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?

It’s truly vile but my solace recently has been that I really do think it’s reaching a zenith where I can see the possibility of laws changing in the future including licensing and tax on dog ownership because the situation is out of control.

She's lazy, dirty and selfish - like most people in the UK these days.

So many dog owners who cling to stick and flick. You can tell them this is outdated till you’re blue in the face; it’s like they’ve got their fingers in their ears and going “la la la I can’t hear you.”

I have a friend who does it. We live in a national park in which the delicate ecology is changing because of all the bloody dog poo. Rare wild flowers struggling to survive thanks to the changed nutrient levels. And she keeps on sticking and flicking and saying ‘look no plastic bags, better for the environment” like some kind of stuck record, no matter how many times I remind her that this is wrong.

It’s “poo” not “poop”.

Hope that helps.

I am actually really not. I am not going into a pile of nettles and jaggies to put dog poo into a plastic bag to have to be disposed of by someone else at a cost 🙈

I always have to remind them to avoid grass next to the path, always a problem with dog poo, and so many !

It’s a miracle how any of us survived as children with the daily threat of dog poo! Long before we had poo bags.

It's dog owners fault if they have to be regulated cleaning up poo is part of dog ownership

Someone has let there dog poo in the grass right where I park my car there are no stinging nettles no trees jus a bit of a grass verge and a pile of shit I've now got to clean it up so the kids and I don't track it into my house or car and mow it so i can see if they do it again because its no mow fucking may and the grass is "just" tall enough to cover the poo

It's not even my grass
It's definitely not my poo
Why is it my problem

Ffs just pick it up! It's not exactly hard is it? If I've run out of bags I ask the next dog owner I see and go back to get it. There's nothing worse than walking your dog in a popular dog walking area and having to ensure both you and the dog dodge all the poo that hasn't been picked up.

It should definitely be picked up everywhere. It's not good for grazing cattle.

It didn't use to be like this so I think it is the new pandemic dog owners.

Dog poo spreads a disease called neospora in cattle causing abortion and stillbirth, if the calf does survive 90% will be infected. There is no vaccine for it and infected cows and heifers will usually be culled. It is spread by the eggs in the faeces of a infected dog and it stays in the environment for around 6 months. The cow eats the grass (or silage/hay if it has been cut and made into feed for them) and becomes infected. So please always pick up after your dog when walking through fields even if there are no livestock present. Thank you.

Surely it depends where you walk and how crowded the area is.
If it's a popular walking or tourist spot or what can be deemed as property like national trust houses or local parks definitely pick it up.
If it's a remote area that's not frequented by lots and lots of people by all means stick & flick it.

Funny because the National Trusts canine code says bag it up and take it home. No mention of stick and flick 🤷‍♀️

Since lockdown people have changed.
They have become selfish and lazy.
Why carry a pop bag when you can make your dog's mess someone else's problem. Just keep walking while in your phone laying absolutely no attention to your dog shitting everywhere....

Stick and flick is fine in the countryside. But people do it here on large grassy areas between the houses that have been turned into "flower meadows" and "wildlife habitats". Which apparently just means the council stops cutting the grass to save money.

So the stick and flick brigade do that here and then the children run through the long grass and step in it.

I think the rule should be you bag and bin if within five minutes walk of a bin and within 10m of a pathway.

If there's no bin or there is actual undergrowth (as opposed to long grass that's a wildlife habitat) by all means stick and flick.

It used to degrade faster because dogs were fed fresh real food my mom used to let the dog out to poo in the garden (put it in the dog loo) then walk the dog taking the dog out to poo everywhere was unheard of in our area

Strangely once upon a time people were encouraged to get their dog to poo over the drain by the road and they did we actually trained our dogs also

There was a big discussion recently on our local FB group about the amount of dog poo on one of our local walks. Quite a few people put this down to there not being enough bins. But there are bins - admittedly they are all in the car park but I just don't understand why that's a problem. My dog frequently poos near the start of the walk. I will always bag it up. Granted it's not ideal swinging it around for my walk for the next hour but I do it because it wouldn't occur to me not to. It's my dog and cleaning up after it is my responsibility.

Just a bit disappointed that so many people don't see a problem with just leaving it there but I'm heartened that many of the responses are positive.

So how do you manage to get in there to cover it with leaves then???

Stick and flick isn't totally fine in the countryside. I live near a walking area. Which is frequented by dog walkers. All day long they pull up and walk their dog. Many dogs just shit shortly after getting out the car and walking down the path. It's the sheer volume and traffic that becomes an issue in some places. It's pretty terrible near me. I'd guess it's only a few that aren't responsible. Because if it were the many it would be everywhere. I see so many walkers powering on ahead while their dog dumps behind. Ignorance is bliss. Then again I don't expect people to keep a complete eye. Shit happens.

There weren't this many dogs! As a child I only knew one person who had a dog, now everybody has one.

Plus, dog poo takes months to degrade, so it was never actually ok to leave it, it's always been disgusting and antisocial.

Well I obviously don’t if it is in the middle of a pile of jaggies!
i lift if somewhere someone likely to walk. It if is in a piece of overgrown land near where we walk (very rural) and where no only likely to be I cover it up with natural debris or if it is in a pile of jaggies I leave it.

As a dog owner I’d never dream on not picking up after my dog! Can’t actually believe the amount of posters here that think it’s ok to leave it - even if it is in a rural area🤷‍♀️.

Sorry but this is disguising and very disrespectful! I've grown up with dogs and wouldn't leave their poo on the floor! Even as a child when I walked them I wouldnt do this! We have biodegradable poo bags, pick up the poo and hold onto it until you find a bin. You chose to own a dog then you chose to look after it responsibly.
also have children, them accidentally step in other dogs poo and then getting in the car without noticing and scraping their feet on the back of the drivers seat is super grim and has happened to a few friends as well!

Stick n flick is a thing. Of you can flick it to somewhere in the undergrowth its better for the environment than using a poo bag. Otherwise, you pick it up

If it is somewhere that a person would not be walking, yes I will leave it

our local park on a hot day is absolutely ripe, the smell of warmed up dog shit permeates the surrounding area 🤢