To have a rant about dog mess?

[JoyfulAndTriumphant]

I'm pregnant, I'm sick and I'm in a bad bloody mood so perhaps I'm overreacting, but I am sick to the bloody back teeth of dog mess on the streets.

Our town seems to have become particularly bad for it recently. Or maybe it's just now I have a toddler who loves to explore that I'm noticing it more.

This morning, for example, we went for what should have been a lovely walk along the sea front. There is a path that runs parallel to the beach for miles. It's quite busy with bikes, families with toddlers and dog walkers. It's a fab walk.

It was anything but lovely today. Constantly avoiding dog mess all over the place, trying to keep toddler DD from running straight through it. Saw other families having the same struggle, wee girl accidentally ran her scooter through a huge pile etc etc. The streets are the same. Every time we walk to the local park, I'm constantly trying to keep DD from stepping in it.

I'm so, so sick of it. It's absolutely disgusting. I like dogs as much as the next person, it isn't the fault of the dogs of course, but these disgusting manky owners who think it's ok to just walk off and leave it in the street.

Who are these people?? There are poo bins and signs all over the town and all along he abovementioned path. There is just no excuse for it.

[MuseumOfCurry]

They are antisocial yobs. Problem is that polite English people are not that keen on confrontation, and often times the offenders are downright scary.

I hate it.

[JoyfulAndTriumphant]

Someone let their dog foul all over our driveway the other week. Second time that's happened. I swear if I catch them in the it's going in their letterbox.

Thing is, it's a nice and very small town, mainly populated by oaps and young families. I'm not convinced the problem is entirely down to scary yobs with staffies.

[harderandharder2breathe]

Yanbu although I think it probably is just you noticing more with a toddler

I love dogs but a responsible owner picks up the shit after their dog

[MuseumOfCurry]

Thing is, it's a nice and very small town, mainly populated by oaps and young families. I'm not convinced the problem is entirely down to scary yobs with staffies.

Not cleaning up after your dog means you're a yob.

[SnatchedPencil]

Yes, dog owners who don't clean up after their pets are irresponsible scum. "Yobs" is rather too polite. Leaving dog shit in the street is as offensive as taking a dump in the street yourself - more so in some ways because the offender can't use the excuse that they were desperate and had nowhere to go.

If you see someone not clearing up after their dog, and you are too nervous to confront them, maybe just follow them home at a discreet distance (chances are that if they are too lazy to clean up after their dog, they are too lazy to take it for a proper walk too!). Once you know where they live, try leaving your rubbish outside their house and see how they like it.

[Lateralthinker2016]

I have a staffy and I clean up after him. The yappy cloud with legs 2 doors down shits all over the pavement as he's free to roam- never see them pick up.
Breed is irrelevant- and not all Staffy owners are yobs- just saying!

[DJBaggySmalls]

Our streets are pretty clean, but at the park people think its natural and will just disappear by itself.
I pity the park keeper who mows the grass.

[Anyhoooo]

This is absolutely my pet hate. We live next to the village green, it's not massive and has 3 poo bins around it. There are 2 shops in the village at which free packs of poo bags can be collected. Still the ignorant, responsible idiots will not pick it up. It drives me mad. I've got a dog, i pick up the poo. What's wrong with people .

[JoyfulAndTriumphant]

Genuinely believe if you cannot or will not pick up the poo then you should not have a dog.

Anyone out there want to confess to this? What are your reasons?

[alleypalley]

YANBU. It's disgusting. And just not necessary. It's really not that hard to pick up after your dog, I've never once not picked up after my dog but many many times I trod in dog shit in the park because I've not noticed in in the grass/leaves/dark. More than once I've confronted someone and told them to clean up after their dog and each time I've had to give them a bag because they have left the house with no intention at all of picking up the shit.

[MuseumOfCurry]

Anyone out there want to confess to this? What are your reasons?

I have a dog and cleaning up her poo is something I do reflexively - it's very easy and does not gross me out. Lots of bag dispensers available on Amazon to be attached to the lead. There's no excuse, and if you do it in front of the dog people at the park you'll be an outcast.

