Why can’t dogs be trained not to stop and shit in the middle of the pavement?

1000% this⬆

My dog never sat at the kerb, as greyhounds find it very uncomfortable to sit.

Quite. But the majority of owners have no idea about recall. Many of them find it hard to get a dog to sit at the kerb......

You're lucky, there seems to be epidemic in my area (London). Poo in the TRAIN STATION!!!! I mean, wtf

I genuinely think it might be. I've never seen another breed take quite so much care over their ablutions.

• Many dogs will hold it to not poop in the garden
• Not everyone has a garden (I know its shocking).
• Dogs can need a poo when out on a walk.

They could train them to poop in their own gardens but obviously they prefer not to 😂

I see at least one a day pooing on the pavement on the school run and at least one dog poo en route. Naice area also. It’s disgusting.

They can, but there are limits.

Mine are trained to go on concrete/hard surfaces as I find it much easier to pick up and squoosh from my wheelchair vs trying to drag a turd out of long grass with a poopickstick. Our verges are almost exclusively long grass as our council is one of those 'lets not mow it let the wild flowers grow' jobs, so it is only cut back twice a year.

I can't ALSO train them not to go on concrete/tarmac (it's what I have in my back yard), and they can't really differentiate between my concrete/tarmac and someone elses).

On the whole mine shit before they go out, but exercise does tend to prompt further shitting. I ensure their diet is such that poos are easy to pick up and carry a sports bottle of water for squooshing with if necessary. I think that is sufficient, the pavement is for walking on, you're not meant to be lying on it or licking it.

They're also not allowed to wee up gates/cars/peoples property, as I think thats disgusting - certain street furniture that is made from anti corrosive stuff I do permit as it is an instinctive need, to sniff the peemail and scent mark, and no ones stopping the foxes, cats, badgers and munties from doing it, all of which is interesting scent for my dog to follow/investigate.

Not sure what people who live in more urban areas are supposed to do. I have no garden and have to walk on quite a few pavements to get to any grass. Sometimes my dog poops on the way. Not sure he can help it.
also it isn’t legal to go off lead where I live so dogs walk around the streets a lot. They are well trained just don’t have an alternative. And honestly the main local grass area is a park heavily used by kids to play football etc so personally I prefer dogs pooping on the pavement over in the middle of the grass where kids are rolling around even if the poop is picked up.

Mine is a terrier indeed, it didn't occur to me it could be a terrier thing actually!

My dog is actually very well trained. We get comments on it all the time. But it’s never occurred to me to train him not to poo on pavements. Why is it an issue if I pick it up? His poo is firm and leaves no trace once picked up.

I discovered that there is nothing as finicky on this earth as a terrier choosing where to poo. The sniffing of different blades of grass, the turning in a tight circle, then a circle in the other direction, the dismissal of the original option, the starting all over again.......

I rarely see it. I had a dog myself for 14 years and only once did she poo in the street and that was when she had a sudden upset tummy.

For 14 years my lab pooed either in a ditch, a gutter or a specific area in the garden. Now he tries his best but arthritus and the jabs he has to help mean he does sort of walk along doing it.

I always have bags and a water bottle and I don't tell him off, he literally only walks 10 mins a day now. I want him to enjoy his sniffing and meander, not worry that people might be judging the poor greying old boy pooping.

Does it really matter so long as the owner picks it up?

Was certainly busy busy almost 30 years ago when we got our first guide dog pup, and several after. It certainly wasn't used just for personal gardens though as a previous poster stated, it was a command for any and all relevant time useful to the blind person. So for us taking the puppy into tesco for a big shop "busy busy" just before entering was crucial to the blind person knowing their dog had toileted.

My lab now would never shit on the pavement and if he did I'd whack him right round to the vet.

Our dogs don’t shit on footpaths. This is admittedly more down to luck than excellent training. They both like to shit in undergrowth on walks.

It certainly is NOT rare to see dog poo in the street!

Forgot to add I have no idea why she did that. It was very very unusual.

My dog would never in a million years shit randomly. She had her spot in her own garden.

I never took a bag out with me. One day my dog decided to take a big shit directly outside a school at 2.50pm. I was mortified. I ran home and then drove back quickly with a bag just in the nick of time before 3.15pm 🤣

A bit of a generalisation but the people who allow their dogs to poo on pavements are usually the sort that only ever strut their dogs around the streets as a status symbol and never take them for a decent walk on grass. These are also the types least likely to clean up after their dogs, so perfect storm as it were.

One of DD's dogs only ever poos in their own back garden, never when out on a walk. No-one taught her this, it's just her preference.

This is very rare where I live. I see loads of dogs every day on my walk with mine and I think I have only seen a dog do that a couple of times in 5 years.