about leaving bagged dog poo to collect later?

[SquigglyLine]

I am partially sighted and have recently (a few months ago) got my first guide dog. We have a routine where he 'spends' (i.e. poos) at home before we go out. He needs to go twice in the morning.

Occasionally he's not ready to do his second one before we set off on the school run, or occasionally needs to do an 'extra' one. It happened quite often when I first got him, but as we've settled into the routine it's only occasional - it happened last week, but hadn't happened for over a month before that.

Anyway, when that happens, I bag up the poo and leave it out of the way, up against the wall, to collect on my way home. There are no bins on the way to school (residential streets) and I can't take it into school with me. I always take careful note of where I place it (as my sight's not good enough to just notice it on the way back), and I always collect it on the way back.

On Thursday there was a dog walker coming past when I was bagging up the poo and putting it against the wall. The DC said that he stared at me and said something but they didn't hear exactly what he'd said. I didn't notice him.

On my way back, the poo bag wasn't there. I know it definitely was missing and not just me not seeing it, because DC2 was with me (not well enough to go to school but had to walk with us). I am now a bit worried that the dog walker (or someone else) thought I was just abandoning the bag!

AIBU for bagging and leaving to collect on return? It is always well out of the way tucked in where no-one would accidentally tread on it, and not left for very long.

I don't think YABU. The inconvenience caused by someone having to glance at a filled polo bag on the ground for less than a second is not greater than the inconvenience to you of having to carry your assistance dogs poo into a school if you don't leave it.

As long as it's bagged and tucked away, I think anyone who has a problem with it is overreacting.

You can tie one handle of a carrier bag to the bottom of your rucksack if you have no spare hands for carrying.

It would never occur to me that people were going back for poo when they leave it so you may have to suck up any comments if you want to leave it unfortunately.

Why is religion bollocks being spouted on a poo thread?

I think leaving a note is a really weird idea. It will just blow away or something

Lotus are you alright? Your posts are really strange

Needle

The problem is that in the vast majority of cases it is not 'tucked away' out of sight they are just left on the path, hung in a tree, left on someone's front wall, lobbed into recycle crates and generally discarded with impunity. When out running I have accidentally stood in these considerate parcels, I have seen young kids curiously picking them up and I have seen these bags still littering the place months after they have been left there. It is not an overreaction to get annoyed at selfish idiots who think this is acceptable behaviour to foul the streets and spoil local beauty spots (tucked away or not). Whenever I see a discarded plastic bag of dog shit l just think inconsiderate wanker, not 'oh someone has placed there for safe keeping for later collection'

The OP is talking about leaving the bag tucked up against a wall, not lying in the middle of the pavement.

She is visually impaired.

She needs both hands free for her guide dog.

She is planning on retrieving the bag on the way back.

What on earth does it matter?! Leaving poo bags lying around out of laziness? Disgusting and never okay. But this is not that.

Good grief, be reasonable, people.

And it has nothing to do with liking or not liking dogs. I like them, but I think people who leave dog poo bags lying around are pigs.

I can't even imagine the juggle of holding a dog, signalling to a dog, having DC's, all the school bags, and having a smelly dog poo bag swinging around into the mix as well.

Yes, exactly. It is all quite difficult and stressful at times. I am not finding life very easy at the moment. I think I would burst into tears if I had to walk into the playground with a dog poo hanging off my rucksack. I feel enough of a pariah/object to be stared at as it is, right now. And the idea of stuffing a dog poo into my rucksack with DCs snacks etc. is not much better. However well-wrapped, I would never be confident there was no leakage, especially as I wouldn't see it.

Yes, to the posters who said that guide dog owners are legally exempt from picking up after their dogs. But I always do, even if it means having to get DC to stand and point at it while I fish around in the general area with a bag! My dog does the vast majority of his poos in his special pen at home, it is only the occasional time that he needs to do an unscheduled one.

Squiggley, I am a dog lover and owner, and you have my every sympathy because you had additional needs with your eyesight and having young children with you, but bags of poo being left makes me want to barf.

I have done this myself twice when I knew I was miles away from a bin, and the second time I forgot to pick the back up on my way back. I still feel ashamed.

I think abandoned bagged poo is worse actually than unbagged, because at least the unbagged will decompose. Urrgh!

Would it be better if I left it in the gutter (i.e. in the road next to the kerb) I haven't done that because I thought it might get squashed by a car, but I suppose a car wheel wouldn't be that close to the kerb. A cyclist though? I thought it was better tucking it away at the edge of the pavement.

