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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that expecting someone to wipe the pavement with wet wipes after you dog has done a poo is weird?

113 replies

FiveFarthings · 20/09/2019 18:05

Just now DH and I were walking with DD and our small spaniel. We are walking along the pavement and the dog decides he needs a poo just in front of a garden wall of a house. The gate of the house was about two foot down from us and there was a woman painting the gate who watched us.

The dog does his business, quite close to the wall, on a pile of pine needles. I pick up what I can, including a handful of pine needles, and there is a small smear of poo on the pavement which I wipe with the bag as best I can but some gets left behind (the smear was about a thumb length).

We carry on walking and suddenly the woman is running after us saying do we have wet wipes to clean up the smear of poo! We said no and she said well you’ve left quite a mess! I just said sorry I did the best I could as his poo was a bit soft today, and she stormed off saying sarcastically oh I’ll clean it up then.

I’m just a bit baffled. Do people carry wet wipes to wipe the pavement in case their dog does a slightly runny poo? I have lots of friends with dogs and they don’t do it, and have never seen anyone with a dog doing this. Sometimes if the dog does a runny poo and I can’t get it all, I will cover it with leaves/grass if there is any to hand. If I knew my dog had diarrhea for example, then I would probably carry kitchen towel or similar in case he made a mess, but I wouldn’t carry something like wet wipes on every walk.

I’m not sure why she was so upset. The poo was on a public pavement, it wasn’t in front of her gate and it was so close to the wall in the pile of pine needles that there was no chance of anyone stepping in it, and even if they did it was such a tiny smear it probably wouldn’t even transfer to a shoe!

I am a responsible dog owner and always pick up after my dog but AIBU for thinking her request was a bit weird?

OP posts:

MrsCasares · 21/09/2019 17:49

Also you get a fine if you walk a dog without the spray bottle. I think it’s €600.

Binkybix · 21/09/2019 18:09

Geesh. What about people spitting big blobs of snot and puking on pavements? You don't get anyone asking them to clean it up with wipes

TBF someone who did this would probably be the sort of person to punch you in the face if you asked.

Vulpine · 21/09/2019 18:11

To be fair i've never seen a spitter also puking.

Benefitofthedoubt · 21/09/2019 18:21

You don’t purposely go out for a spit or a puke though do you? And if you did I’d expect you to carry a bottle of water and disinfectant!

You take a dog out for a reason and one of those reasons is for them to do a poo. Be prepared!

PeriComoToes · 21/09/2019 18:22

Why can't people steer their dogs when on a lead into the gutter to have a crap? At least then if it's soft etc it's a bit further away and unlikely to be trodden in. The pavement is a couple of feet wide, easily doable. My dad did this in the 70s when we had a dog.

ALoadOfTwaddle · 21/09/2019 18:25

Why can't people steer their dogs when on a lead into the gutter to have a crap?

Where is the gutter? In my mind it's the thing that carries rainwater down from the roof and I'm amusing myself by imagining steering a dog into it for a poo.

Vulpine · 21/09/2019 18:25

Cos they don't care where their dogs shit

Hirsutefirs · 21/09/2019 18:31

It’s the ground. It doesn’t have to be as clean as your dinner plate.

greenlavender · 21/09/2019 18:33

It's a bit disgusting really so I can see her point.

Dollymixture22 · 21/09/2019 19:05

I walk to work, and leave early. The pavements are covered in dog poo, it’s gross.

I have watched lots of dog owners leave the more watery variety. It still makes a huge mess of you step in it or wheel a buggy over it.

Not sure what he answer is, but pooing on footpaths just seems wrong.

Vulpine · 21/09/2019 19:10

Not sure what the answer is? I'd say it lies somewhere in dog owners clearing up after their dog every time not just when someone is near them

Frazzled2207 · 21/09/2019 20:20

It is weird. That said if I happened to have wipes with me and it was a very public place I might have got them out.

thatladyfromacrosstheroad · 21/09/2019 21:43

The gutter is the side of the road. Hope it's not busy with traffic when you push your dog out into the road to poo. I just have bags, I have wipes and antibac for me and the toddler. I don't anti bac the pavement or grass, but have used a wipe on my toddlers shoe due to him stepping in not our dogs poo. It soon dries if it hot or the rain does it's bit. Long grass is the worst and what can you do, carry a lawnmower too?

Does remind me though when my spaniel was a pup he would always poo when crossing the road. That was always a risky Poo pick-up

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