Dog off-lead in deserted play area- is this woman U?

[TridentTested]

A friend of mine has a rescue dog with terrible recall.

Our local park has a fenced-off children's play area.

On weekend mornings when the play area is empty, my friend lets her dog off-lead in the play area.

She says she's not U because there's no-one there; she always puts the dog on the lead and takes her off if a child comes to play in the play area; she picks up poo; and doesn't let her dog climb on the equipment. She says having a dog running around in there is no worse than the rats, foxes, mice, cats etc. that roam the park at night.

So, do you think she's being U?

I'd be fine with that. No need to be too precious as long as she grabs dog immediately anyone comes and ensures no mess left.

If no one is there and she puts the dog back on the lead if someone arrives then no I don't think she's being unreasonable (unless the dog is dangerous of course)

Ah that's hard...

Yes she's unreasonable because it says no dogs in the play area

But...the dog is having a good run and she's picking up after it... tricky

I’ve done this when training my rescue. If people come, he’s straight on lead and taken out. Always pick up the poo too and I don’t let him wee up any play equipment. Don’t see the issue really?

Yes, she is being unreasonable. Even if she picks up after her dog, this will still leave patches of shit on the grass where children will be playing, particularly grim for toddlers and new walkers using the area, who are likely to fall often / want to crawl. Yuck!

It's an amazing idea and I might steal it for my also terrible recall rescue dog! (Small, fluffy, cute and not dangerous in any way, just runs like the wind when let off the lead!)

I think even if she's picking up after it, it's leaving residue for crawling children. But apart from the poo, if she vacates if a child appears that's fine.

I think its a bit cheeky. No dogs means no dogs

If the area says no dogs then it's completely unreasonable.

As a dog owner I think it's unreasonable. I pick up a lot of crap from our garden and with pulling up endless amounts of grass you never get it all off especially if it's anything other than completely solid.

Yeah she's being unreasonable. You can't always get every scrap of dog shit up off the floor, and what about the day she doesn't know her dog has diarrhoea until it's too late? There are 'no dogs' signs for a reason, hygiene is one of them, not just the risk of damage to a child from a dog attacking.

No dogs =/= No dogs except this one

GreyFluffball I really hope you read the rest of the replies explaining why it's unreasonable before doing it!

Totally U.

Poo will leave residue even if the bulk is picked up. Dirty woman.

Her argument is that cats, rats, foxes etc. will be shitting in the play area so dog's shit is no different.

Her dog is a little mongrel, not vicious at all.

Apart from the poo it sounds like a reasonable idea. Hopefully the dog will get better at recall soon.

We have a fenced play area next to our house and DD often takes our dog up there to play ( rubbish recall)
There no grass, it’s all tarmac or that rubber stuff and he’s never pooed in there anyway. If SomeOne comes she puts the dog straight on his lead and leaves.
See no harm in it - but the risk of a squidgy poo on grass in a slightly different thing

etap Exactly. I'm not usually a stickler for rules unless they actually make sense (most do once you look a little deeper into why they're there to be fair) but you're spot on. If it's okay for her to do it, it's okay for everyone else to as well. Then it becomes a dog park. And when kids arrive everyone manages to get their dog (with poor recall!?) back on the lead immediately before the kids enter the area? You can't get every bit of shit up and its for kids not dogs. I have neither but it's arrogant in the extreme to think no dogs means it's okay to take my dog cos of a, b and c.

If not doing it with kids around or not leaving dog shit was the issue the signs would say 'kids only 10-6, dogs 6-10, dog shit banned 24hrs per day'

She is absolutely being U. It is a childrens play area and clearly states no dogs. Her arguement about pests in the playground is not a good one...why add to it? Even picking up dog poo can leave some behind. So what if the dog is a resue its still a dog. Terrible recall....what happens if a child comes in and she cant grab it in time and because its a rescue it attacks the child due to unpredictable behaviour!?

She's right about the poo. Fox poo doesn't get picked up and it's rank. I think she's entirely reasonable.

Is the friend you OP?!
If a fox poos in the playground it will be blindingly obvious.
A dog that you pick up after will likely leave disgusting crumbs.
No dogs.

TridentTested That's a stupid argument isn't it. You can't prevent those animals going in there. And given that a dog often does shit on its walk, I suspect the chances of the park used by dogs being full of dog shit is quite a lot higher than being full of fox or cat shit. And rat shit is tiny. That's like saying 'ah well we can't prevent 100% of shit so let's add more that we could prevent but choose not to'

No, it's not me