Again, it is only on the very occasional time. It's not a daily or even weekly occurrence. Hopefully not even monthly. I know one fellow guide dog owner whose dog has never spent anywhere except her pen, but mine gets caught out sometimes!

YABU. People who do this tend to forget about it. I hate it when I see poo bags hanging from trees too. I live by a park and dog owners also think it is ok to put their dog poo bags in my bin...they don't want it in their refuse bin because it doesn't get collected for two weeks so they would rather my bin stink instead.

I never forget about it Kaekae - having to deal with it is a big deal for me and makes a big impression on me, there's no risk of me forgetting. I would not be able to tie it to a tree, and I wouldn't be able to see your bin, so no danger of me doing either of those things even if I thought it was acceptable (which I don't). I have a special bin at home that it goes into.

I disagree-people who 'do this' don't forget about it. They return to pick it up. Ignorant eejits who had no intention of returning to pick it up leave the bags dangling everywhere.

That was to kaekae.

I don't quite understand why the children can't carry the bag as far as the school, I mean how much poo can one medium-sized dog do in one go? I suspect that having the poo on your person whilst you are on school grounds is the main issue, worrying about smells etc.

If you must do this, why not tuck the bag behind a hedge or something. Not only to avoid offending passers by, but to avoid starting a trend. You return to pick up your bag. Others will forget or will deliberately not come back. Some people will do the minimum they think they can get away with, and you doing this can contribute to the impression that people around there aren't really bothered by discarded bags of poo.

In the same way that neat neighbourhoods tend to stay neat and messy neighbourhoods seem to attract mess.

Could you not just triple bag it and put it in a cross body bag? You can get special carriers designed entirely for the purpose of holding dog poo until you get to a bin.

I can understand that you don't want to carry a bag of dog mess around (who would?!) but that isn't the same at all as needing to leave it behind.

Lotus what planet are you on?!

Op that does sound really tricky, personally I don't think yabu as long as you do remember to pick it up. I have looked after my dads dog a few times (who seems to crap for a hobby) and have been tempted to do this myself on that odd occasion. It is the downside of dog ownership to be sure.

It really easy to work out a way to tie the poor bag to the dogs lead. They are not heavy. I'd just use a cheap carabiner. There is no health and safety reason why the sealed bag can't be taken into the school. There would be more risk of contamination from the dogs bum than from a sealed bag of poo.

OP, sorry but I think YABU

YANBU

OP - please step away from the thread. AIBU often attracts the less sympathetic members of MumsNet and common sense and compassion goes out of the window.

No-one in real life would judge a woman with a guide dog leaving bagged poo by the side of the road. Most people would either not notice or bin it for you.

Of course, you can't carry it or put it in your pocket or rucksack. And please don't feel like a pariah. I can imagine life can be very challenging for you sometimes and hope your dog makes life easier for you.

Wishing you many happy years with your beautiful guide dog

How about prepping some address labels with 'WILL COLLECT LATER' on them in permanent pen (in case of rain), that you can just stick on when the need arises?
Even 'Sorry, will collect later' if you feel the need!

Rita, thank you I am having a difficult day today, so I think I will take your advice. You are very kind.

Cmon whilst I'm sure it is `really easy' when it's a lead and you CAN SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING I should think it's not 'really easy' to tie it to a solid length of slippery stainless steel in such a way that it won't slide down and bump the dog's side, thereby distracting it from it's incredibly important job of keeping the op and her young children safe near roads - particularly when she CAN'T SEE!!!

Do me a favour, go outside, put a blindfold on and try to tie a slippery plastic bag of shit to an almost vertical pole and see if you can stop it slipping down or even get it on there in the first place. FFS - dies it not even occur to some people on here that what is 'really easy' for a sighted person with a standard dog lead and a mutt isn't anything like the same for a blind person with a focused, working dig, wearing a hard that the op has to trust with her own life and those of her children?

Op carry on doing what is clearly your very best, you have every right just to leave the big steaming pile of shit wherever it lands - the fact that you are considerate enough to actually scrabble about, directed by your children, to bag it because you can't see it, then memorise where it is because you can't see it to pick it up unless you remember exactly where you put it is an absolute testament to you.

I personally would rather see or step on a bag than an actual turd, so I for one applaud you for doing as much as you possibly can at such personal difficulty.

Some people on this thread need to consider things from the Ops poverty, rather than their own visual one. Some people on this thread should be ashamed. 'Really easy', 'pigs' - let's see you lose your vision and find it so fucking easy.

CoolaSmoola. Sorry I had crossposted with the OPs last message where she explained it was difficult to pick up the dog mess cleanly so I can see that it's not easy for her to attach a poo bag to the dogs lead