to think that the keeping of dogs for domestic purposes should be banned.

[AKMD]

That?s it really. I am sick to death of having to watch my feet to make sure I don?t accidentally tread in dog muck left to steam by some selfish, lazy dog owner. I resent not being able to take 2yo DS to the park directly opposite my house because it?s used as a dog exercise ground and you can?t play toddler football without the ball and toddler falling into said dog muck. I hate that every time we go to the slightly nicer park there?s at least one dog without a lead who decides to come and sniff DS and that while he backs away the owner stands there laughing that ?he?s only being friendly?. I loathe and detest the particularly ?friendly? dogs who lick DS while I drag him away, probably just after eating another dog?s poo or a dead rat or some other disgusting thing they just found. I have personally seen the scars left on a young child by a ?friendly? dog turning savage and ripping the toddler?s cheek off. The problem of people getting bored of their dogs and dumping them in rescue centres is sickening. The stories of dogs being bred to fight, being neglected, being bred for ?beauty? despite the ?beautiful? characteristics causing the animals pain and suffering are beyond belief.

IMO domestic dog owners as a general class have proved that they are irresponsible and selfish. Fear of treading in dog poo on a pavement or in a park is common to everyone and I am so, so sick of people blaming it on a tiny minority. Domestic dog owners can?t be trusted to be responsible so they shouldn?t have them, end of. People should only be allowed to keep dogs for working purposes ? guide dogs, sniffer dogs, police dogs, sheep dogs etc. - if they are licensed.

AIBU?

YANBU

I counted six dog shits on the way to school this morning. Wearing sandals here is a fucking hazard.

PMSL - oh well, if you and perfume agree that Northern Ireland is dog-owning paradise, there's no way you could be wrong :o

Most of the people here are arguing from an experience of dog-ownership in England, which IME means a hell of a lot less dog shit and a hell of a lot more effort to control your dog from a far greater percentage of the population.

Or go to New York, where there's barely any shit on the streets or in the parks and it is totally and utterly socially unacceptable to let your dog (or cat) shit in public places.

When I first moved to NI I thought maybe it was still legal to leave dog crap where the dog crapped because so few people bother to pick it up.

Before I lived here dog shit on the street wasn't something that had bothered me for years. Even Dublin puts Northern Ireland to shame.

Blimey this is a joke - where on earth do you all live ?

I find other people's dogs can be a real pain in the arse. As well as steaming piles left on my front path, I have had dogs jump up at me while out running.God I wanted to kick the little fuckers out my way but it's not their fault, it's the owner's. I have nothing against dogs but why do we feel the need to keep them in an environment that is not naturally theirs, dress them in doggy clothes and train them to amuse us with tricks etc. Bloody weird when you think about it.

Graham - you sound very considerate, as are many dog owners. Thank you. Of course you are not alone. But out and about in our local parks it is very common for people to allow their dogs to come up and sniff and lick, and even jump up. This is particuarly true for dogs off the lead. If only all owners were as nice as you!

Toboldlygo - I am one of the people who said there is a big problem with dog shit where I live. I am glad this is not the case where you are. I live in a large provincial city (c. 500,000 people). The area where I live is on the fringes of the inner city, shading into suburbia. There's a fairly high level of dog ownership, all sorts of dog owners from the elderly to middle aged couples to younger single people. It is unusual to walk the length of a street and not find dog shit somwhere. The local parks are full of it. On a recent walk with my daughter, she was approached by at least six dogs off the lead.

It is really interesting how different people's experiences are, and perhaps that accounts for some of the acrimony on this thread. Things look very different to those of us who live in areas with a serious dog (owner) problem, and those who live in areas where responsible dog ownership is the norm.

...I gave up counting dog shits when I reached 20 along a 200m footpath on today's school run (1 mile, so that's a hell of a lot).
it's rather sad that my toddlers first sentence was 'mummy careful dog doo'

'Steaming piles on my front path' - yes, this is a problem here too, esp. the further you get into the inner city bits. I can see that this may be genuinely hard for others to understand, but this is the reality for some of us!

MousyMouse - god that's awful, but your post also made made me LOL.

Where do I live? I live in a very naice Northern villagey town type place. A lot of people have dogs. A lot of people walk them earli in the morning, leaving fresh steaming piles everywhere so that, rather than enjoy the nice views, I have to constantly steer ds round said piles all the way there.
About 7 lots this morning btw.

There is a big massive dog scat offering right outside my front garden wall RIGHT NOW. It's revolting. It's a ruddy good job I didn't catch the owner in the act of letting furface shit all over the pavement or she/he would have had the bag treatment from me. Twat.

Bupcakes

Come to South Kilburn/Harrow road. It is dog shit central. Enormous turds on the pavement. When I used to walk my neighbours dog I always used bags. What makes me laugh is the youths who walk their ferocious looking dogs (accompanied with hard looking studded collars). They walk like gangsters, talk the street language but boy if you challenge them when their dogs do a shit they shirk away! But I understand there are responsible owners out there.

