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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

172 replies

SicSay · 26/08/2018 20:15

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?

OP posts:
dmvnqpkejnvejrfnpwdkfjvn · 27/08/2018 08:19

Absolutely not. We poo pick before our gardener comes

user1483387154 · 27/08/2018 08:22

I agree it's not what he is employed for

MadMaryBoddington · 27/08/2018 08:40

I’m a gardener. I don’t work for people with dogs because there is always a missed poo lurking somewhere, or even if they’ve picked them up there will be poo residue left behind. I don’t want to find I’ve put my hand or my knee in dog shit. I can be picky about who I work for because there is a shortage of skilled gardeners.

kalinkafoxtrot45 · 27/08/2018 08:46

No way is that reasonable! Dirty arrogant fuckers.

MidniteScribbler · 27/08/2018 08:54

Absolutely not. Poo patrol is my last job in the morning on the day the lawn guy comes (dogs are then locked up for the day). I would never expect him to do it, and think how yuck it would be for him to get poo all over his equipment.

Aaaahfuck · 27/08/2018 08:56

Nope not reasonable.

hendricksy · 27/08/2018 08:58

If he decides to do it by Mum used to use my old horse pooper scooper to do her garden . It means you don't have to bend as much or remotely touch it . The thing is what are you going to do with it once it's picked ? There will be tonnes of it 😬

jarhead123 · 27/08/2018 09:00

If it were 1 or 2 they had missed, I'd say yes he probably should. But 2 weeks worth, no thats ridiculous and lazy on their part!

Deedee248 · 27/08/2018 09:02

The day we moved into our new home some years back, one of the first things I had to do was go round the lawn removing all the dog mess. It was revolting, and I can’t believe any self respecting family would leave that for someone else to deal with when they moved out. They had also left some exposed wires where they’d removed a light fitting, but that’s another story!

bert3400 · 27/08/2018 09:03

Absolutely not, I have a gardener and did have a dog( sadly lost him earlier this year) but before she comes over I have always cleared the garden . It's disrespectful that they think it's his duty . A couple of times I had missed a few bits of poop and was mortified . Your husband needs to explain that it is not part of his duties , I doubt they would find a gardener who did

Apehouse · 27/08/2018 09:04

The client ‘s expectation is unreasonable. However, there are various rapid dog-poo dissolver sprays and powders. Worth a try, maybe, if the client agrees to order a supply.

madeyemoodysmum · 27/08/2018 09:10

No!

PenelopeFlintstone · 27/08/2018 09:24

If he decides to do it for a lot of extra money, he could dig a small hole in the garden and chuck it in there. Easy with a shovel and much less gross than putting it in plastic bags, tying them and picking them up. You dig a bucket-sized hole and sort of fill it up.
Google composting dog poo. The enzymes and the worms get rid of it. He might need a few holes on the go at once. You can cover the holes with a lid of some sort (saucepan, dustbin, etc).

LakieLady · 27/08/2018 09:25

According to someone in waste disposal at my local council, dog poo counts as clinical waste and shouldn't be disposed of in the household rubbish. If this is true (approx 50% of the staff at the council seem to talk utter bollocks), then anyone disposing of dog poo would need a specialist waste carrier licence. That might give your DH a get out, OP.

There's no way he could sneak 2 weeks worth of shit from 2 big dogs that are never walked into the every day rubbish, even if he wanted to.

MipMipMip · 27/08/2018 09:30

Have they done back OP?

MipMipMip · 27/08/2018 09:34

Come*

argentino · 27/08/2018 09:37

Would not expect our gardeners to pick up my dog's poo. Anyway, we pick up dog poo immediately. I would be very embarrassed to have a garden littered with it and for this to even be an issue.

DianaTheHuntress · 27/08/2018 09:38

Shock Yanbu! Dirty bastards. Tell them to pick up their own dogs’ poo. And to walk their dogs. Entitled fuckers. Poor dogs.

Hoppinggreen · 27/08/2018 09:39

I poo pick before our gardener comes, although Ddog goes for 4 walks a day so I rarely find any. Occasionally I have missed one but I always warn the gardener there might be one lurking and he has dogs of his own so he says he doesn’t mind.
Your DH clients are very U but sadly I think he will have to either do it or lose the work

Laiste · 27/08/2018 09:42

Late to the party but NO NO NO NO NO!

Someone i know stopped gardening for a client for the same reason.

Would love to know how this turns out.

WrongKindOfFace · 27/08/2018 09:43

Oh hell no. Not unless that’s part of the service and charged as such.

MatildaTheCat · 27/08/2018 09:47

Anyone who doesn’t walk their dogs is very U.

My gardener comes weekly and if there is a stray poo on the lawn he flicks it into the back of the shrubs. However that’s completely different from the situation you describe.

Cronesquerness · 27/08/2018 09:50

YANBU Absolutely NOT included in gardening is picking up ANY poo from animals other than wild animals, eg, weeding, find fox poo, move it, find dog poo, leave it and tell dog owner they've missed a bit.

kenandbarbie · 27/08/2018 10:00

I don't think so! I would pick up after my dog before the gardener came.

Original poster
SicSay · 27/08/2018 10:12

He messaged them to say that he would no longer be mowing the lawn or doing the back garden due to the dog poo, they needed to clear it up so he could do his job. They have come back - and I am genuinely not kidding when I write this - they have said ok, they'll ask the cleaner if she will do it, as she is in every day! I think they want to keep him as he is so flexible and worked around so many of their oddities! My bet is cleaner will tell them where to go! They seem to have got these dogs (they 'rescued' them off a family member) without any clue how to look after the commitment involved!!

OP posts: