Au pair and dog poo

[Littleloafofbread]

Dog did a poo in front of the front door during the night - very rare accident and she's never had to clean up after him in six months of being here. Au pair left for work early this morning (we don't need her to work during school holidays so she has a different babysitting job) and rather than cleaning it up, she pushed it out of the way with the door, of course getting it on the door and on the bristles under the door, which of course I have had to clean.

AIBU to say something to the au pair about this? In her defence, it isn't her job to look after or clean up after the dog, there was no other way to get out of the house and she was probably in a hurry to get to work. However, she is an adult and my gut reaction is that she should have just cleaned it up because sometimes these things happen, and by not doing it she knew she was making extra work for me.

she should have just cleaned it up because she's an adult and these things happen.

And ideally yes, I would have preferred that course of action. But having asked for advice on it, I have decided on balance that I'll just give her an alternative way to react to the situation, in the unlikely chance it happens again.

What sort of dog is it? Does it produce a huge shit or a small shit? Is it possible the au pair hadn't noticed it when she opened the door?

'Does it produce a huge shit or a small shit? '

The OP is NOT saying it's the au pair's job. Why do so many of you not understand that?

Only a really ignorant and/or lazy person would see dog poo on the floor and leave it there knowing it will then be on the door. If it had been in the middle of the floor I could understand better her having ignored it.

Any normal clean person would just pick up. It's dog poo for goodness sake not radio active waste. Such drama queens on here.

I doubt I have managed to get all the poo off. I'll ask DH about taking it off the hinges so I can check properly.

Shatner - big dog, big shit.

Pp who said am I sure the au pair got the poo on the door - I could see the skid marks and the flat side where the poo had been pushed, so unless the dog had learned to open the door himself (in which case he really should have gone outside for his shit) it must have been the au pair.

Of course she noticed. It would have stank the house out! I wouldn’t be impressed at all tbh. I think Bobby’s response is best under the circumstance. It isn’t even about what is and isn’t her job. It’s common decency. Is she generally respectful in other ways?

She might not have seen it i have cats and occassionally one of mine does a poo on the front door mat and even i have opened the front door without spotting it so it happens

mydogisthebest and does the best poos.

She was TOTALLY saying it was the AP's job.

She did not say 'I said sorry etc' the Ap had left.

My bet the AP will be off and this is the tip of the iceberg!

WendyCope, the au pair IS NOT EXPECTED to clean up dog poo. There clear enough for you?

If you DD would just ignore it and let it be smeared over a door and its brushed then you should be ashamed that you brought her up to be so ignorant.

MarthasGin, the dog had ONE accident so I am sure does not need supervising. Even the cleanest of dogs can have accidents you know.

Obviously in the pretty loony world of mn children are allowed to have accidents but dogs most certainly are not

WendyCope, if nothing else you have brightened up my rainy, shit-covered morning tremendously.

From my OP In her defence, it isn't her job to look after or clean up after the dog

And thank you mydogisthebest for the staunch defence!

WendyCope, she totally was NOT saying it was the au pair's job. If the OP had been up she would have cleared it up not said to the au pair "that's your job".

The OP was not up so it is pretty obvious unless you are thick that if the au pair was the only one up and the dog poo was in the way of her getting out the door she should have cleared it up.

My DD is 10. Not an AP, hope that is clear enough for you.

I would never, ever let her be an AP to a family like this.

Way off yet.

She is expected to have cleared up 'this unusual event' of DOG SHIT.

GIRL POWER, She'll be off.

Littleloafofbread, I am fuming for you. I guess I will never get used to some of the strange attitudes on mn.

Well Wendy, if she were my au pair and she "was off" I would, I am sure, be pretty glad. I would not need someone with such an awful attitude in my house.

Perhaps your daughter does not have very high cleanliness standards yet. Hopefully they will improve as she gets older

She may not have seen it. I once lodged in a house with an incontinent dog. While the owner was away, the dog pooed. I cleaned up the dog poo I spotted. Unfortunately, while doing this I unwittingly trod another patch of poo without noticing, trod it all over the house, then had to clean that up too. I ended up in floods of tears to my boyfriend on a weekend when I should have been trying to keep my stress levels down while revising for an exam.

I moved out not long after that.

To be honest, your biggest problem may well be hanging on to the au pair if you have a dog that craps in the house, not worrying about whether she's prepared to clean up after it.

Bobbybobbins response is perfect

I probably wouldn’t have cleared it up, but I probably would have used wet wipes or kitchen roll to push it out of the way so I didn’t get it stuck in the door. That is pretty gross.

Wendy
My dd is also 10. I hope she won’t be pfb about a bit of shit. As for not letting her, you do realise au pairs are adults? You sound rather controlling.

All this angst about the dog shit on the door.

Will no one think of the dog?

Although I don't have a dog, when I was little we had a German Shepherd until I was 13 and then another German Shepherd until I was 23 and then a third one (although I moved out soon afterwards).

Apart from one or two accidents when they were puppies, they never shat in the house. So what's wrong with the poor dog in this case?

mydogisbest My DD (10) is not clean?

Yes, she is.

That is why she will clean up Dog shit for absolutely nobody. Ever.

But your comments on my little DD are much appreciated.

Your dog, your shit.

Shatner, don't worry, I am asking myself that. His behaviour and appetite seem otherwise normal and the poo itself seemed healthy enough - just in a very unfortunate place - so I'm going to keep a close eye on him, and off to the vet if it happens again.

Is this a reverse?

Surely no one can really think that anyone but a dog’s owner should be picking its shit up?

No way on earth would I clean up dog shit!

Even if this only happens very occasionally, I'd leave a puppy mat or newspaper by the front door. IME well trained dogs who really need to go but can't get out, tend to shit by the door. Then if something like this happens again, all anyone has to do is move the paper or mat clear of the door. That way the door stays clean, the au pair doesn't have to clear up dog shit, and the owner can do that later.

Also, leave poo bags conveniently near the door so it's possible to bag it quickly, wash your hands and leave. As a former dog owner I don't mind cleaning up after small dogs, but large piles of dog shit make me gag (and yes, it's one reason I wouldn't have a very large dog).