of us pick up after our canines.  And doing that isn’t just a manners thing, it’s a public health thing.  Dog feces is annoying if you step in it, and risky if you slip on it.  But it can be downright dangerous to leave it lying around.

Because that poo is packed with pathogens. It’s chock-full of  parasites and bacteria like roundworms and e coli and salmonella.  Stuff that can seriously sicken the very young, the very old and the immuno-suppressed.  Think about that when you’re playing ball barefoot on the park’s grass…

So I hope when we see photos of the winsome Obama children and their handsome parents walking Bo on the South lawn, we’ll also see little plastic bags for poo disposal clutched in one hand or stuffed into a pocket.  And I hope the people who have been enamored enough of Mrs. Obama’s hairstyle and cardigans and trim triceps to imitate them will also imitate her when they see her pick up Bo’s leavings and dump them into the nearest trash can.  (You know she will.  She’s all about responsibility.)

 Our dogs.  Our job.  Everybody’s health issue.

Karen Grigsby Bates is a Los Angeles-based correspondent for NPR News, and co-author, with Karen Elyse Hudson, of The New Basic Black: Home Training For Modern Times (Doubleday).