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?

Sorry, a fortnight!

Good grief, he absolutely SHOULD NOT do that. Cannot believe the owners would leave it all to fester for two weeks. Sorry if this has been said earlier and I missed it, but what if they accidentally stood in it? Would they just leave it and ignore till your DH next went there? I don't have a dog though have had in the past and would be picking it up daily.

Btw, op, how’s he supposed to dispose of it? I can’t dispose of the dog shit in my local dump, as they won’t accept it. I understand why. Even the sealed bags smell rank. I have to drive out of town, once a fortnight, and dispose of it in a specific skip.

Disgusting, disrespectful people. Since when did picking up dog shit become part of the gardener's job?

No amount of money is enough. They're CFs who need to find some manners.

DD1 has a gardener and two dogs. It's not the gardener's job to pick up the dog poo.

Oh my god!! That's disgusting YANBU.

We don't have a dog but the bastard dogs round these parts like to share and share alike when it comes to shitting on lawns 😂 so we get the occasional poo and I ask my Gardener to give me a shout if any needs picking up. I'd be totally mortified if he did it himself!

No way. Absolutely rank. I wouldnt start work if didn't have a clean garden. Odd dog bangers hidden in longer grass might be swept into borders though.

His garden must absolutely stink if it's just left there. How can they sit out in it in the summer?

Oh my gosh QOD that's so much poo!

I don't think it is unreasonable to refuse but they probably will just find someone who will do it as they know upfront that this is part of the job.

So it depends on whether your dh is happy to lose the gig over it.

IF (and only if, his choice) he is willing to do it I think it would be fair enough to charge quite a bit more for a horrible job like that, esp since you prob would want some sort of protective equipment.

Does he pick up wild animal poos as oart of maintaining the garden? Have been considering getting a gardener, and we get a lot of animal (assume fox) poo in the garden.

it doesn't matter whether it is or should be normal garden duties.

The question is this:

What is he willing to do?

Not pick up the shit under any circumstances?

Pick up the shit as requested?

Pick up the shit for an extra fee?

He needs to decide which of those he's prepared to do with the consequence of losing the job and stick to it.

Don't waste your time listening to whether people think he should or should not pick up the shit.

It's subjective and irrelevant.

What are his "red lines" when it comes to dog shit... then stick to it.

No

Not a gardeners job to pick up dog shit

What lazy dirty people he must work for

Is he self-employed or employed by the people who own the garden?

Either way, I doubt that picking up dog mess is part of the contract, so the property owners are in no position to demand he add a new duty to his role, particularly one so disgusting.

If he chooses to take it on, they should pay more and provide suitable personal protective equipment and clothing, as there are major health risks involved.

There are professional "scoopers" (yes, really) who do precisely this job. They’re usually either part of a dog walking/minding service or cleaning company. I believe pricing starts at around £20 for a weekly visit to a small garden with up to two pets. Perhaps the owners would like to start searching for such a service: your DH might like to suggest it to them.

No YANBU they are. He is there to sort the garden not clean up dog mess. It's their responsibility to do this before your husband arrives. They chose to have them they need to deal with the mess. I don't think they'd find a gardener if your husband left, to agree to picking it up

What a great suggestion @itsaboojum!

OP I also think if he maybe advises the other family (non poo) that he has decided not to continue doing neighbour’s (poo people) garden due to the dog poo situation, but that he is happy to continue to work for them. the non poo family may well be happy to stick with him. Otherwise, these people would be subject to a stream of different gardeners once the poo people try another and another. No gardener is likely to want to collect two weeks of dog poo from two dogs before they could even begin to do actual gardening.

Absolutely NO

Mine won't and I don't blame him. Why should he?

The people involved sound a bit odd - why would you leave out two weeks' worth of dog poo from 2 dogs? That's a serious amount of dog-poo.

They sound astoundingly arrogant, clearly they are above such jobs!!

No way! Yuck.

I could never work for such lazy, disgusting people. If they want to have dogs, they need to take full responsibility for everything they do, and that includes picking up their poo.

They're probably the sort who don't bother to pick up their dog poo in public places either.

Eww, the clients are disgusting.

Aside from the fact they have hired a professional gardener to tend to the garden, not someone to clear up after their dogs, they are leaving the shit out there for a fortnight? That's disgusting. Their neighbours probably hate them for that alone.

Our dog refuses to poo in the (small) garden - we think she sees it as an extension of the house - so if a visiting dog poos out there we can smell it a mile off and it's cleared up immediately if it isn't seen in action, so to speak.

He could have a think about either changing his T&Cs to state that gardens should be free from dog poo or he will charge a surcharge for clearing up where necessary to undertake the work required, such as mowing a lawn.... But that he reserves the right to charge for being unable to carry out work due to the presence of excessive and unreasonable amounts of dog poo in the work area.

Sadly now he's in this situation, maybe a conversation he'll have to set out with any future dog owning clients about expectations such as them ensuring its cleared up by the morning of him attending etc.

No, that is out of line. If he wants to want keep job he could suggest a signficant extra fee I suppose.

Sounds like he has already contacted them but if he hasn’t - tell them that these are additional duties Ashe didn’t have to carry them out before and therefore he will change an extra ££ to clear it up.

Make sure the ££ is worth it!

No way.
I always go out the morning the gardener is due for a quick once over to make sure there's no poo even though my dog doesn't poo in the garden as a rule. I'd be mortified if he found some!

Absolutely not!
Those cheeky minging fuckers need to go and do it themselves.

What did he message them?