A dog poop question - bag it or leave it? Who's worse in this instance?

[HeartsJandJ]

A week or so ago I was walking my dog along a footpath through some fields. It's a path used mainly by dog walkers, horse riders and cyclists so not exactly in huge general use.

In the middle of the path was a large pile of shite, next to it a poop bag under a stone. At the time I thought it was a good idea as, to me, it showed someone intended to come back and clear it up, presumably at the end of their walk.

Going along the same route today and it's still there. The bag can't have been placed by the original owner of the pooping dog, someone else must have put it there.

So my thought is that the bag leaver is worse in this instance as they have merely added a bit of litter to the original poop pile. Litter which will take a lot longer to degrade as well as using raw materials and energy to make in the first place.

AIBU to think this? Would anyone else leave a bag in the hope the original person would be shamed into picking it up?

Ah Melika, my apologies I assumed it was on a path.

Depends if it causes any problems, smell, unsightly etc. If so, your dog, your problem.

My stupid JRT decided yesterday to have a nice wet bout of diarrhea on our walk right in the long grass I still managed to pick it up along with plenty of grass and getting poop on my hand but its part of being a dog owner and I carry antibac hand spray with me. Hate seeing people leave it behind. If you can't clean up after your dog why the hell do you have one?

I wonder.... whether those cap wearing, spliff smoking, tracksuit wearing types ever pick up their pit like canines shit up?

I don't mind walking around with a poo bag. If I meet someone I know the only thing they will think is that I'm a responsible dog owner who picks up after pooch.

madmouse - I am quite proud of being seen with a full one so the village knows what a responsible citizen I am!!

Is it possible to train a dog too poo on something, e.g. a plastic bag or a sheet of paper ( just wonder)? I know that at home the dogs have a designated area for doing it as well as cats but once they are outside the animals do it wherever they can.

People should collect their pets poo otherwise they should be fined properly. Just like there are speed cameras there should be dogs poo cameras. That is a bit too harsh but it is just disgusting when you step into it and also dangeous. Dogs poos are one of the most common carriers of the following diseases:
Heartworms
Whipworms
Hookworms
Roundworms
Tapeworms
Parvo
Corona
Giardiasis
Salmonellosis
Cryptosporidiosis
Campylobacteriosis

"Toxocariasis is an infestation of humans, usually children, with the larvae of Toxocara canis, a small threadlike worm that resides in a dog's intestine.
A dog harbouring the small round worm causes large numbers of worm eggs in its faeces, which can then contaminate the soil.

Children who then play with an infested dog or with soil contaminated with its faeces can then inadvertently put their fingers in their mouths and can swallow some of the worm eggs.

The swallowed eggs hatch in the intestine of the child to liberate larvae, which then travel towards the liver, lungs, brain and eyes.
Here they can trigger off allergic reactions such as asthma, and they also have more serious affects such as loss of vision at least partially."
www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/childrenshealth/200336.html

If i walk my dogs in the woods, i do not pick it up unless they go on or next to the footpath, why would i? Everywhere else i am very vigilant about picking up poo. Except my bloody dog (probably needs his anal glands squeezed) keeps squatting and just producing tiny bits of liquid - i have been known to pretend to pick it up just so people see me doing it, then just rubbing the liquid away with the bottom of my shoe Dogs are vile

melika what have you got against that '''type''' of people (if there is such a thing)? There's a lot of pooh on the paths around our terrible naice middle class and at times slightly posh estate, left there by lazy middle class feckers. Stereotyping is silly.

QueenofJacksDreams,
well done on cleaning up after your dog. I think clearing up runny poo is a hard task. Perhaps you could carry disposable gloves just in case as the antibacterial gel does not kill everything on your hands. I think if I were a dog owner I would also carry a tiny spade just in case I would have to hide some remains of the poo (e.g. diarrhea). However, I do not know whether it is permitted to dig a little bit of soil (e.g. in the field, remote area) to cover up some poo.

"I wonder.... whether those cap wearing, spliff smoking, tracksuit wearing types ever pick up their pit like canines shit up?"

A mate of mine fits that description, he always smokes a spliff when he goes out to walk the dog after work. Yes he does pick up the shit.

My dog makes a point of heading to a big patch of stinging nettles and parking his backside there to do a poo. If he's a bit loose, some of the poo kind of rests on the leaves and I have to attempt to scrape it off.

That's fun.

lovesfruitandveg, sorry but that sounds mad. OK dog pooh is horrible but it is at least a natural and biodegradable substance. Pooh bags whilst claiming to degrade do require raw materials and energy to make, so to add disposable gloves into the mix aswell means every blooming pooh would have a CO2 footprint the size of a jumbo jet!

HeartsJandJ , I said just in case the dog has a diarrhea. Is it not better to scrap the diarrhea off wearing gloves or do it with bare hands and then clean it with antibacterial which is not even effective?

Also, not everything what is "natural and biodegradable" is good if it ends up on your shoes or hands.

I dunno though Loves. I do agree dog poop is horrible and getting it on yourself or worse on your child is a foul experience.

But carrying around a whole arsenal of chemicals and plastic materials to deal with the chance of a runny one does seem excessive.

And whilst I know that being biodegradable doesn't make it any more pleasant at the time I also think the planet being over-run with non-degradable plastic gloves for centuries to come is not a great solution either.

So what do you do to reduce your carbon footprint then HearstJandJ?

Cos i aint ever going to be picking up dogshit without plastic inbetween me and it!

Well you're not going to agree with me but I take Callisto's approach and if it's enough off the beaten track then I'll leave it where it is to decompose naturally.

For everywhere else I use a poop bag. But I would never take out plastic gloves and disinfectants as well. Dog shit is natural (not nice but natural) plastic and chemicals aren't.

I well know that most will disagree with me on this.

I always pick up after my dog. People who leave their bags of poo at the side of the path to collect on their way back, would you be happy for me to leave my empty coke can in the same way to collect on the way back?
Or bagged up dirty nappy if I had to stop and change the baby near the start of the route? What if everyone follows your lead with things that are a nuisance to carry about.

Here are biodegradable compostable gloves, a pack of 360. That should last for a long time. biomasspackagingstore.com/compostable-biodegradable-gloves.aspx

I am sure there is something like that in the UK too.

marmitetoast, good point.

HeartsJandJ Our poo is also natural and biodegradable.

Yes loves, that's why it ends up spread back on the fields!

Some of you have concerns about plastic bags but it is possible to buy biodegradable bags.

BIODEGRADABLE PET & POO BAG, MADE IN YORKSHIRE
www.biodegradablebag.co.uk/prod6.htm

HeartsJandJ, I know but only poo from plant eating animals is good for using on the fields.

Dog pooh does not make manure. It contains no plant matter so offers nothing by way of fertiliser.