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?

There’s an area by my in-laws we walk that actually asks people to leave it unless on the main path to avoid using too many poo bags.
That said though, unless walking in an area that specifies to leave it or in an area I can’t get to I pick it up.

I recently visited family back in Germany and was struck by how few dog poos were lying around compared to where we live in the UK. My family lives near a lake and woodland area in the vicinity of a major city that is extremely popular with dog owners, but despite going for multiple long runs in the area I only saw a very small number of poos left on or near paths.

In contrast, we live in a (pretty, well looked after) village on the outskirts of a mid-sized town in Kent, and I can hardly move without almost stepping in dog poo. Many left on well used paths, sometimes on the one narrow path that most school children walk along. I've counted as many as a dozen easily visible poos along a single 600m long path.

It's incredibly frustrating. We have small children and I have to constantly look out to stop them stepping in shit. When running in the summer I can often smell it everywhere. Please just pick up your dog's excrement - you may not find it disgusting but many other people do.

"Stick and flick" which is effectively what your friend did is promoted by the forestry commission. Definitely better than the abandoned poo bags Hanging in a branch or wherever that are never collected on the way back and stay for years.

I always wonder how people seem OK with cat poo on these threads. Why is nobody expected to see to the safe disposal of cat excrement?

Totally selfish and disgusting behaviour 😡.

I usually pick it up but stick and flick in certain circumstances.
I am forever picking up rubbish though left by people who are unable to use rubbish bins - now much worse since we've had some sunny weather - as well as fishing lines off the beach which quite often have a hook attached.

People have become increasingly selfish and give no care as to how others are affected.

Cats Bury it

Cats don't poo on paths

Cats poo is smaller

The law around Cats is different your comparison is flawed

@Janedoe82

Thats terrible. I don't want me, kids or dog standing in your dogs shit while it 'biodegrades'.

buy biodegradable dog poo bags & put it in a bin.

stop being lazy

@Janedoe82

kids & dogs run everywhere, both like hiding behind/under bushes.

Dog shit is very different to rabbit poo ( if it's not your dog needs a vet) Foxes are wild animals, your dog is not, you do not need to add to the amount of shit !!

I am not being lazy!! but I am not climbing into ditches that humans shouldn't be in looking for dog poo!

what about the dogs running through the woodland? What if they stand in it, bring it home, walk on your carpet?

😂😂 Keep "your" dog on a lead if "you" don't want to running through woodland stepping in animal shit. They are far more likely to run through fox or badger shit.

I live in a really rural area- I obviously use a different approach in more populated areas.

Lots of places advocate flicking.

i always picked up after my dog apart from the rare occasions he squatted in a nettle or bramble patch (why?!) or somewhere inaccessible.

I’m not a dog owner but this wouldn’t bother me. Surely it’s better for the environment if the poo is left to nature to biodegrade (obviously as long as it’s not on a path or somewhere people are likely to step in it) rather than put in a plastic bag and thrown away. One thing that really annoys me though it when people pick it up and put it in a bag and then hang it on a tree or throw it into the hedge.

How long does it take a doggie bag take to break down (if it's not a biodegradable one) and also the effort/ energy/ waste to produce the said bag.

The only time I leave it is if I’m walking in steep terrain and it’s somewhere I can’t safely get to but my mountain goat of a dog is doing extreme sports. I figure nobody else is going there either!

Woodland, park, path, always pick up and bin, don’t leave it dangling!

Can I flick the cat poo in my garden back to the cat owners house?

In forest areas, there are even signs saying to flick it in the over growth. I suppose it’s because it’s easier to break down than put into a bag and then thrown

Dog owners should pick it up wherever it is.
Children play in woodland. It's selfish to leave if they're not willing to pick it up they shouldn't have dogs

Alternatively, people can actually take it to the parking area where there will be bins, or, hod forbid, home with them. Their dog, their little parcel of joy!

people hanging bags in trees need to have their noses rubbed in it!!

No, it's really not. Biodegradable bags & take it with you. Kids & dogs run through the stingers & we don't want to be stepping in dog shit.

Because cats are free roaming.

Dogs are owned and by law need to be under control.

love dogs, hate lazy owners. Pick up after your dog or find it a new, responsible owner.

I feel like the stick and flick campaign was possibly a way to address dog owners littering the environment with plastic bags - full or empty - rather than active encouragement to pepper the landscape with dog poo.

But I could be wrong. I wonder how it changes matters now that most poo bags are biodegradable.