Should the gardener pick up the dog poo as part of their 'duties'?

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My DH works part time as a gardener for a couple of wealthy people with large houses and gardens - he does each of them alternatively every other week. This has been a good arrangement for the past few years and works well with us as the rest of the time he takes care of our small farm and woodland. the farm does not make enough for it to be full time work but with this extra work it works all round. The properties are close, so he can pop down check animals etc and we've always got on well. Recently one of the houses got two big dogs. They let the dogs run free in the garden and I don't regularly walk them, just let them out in the garden to play (their admission). They now expect DH as part of normal gardening duties to pick up the two weeks worth of dog poo on each visit? They think he is being unreasonable in refusing, he thinks they are being unreasonable in asking. The arrangement does work really well in terms of the other parts of our life, but I agree with DH that this is more than a bit much and not the gardeners role! What do others think?

Omg no!! My 2 dogs go approx 3 times a day so 3 x 2 x 14 = 84 poos!!!! That's ridiculous and he definitely shouldn't do it!

" but they still inevitably poop in the garden."

Why inevitably?

Did they reply? I can't believe they thought it was acceptable to expect him to pick up their dogs' poo.

I used to have someone come and cut the grass once a week. She did pick up the dog poo if they'd been after I left in the morning but before she came. But it was probably one piece every six weeks. And then all she did was scoop it onto the shovel and leave it at the side of the garden

He’s a gardener you say. A gardener doesn’t pick up dog shut. That’s not gardening.

Not unless they are paying extra. It's a change of contract

Absolutely not the job of the gardener.

Your other half would not be able to carry or dispose of it in the same way he does general garden waste (grass cuttings, sticks, plant matter)

I’m imagining that the people wouldn’t want two weeks worth of dog poo put in their own bins so he would have to find a licensed waste disposal unit or carrier to take it at extra cost.

He would have obligations too in order to ensure it was being disposed of correctly and not just fly tipped.

I know that for health and safety reasons grounds maintenance operatives will refuse to mow or strim areas where dog poo is obviously present and will sometimes strim around it if it’s found during their work - quite rightly too, my partner has often come home splattered in the stuff after dog owners haven’t been arsed to pick it up. Having that up your visor is a health risk.

Nope 2 weeks of dog crap the lazy feckers!
They should be picking it up every day poor dogs, they must be trailing it in the house too yeuk!
Maybe ask them why they have dogs if they dont know how to look after them properly?

Nope not being unfair at all! DH was a landscape gardener previous to a career change and will on occasion does odd jobs to increase his earnings. He refused one at the start of the year because there was dog poo all over the garden, he later found out that the guy that had been doing it before had been a guy he had worked with before and he had cancelled as the guy refused to clear it! I don't think they will find anyone willing to do that tbh!

Another vote for certainly not! It isn't a gardener's role (at least, not without the hefty surcharge a previous poster mentioned) and how squalid to leave it festering in the garden for up to a fortnight.

The odd one perhaps, but two weeks worth no way! That is utterly fucking revolting! Lazy sods.

Poor dogs :(

I’m a dog owner. I go out and pick it up - especially the morning the Gardner is coming too. Now there may be the odd time another but has been added to the lawn between my clean up and Gardner coming but my Gardner doesn’t do the grass so is clear of my dog’s business for them to do their business

How rude not to pick up before having the Gardner.

I know someone who gets their cleaner to go out into the garden to hunt for dog poo

Absolutely not. That’s not his role. I’ll never understand people who don’t pick up their dogs poop immediately after they do it. Or at least at the end of each day. I have three dogs and my garden would be revolting if I left it two weeks. This is not his responsibility and they are lazy dog owners.

Phew sorry outed myself in a photo haha

This is ONE day of my friends 3 large dogs poo that I picked up the other day

We have a gardener, and two small dogs with a 1.5 acre garden. My dogs are walked daily, but still poop in the garden, and I clean up daily after them. It’s gross to expect the gardener to do it.

I live in a wealthy US town, and believe it or not, there are several local companies that exist solely to clean up dog poop from your garden.

What an absolute insult to your DH.

Who do they think they are?! I'd tell them to stick their job up their arse.

Annie, cleaners and gardeners have the right to say no to tasks too. They are human beings. Of course then you can decide to get a replacement. It certainly isn't true that you can ask a cleaner or gardener to do anything at all within their time. I have a cleaner, and she has walked away from clients who ask the unreasonable, including someone with a filthy toilet and a couple who expected her to clean a nappy bin with a week's worth of nappies festering in it.
Not all cleaners will clean ovens either, as it requires specific chemicals. Mine won't, so I get a separate oven cleaning service to do it.
Cleaners and gardeners are service providers, not slaves. They are entitled to have boundaries, and are entitled to respect.

Wow, wonder if they expect their cleaner to pick their dirty knickers up off the bathroom floor!

They now expect DH as part of normal gardening duties to pick up the two weeks worth of dog poo on each visit?

TWO WEEKS of dog shit from 2 dogs?? surely that’s neglect of some form to let the dogs play in a garden full of shit for two weeks??

My dogs shit is lifted as soon as it hits the grass!!

That’s fucking rank! Lazy scumbags. I’m a dog sitter and pick poo up every time I spot one in the dog garden, which is nearly every time I look out at it. 🙄 If it’s left overnight and it rains, it can be absolutely disgusting. I can’t imagine what two weeks worth would look like. Actually I can, but I’d rather not. When I was a dog walker a client asked me to pick up the shit from their garden. When I went to look at it, it hadn’t been cleaned in WEEKS. No fucking way. 🤢

Yuck! of course not! he's a gardener not a waste disposal worker.

I used to work as a gardener, if we had to remove dog shit we charged a £5-15 surcharge

Now there’s an idea OP!! He can tell them he charges £5 per poo lifted. Using a PPs calculation of 84 poos he could increase his income by £420 a week. I’m sure they’ll agree to the extra fee for such a valuable service

Eeeewww. Disgusting people. I would never expect my gardener to do that.