AThing, if you think that Dublin, or any part of Ireland come to that, is an improvement on any part of GB when it comes to dog ownership you have no idea of the reality of the situation. Ireland has the most appalling record of bad ownership, antiquated welfare laws that haven't been changed in over a century and refuses to sign up to EU welfare agreements. Dogs running loose in Ireland and being picked up as strays, and killed in far greater numbers as a result than in either mainland UK or NI are a huge issue there and with free running dogs comes far more shit than mainly owner overseen dogs in mainland UK or even in NI.

And badger shit FFS. Oh, of course, it must all be badger shit! Silly me!

teatimesthree
You see, this sums it up for me - sorry to shout but DON'T LET YOUR DOG START SNIFFING AND LICKING ANYBODY IN THE FIRST PLACE. Why the hell should anybody have to put up with that - and for every person who tells you that they don't like it, there will be another person with a stiff smile who is secretly really fucked off.

Completely agree. I actually like dogs, and don't at all think there should be a ban. I've had a job as a dog walker before. But I don't want someone on the street to wait until I cringe away from their dog, before they pull it away from me. It shouldn't be allowed to get that close to me in the first place.

Even the friendliest (especially the friendliest) of dogs can be a nuisance when it's sticking its nose up your skirt and trying to make friends. :)

My usual retort is 'Oi mate, clean up after ASBO will you?'

Cats and dogs are different animals and you are being disingenuous if you claim you can't see the difference. No one could pick up all their cat's poo without trespassing on half a dozen local gardens. So we are stuck with clearing our own gardens (while wishing desperately there weren't quite as many cats around). Short of banning cats, that really is the only way of doing it. It's not the only way of doing it with dogs.

I wish some people wouldn't imply that those of us who find dog shit a definite problem are just making it up or exaggerating. Just because you might live somewhere where there's not much doesn't mean other people don't have a worse problem. I don't know if it's because our route to school is also the route to the local park (and dog walkers round here don't have miles of footpaths in easy reach), but we have loads - some new every day and that's on a fairly short stretch, and of course the stuff that's already there doesn't vanish overnight.

I have never in my life had to dodge a cat shit on my way to school. Or a fox shit. Only big, chubby canine turds.

tea, I'm considerate so that I can then justify my rants when people let their DC run over to my dog and start stroking him without asking me (not PFdog-ish but how do they know my dog won't hurt them, mine won't but the next might not be so tolerant). I can also justify a good old rant when people scream and swear at me to take my dog elsewhere when he's legitimately on a footpath, on lead, well away from them, politely doing SFA or when their DC come up to my dog and try to hurt him or tease him. Unfortunately those are the bulk of my bad experiences of owning a dog and walking one.

Cats tend to bury it. All those people who gravel their entire front gardens make me laugh, since they have effectively turned a nice lawned garden into a litter tray! Which serves them right for being vulgar.

"if you think that Dublin, or any part of Ireland come to that, is an improvement on any part of GB when it comes to dog ownership you have no idea of the reality of the situation."

Nope, that is the opposite of what I think and also the opposite of what I said.

But there is more shit on the streets of Belfast than on the streets of Dublin, which is not meant to be praise of Dublin.

British attitudes to animals don't seem to have quite made it to this corner of the UK.

Graham - sounds bad. I agree people are crazy to let their kids run to to dogs. And hurting and teasing is just . I suspect with the screaming and swearing you are taking the rap for less considerate dog owners - I know when I see a dog now, I automatically assume that it will run up to us. But of course I would never scream or swear or indeed say anything unless the dog actually came up to us.

I had to sweep some hedgehog poo off my patio this morning.

Ban hedgehogs - irresponsible little sods.

(I love hedgehogs - great slug busters).

"I know when I see a dog now, I automatically assume that it will run up to us."

Me too.

I'm simultaneously trying to teach my kids not to be scared of big friendly dogs that bound up to them AND that they shouldn't touch a dog without checking with the owner first.

It's kind of a contradictory message to get across to a 2 year old who is obsessed with dogs and wants to keep every dog she meets :o

I live in a village and there is dog shit everywhere. Especially, oddly and disgustingly, within a 50 m radius of school. I mean what is a matter with dog owners who don't clear up dog shit when it is RIGHT OUTSIDE an infants school. Selfish lazy idiots.

And the nice country walk near my house is totally ruined by the fact that the 1st 100m is dog shit central, because most people take their dogs for a quick walk/shit. Me and my dcs (3&5) spend more time spotting and avoiding shit, than we do looking for squirrels/pretty flowers/birds etc. In fact my Dd has come up with a plan where she rides her bike ahead and rings her bell when she sees poo!