[MuseumOfCurry]

More than once I've confronted someone and told them to clean up after their dog and each time I've had to give them a bag because they have left the house with no intention at all of picking up the shit.

If you see someone without the little dispenser on their lead, keep an eye on them. Most dog owners will eventually get one because it's much easier than making sure you always have a bag in your pocket.

[BWatchWatcher]

Also, the kind people who pick up the dog mess in a bag and then hang the bag off a tree or leave in on the ground, in the bag.
Why? Why do that?

[empirerecordsrocked]

Drives me up the fucking wall and I have a dog. I just don't get it.

[empirerecordsrocked]

I don't have a dispenser though. I have a cross body bag that's for dog walking and has my supply of bags in.

[DJBaggySmalls]

We're lifelong dog owners and we always pick up. Dont get me started on stick and bloody flick.

[Lovelybangers]

I hate it too.

Run most days on the streets around my local area - and spend a lot of time checking where I can put my feet.

Lazy dog ownership - there are no excuses.

[charlestrenet]

I hate it too. Especially when it's not even necessary for a dog to shit in the street at all - it's perfectly possible to train them to shit in one place - eg in a particular corner of the garden. The thing that winds me up is not just the mess but the way that mess prevents other people from enjoying public spaces and amenities - it's an infringement.

[krustykittens]

When we lived in suburbia, the worst offender was an old lady who let her lap dog into our front garden so she could shit on our lawn! She thought she was being responsible as she was keeping the pavements clean and as we had a dog, she didn't think we would mind! When I had a go at her, she told me she had lived round her all her life, unlike me, and she could do what she liked! So yes, I did follow her home one day and then started leaving her dog's crap on her doorstep. She stopped doing it.

[originalmavis]

We live in London. I find it's the nicest areas that have most poop. We are ankle deep at the moment. I swear it's because it's cokd, dard and wet and people can't be arsed to pick it up if there's a chance noone will see them. I also see a lot of maids walking elderly pooches around the park, pretending not to see them squatting and depositing .

[charlestrenet]

Stick and flick is pathetic, I agree. So not only are you not prepared to train your dog to shit in one place, but you also won't pick it up at all when you're out and think you've done enough by moving it off the path. Yeah, because no-one ever wants to walk off the path when they're in the countryside. Ffs.

[LumelaMme]

I have dogs, and I usually walk them in woods and fields. I either bury their shit (thank god for wellies) or, if that's not possible, I pick it up and bin it. Sometimes they dump deep in the brambles, and I'll leave that, because if I can't get to it, no one else can.

If they go on the playing fields, I ALWAYS pick it up. I even pick up shit left by other people's dogs. This is partly shame at being associated with such anti-social bastards by virtue of also owning a dog, partly a sense of social duty, and partly self-interest, because if the football and rugby clubs go on finding shit all over the pitches, they will get dogs banned from them entirely, and these pitches are only open ground for miles where you can train your dog (i.e. not fields with but the one footpath going through, which the farmer would rather you kept to).

Though of course, the people whose dogs' crap is left on the pitches will ignore the rules and probably don't waste their valuable time training their dogs anyway.

[LumelaMme]

Have just reminded myself to go and reload my pocket with poo bags for tomorrow morning...

[CoconutGal]

I feel your pain OP. The short walk to school is like a minefield of dog poo for us! There's signs everywhere asking for it to be picked up but people ignore it. My parents are dog owners & they hate it when owners don't pick up their dogs mess.

[halfbuffy]

I always pick up after our dog, but there's a guy who lives on the street next to ours who brings his boxer dog round to the car park of our block to go to the toilet and then doesn't pick it up, it's just left everywhere.

What makes it more annoying is that it's right next to a bin, so if he picked it up he wouldn't have to carry it far! Plus it's right next to a funeral home which I just think is so disrespectful...I've tried to catch him a couple of times but he runs off as soon as he hears the door open!