Disappointing dog poo behaviour but what is the norm now?

[tkdrift]

I'm not long back from a dog walk with a good friend of mine who I haven't seen in some time. She has acquired a dog in the intervening period but is an experienced dog owner. We walked through woodland, her dog pooped next to the path and she kicked it into the undergrowth.

I did 😮face and she shrugged and said "It'll break down". This is now the fourth person I've walked with in recent months whose dog has pooped somewhere and rather than pick it up they've either kicked it to the side (bleurgh) or covered it up with leaves etc.

These are otherwise genuinely decent, sensible people whose judgment in most other areas I trust and respect.

What am I missing? Is this how many dog owners feel? For context I have a dog and unless she has pooped in a part of the undergrowth that I can't get to (rare - she's a public pooper) I will always pick it up. Always. Woodland or not.

I've challenged my friends gently by saying "But there are so many dogs and there's so much poo." but they just don't seem to get it. Children love to run around in woodland and often don't stick to the paths. But if everyone with a dog not only left it there but then went on to hide it... Ugh...

I don't know. I was really disappointed. But as I said it's happened a few times now. Is this generally what dog owners do these days? How are people justifying it to themselves?

If my dog poos in woodland or up a grassy bank etc I cover it up. It will biodegrade much quicker than in a plastic bag!

Not really any different than a fox or rabbit. I do lift if on a path etc, but not if somewhere people don't generally walk.

"Oh I forgot to put any bags in my pocket" is the usual excuse.

Well it seems the first few posters have answered your question- yes it seems to be socially (if not somewhat selfish) acceptable!

First time dog owner here - would never have got her if I wasn't prepared to pick up the poo. I pick it up every time regardless of where it happens.

I’m with you, OP. This is a US link but still relevant to the UK, and explains the reasons clearly: https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/dog-poop-vs-wildlife-poop-not-all-animal-excreme/

Thank you.

I guess I don't fully understand the biodegrading argument. Dog poo takes a long time to break down and is harmful to plants and soil around it. Contains a lot more potentially harmful pathogens and parasites than herbivore poo, which is actively good for the ecology. And there are so many dogs. We have local heathland and it just feels wrong to see the amount of dog poo being left there. I don't think that it is ever considered to be a natural part of the ecology...

Ah thank you @MyGreenFinch . That article puts it much better than I could.

It is the norm, yes. I say this as a volunteer litterpicker. It is dog owners like this who have ruined my relationship with the countryside. Absolutely sick and tired of having to look at the ground instead of the scenery and dodging piles of shit wherever I go and being terrified of falling over or dropping something. Plus sitting on public transport next to people like your dirty friend who kicks dog shit around and thinks it's normal and acceptable.

Humans are just vile.

No no no!!
that’s an awful way to deal with it.

covering it with leaves is even worse than just leaving it, you’ve got no chance of seeing it then.

what about the dogs running through the woodland? What if they stand in it, bring it home, walk on your carpet?
revolting behaviour from anyone who leaves it behind.
I’ve seen a couple of acquaintances leave it and it changes my opinion of them but not in a good way!

if your not going to pick it up you shouldn’t have a dog

I wouldn't mind the chuck it/ leave it move as long as it went a long way or was well off the path. Often people don't bother if it is just an inch to the side of the main path or, to put it another way, exactly where you need to stand to give way/pass other walkers or where kids might reasonably be roaming!

We always pick up unless physically can't get to it, like OP. I've stung my hands on nettles through the bag too many times - why does one of my dogs love to poo amongst them?!

Yep folk are disgusting and do disgusting things because they are lazy and not fit to own a pet. Woodland type walks or walks with no traffic are for EVERYONE not just some lazy dog owner and their disgusting abandoned poop. In some countries you have to have a license to own a dog which includes a blood test kept in your dogs file. You leave their shite anywhere you'll be huckled, as you well deserve. Noone cares if you THINK it will biodegrade quick enough not to smear on to some poor rambler or child's feet. Revolting people should STOP GETTING DOGS THEY ARE TOO LAZY TO CARE FOR.

Hopefully everyone who walks in the countryside looks where they are treading, every animal, bird and insect that live there will be leaving poo as they go. I wonder how many people realise that the big heaps of dark grey looking dust in arable fields are treated human waste waiting to be spread on the land. All poo ends up somewhere, flushing it down a toilet or wrapping it up and putting it in a bin doesn't mean it disappears. I agree no-one wants to step in fresh poo, dog or otherwise but I have no problem with letting it rot down in places where no one walks.

@CheeseCakeSunflowers How mortifying - Tell everyone you don't understand or know anything intelligent about ecosystems and the animals living in them versus you and your dogs shite without actually saying "I know nothing and it's embarrassing"

Pick up your dogs shit or don't have a dog. That's the only 2 options.

Some councils actually advise that in rural areas it can be left as long as not on the path. When visiting a relative in Rural Hampshire last year they actually had signs up asking people to “Pick it or flick it”. I always pick it up regardless.

I can see how it might possibly be more acceptable in a rural area - we have family who live on a ranch in the US and of course they don't wander around with a poo bag, but that feels like a completely different proposition. That's two or three dogs roaming many many acres of land with virtually no people around.

For the majority of us I think that is not the case. Most of the country is densely populated and many are dog owners. That's a lot of dog poo for suburban or even semi rural environments to cope with.

Yes like a pp the fields around here say find a stick and flick

Years ago there were posters saying stick and flick in more remote areas, the worst thing you can do is bag and leave it hanging in a tree which some people do.

Perhaps the dark grey looking heaps can wait for another thread.

Domesticated dog shit is absolutely vile and a public health risk. It is uncontrolled and legislation/enforcement is urgently required but round my way the council cannot be bothered so basically people take the approach of cheesecakesunflowers and tell themselves nobody walks there resulting in parents, disabled and visually impaired people dealing with the disgusting consequences of their filthy, sloppy, lazy, entitled behaviours.

There's a popular walking area near me, a brown field site, and there are posters up telling you to get a stick and flick it [off the paths into the bushes etc]. There are no dog poo bins on the walk so I suppose it's better than the poo bags hanging from trees.

I stick and flick my dogs poo in to stingers when we’re out in the wilds, it’s much better than the alternative of leaving it/ putting it in to a plastic bag.

I’d always pick it up in a park but that’s not our normal walking environment anyway.

Lazy and disgusting behaviour

I'll point out that's there's a huge difference between woods on the edge of a main urban area and proper rural, places we walk have only a handful of visitors a day and none in winter

I don't let my kids off the path anywhere because of this and I am constantly telling them to look out for dog poo.
The only places I'd let them play in woodland are places which don't allow dogs. So, nowhere. Hey ho.