AIBU to think you only need to pick up dog poo....

[AnnieLobeseder]

... where there is less than a one in a million chance of someone actually stepping in it?

I know I'm probably opening myself up to a flaming here but.....

I have taken great pains to train my dogs to poop way off the beaten track, under bushes etc etc. Plastic bags are an environmental hazard, as is incinerating dog waste. Dog waste itself is a natural biodegradable product, and in only a problem if it gets stepped in. So while I pick up and dispose of my dogs' droppings if they go near paths, on greens or anywhere else I think there's a chance someone will step in it, I don't if I consider where they go to be 'safe'.

Today, Large Dog was doing her thing on an overgrown bit of grass, past which was a ditch and a fence, a good 1.5m from the footpath. This was not a bit of ground that I would expect anyone ever to be walking on. So I didn't pick it up.

A lady driving past stopped and gave me a bollocking for not picking it up, and shot back a sarcastic "Oh really?" when I said plastic bags aren't environmentally friendly and no-one was likely to step in it. Um, yes, really.

So, AIBU to not pick up dog poop in pedestrian-unlikely places?

Well I have walked my dog in one place where they encourage you to kick dog poo into undergrowth - a wood in East Sussex.

I cannot believe what a roasting you are getting.

YANBU

There is poo everywhere in the country you know.

It is not a sanitised play park for children!

Yanbu, take my dogs into fields/ countryside and never pick up the poo.

Ah, nothing like a good MN roasting. Lovely now the nights are a bit nippy.

If I'm on farmland covered in dung and cow splats I don't pick up. Everywhere else I do. I agree 100% with the argument that just because you don't walk there doesn't mean others don't. Don't get me started on cat poo

"There is poo everywhere in the country you know.

It is not a sanitised play park for children"

Nor is it one big outdoor shithouse for dogs.

If my DS trod in cow shit (he has) or (horse shit) he has, I wouldn't care that much. It's organic matter and NOT TOXIC like revolting dog shit is. Also, wild animals like rabbits/foxes/badgers son't tend to get take out for walks on leads by owners so it's not like there's anyone to pick their shit up. Ridiculous argument. The countryside is there to be anjoyed by all, not just dog owners.

Incredible - children have nappies to stop them creating this type of mess but some dog owners seem to believe that their dogs' mess will not be found offensive!

You sound reasonably sensible to me actually- if nobody is likely to go near it, I can't see the harm. I do pick up after my dog, but she doesn't sound as intrepid as yours.

Who decides which areas of grass people are/are not going to walk in?

Blackberrying is less fun when covered in shit

I take my dog well out the way and my toddler and am amazed at the amount of crap left on the basis they think people don't go there.

I pick up, its one of the joys of dog ownership

What I find sad is that I never see any children off the beaten track or even on it where I live.

Unless dog pooing in your toilet you need to pick it up - easy for kids to step in it if only 1.5m from footpath. If you have an enviromental problem use biodegradable nappy sacks and take home to put in your compost pile in your garden.

link

YABVU.

Then let tbe dog shit in your garden not in a public place.

Pick up your dogs mess

Yabu and hope you are fined, you need to learn a lesson.

pick up the shit seriously dont be lazy and pick it up rollseyes

I dont think the OP deserves some of the comments tbh.

Its not like her dog did a shit in a playpark and she left it. You have to expect that in the countryside there will be dirt. Toxic or not. Just as there are toxic fungi growing. There are hazards everywhere

Hedgehogs are now a potential risk of catching TB. Incase anyone didnt know. Steer clear of them!

We do go walking a lot as we live on green belt. I am SICK of screeching at DS not to walk in the long grass in case or lurking dog crap.

There are too many dogs in the UK for your theory to be practical.

There's enough dog shit about even with good dog owners being sensible.

Your attitude is disgusting.

pick up your dog's shit

Yeah I think you should pick it up even if it's off track a bit as kids roam about.

I probably wouldn't scream your disgusting and throw it at your back though.

Could you not use paper bags? You can get paper made of poo. Prehaps you can set up shop making dog poo bags made of actual dog poo

Yes just googled that's a Fact! You can buy sheep poo paper.

Come on now, some people are being unnecessarily harsh, I think. It's not like I came on here saying "I let my dog shit everywhere and don't give a flying fuck if anyone steps in it".

I've simply been trying to find a sensible compromise between keeping children safe from poop and stuffing endless bags full of what is, despite some people's opinions, a natural and biodegradable product.

Apparently my compromise wasn't as sensible as I though and I have said that I accept that. Now stop being so horrid!

There are signs up in some of the woods round here recommending that dog owners do the 'stick and flick' thing, ie flick it way into the undergrowth.

I wouldn't do that in a park or anywhere heavily used by children (I also have DCs keen on exploring off the beaten track), but in huge woods the chances of children tramping through the particular patch of nettles/brambles/ivy that the poo has ended up in would be pretty slim.

Only kids I've ever seen in the woods round here though are mine and other dog walkers' (and they don't pick up either).