Dog s**tting in garden

[Londonwriter]

We’re lucky enough to have a (narrow) 50ft garden during lockdown.

My DH has been allowing our dog to s*t in the garden. Everytime my three-year-old DS goes to play in the garden, which is currently his main outdoor recreation as the playground is closed, there is at least one or two cold, dry c*ps hidden in the grass.

My DH says that he feels sorry for the dog because, although we are using our one ‘exercise’ trip each day to walk the dog, the dog can’t manage. He says he doesn’t know the dog is c***g in the garden because he often wants to go in the dark.

I’m sick and tired of it. He’s pooing twice a day (on each trip out) and then, it appears, in addition, he c*d six times in the garden over the Easter weekend. I’m worried that my DS gets sick from the garden being a dog toilet. When my DH isn’t working from home, the dog manages perfectly fine on a short run in the morning, a brief walk around 4pm and a further brief walk around midnight.

I told my DH to try to get the dog to c**p in one place only, but apparently this is not feasible given he’s working full-time and we have a colicky baby.

AIBU? DH thinks I’m a hygiene Nazi and it’s fine provided the c**p is picked up.

Your going to kill your grass. You just need to pick up the poo, yes it's normal. At least you can see poo you can't see pee (which you think is ok) to go bleaching the area. You can say crap and shit on mn btw!

Our dog will poo on his morning walk, but if he wants to go at any other time.....we have a gravel area at the side of the house, we take the dog round there when he needs a poo (standing by the door, clearly wanting to go). He does a poo, we pick it up, kids don’t play on that patch of gravel. I don’t understand why this is an issue .

His routine has changed. He might have the same walks but everything is different now with people being home all the time.

Are his mealtimes the same? Is he getting more titbits and treats now everyone is home all day?

Yabu. The dog doesn't have anyway else to go if he neds he needs!

It's simple, you need to do a poo check of the garden before you let your kids out to play.

That's surely common sense and what everyone else does with kids and dogs?

I wonder if the dog is pooing more because your husband at home is feeding him more, giving him more treats?

I'm intrigued as to how a dog looks like it wants a poo, or asks to go out for a wee and you know it's not a poo!

But, anyway, I've had loads of dogs (fosterer) and many of them it would not have been possible to stop them pooing in the garden. We did pick it up as soon as we could though, usually at the time by keeping an eye on the dog, but sometimes we'd find it later.

It's just part of dog ownership.

This is a situation created for us, seemingly, by lockdown, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I had no idea whether

You walk the dog. It's allowed, it doesn't deprive anyone else of anything.

Why on earth won't you walk the poor thing?

You've got about as much hope of making the dog keep to defecating to your schedule as you do telling your baby they can't shit in their nappy more than twice a day.

Picking it up - essential. It's actually possible to be prosecuted for not cleaning up your own garden.
Bleaching the grass - pointless, chucking some hot, soapy water over the area after the turd has been picked up could be useful, though.
Expecting the dog to put up with not being able to wander around and do its own thing during the day - unfair on the dog.

Was hoping for some feedback from dog owners about who was right...

Don't be daft. This is Mumsnet AIBU - you're looking for someone to validate your opinion.

Dogs shit, it's something they have to do. You're being unreasonable.

I normally take out the dog around three times a day, and let him in the garden about once a day. He poos on the morning run, poos on the evening walk, very VERY occasionally poos on the lunchtime trip down the road (but not usually), and pees on a bush in the garden when I let him out (under close supervision).

Go back to your normal routine. One of you does the morning walk, once the lunchtime walk, and someone takes him round the block in the evening.

The problem is You. You've got the dog wonderfully trained to a routine and then You complain when it's no longer behaving the same after You've changed things around.

There's nothing in the current UK guidelines that prevents the pair of you from adopting a two walks and once round the block in the evening routine.

All dogs should be trained to shit in their own gardens. Guide dogs are.

Different institutions take different aproaches but most tend to train the dog to pee/poo on command not specific to a location. This is because there are ethical concerns wilth training a dog to only use one location if the dog then does not have access to that location for whatever reason (day care, house moves, hospitalisation, rehoming, holidays). Some dogs would hold it as long as possible, causing distress or medical issues.

Relax. I have 3 dogs and a toddler.
Dogs do poo in garden, I scoop several times a day and get help from child who is a fabulous poo spotter!
Children picking up parasites from poo is incredibly rare, (2 cases per million) but if you worm your dog regularly (toxicarias is caused by roundworm eggs) your child will be fine.

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/1118063/dog_faeces_and_toxocariasis_fact_sheet.pdf

I have a ‘huge’ dog his poo is not huge or disgusting if they are you perhaps need to feed him better quality food/different food? Mine is ex guide dog so trained to ‘go’ in one specific area on the stones so you can easily train him to do that on your gravel but it’s your joint dog not just your Husbands, he sounds like an inconvenience tbh what does the dog do when you’re working normally? My dog goes once or twice a day but pees more than that but does that in the garden too on his ‘spot’

You sound a wee bit hysterical but perhaps this is why your husband hasn’t really taken things seriously, the dog shouldn’t be popping on the grass but there are other options if he doesn’t want to take him for a walk each time and just flinging him outside upsets you you need to talk about it ASAP

YANBU

Even if dog pooh is picked up, there will still be traces of it on the ground. Then there is the urine, which cannot be picked up

Someone had their dog poo on a grass verge near here and the dog had diarrhoea. People have probably walked on it unaware and taken it back into their homes on their shoes. Gross

This can’t be real.

Simply ask the dog nicely to only do their business in one spot as it’s very very inconsiderate. They must also cross their legs until it’s a convenient time for you.

@Londonwriter. Is your dog getting more to eat as everyone is at home? That would explain more poops.
Our dog rarely poops in the garden, she’s usually desperate if she does. We walk her 3 times a day.
My friend used to have a fenced off area in her garden when the dc were small and that’s where the dog was put if the dc were playing outside.

When my husband is working from home, he takes the dog out about five times a day - basically during every coffee break. I find this a bit excessive, but walking the dog is his main form of exercise.

We are doing two walks - me doing the morning and husband doing the evening. He’s doing a huge poo on my walk, a huge poo on my husband’s walk (apparently)... and yet the garden is also full of poo.

I'm so confused 😐

@Londonwriter you need to research a raw food diet. Raw food poos are THE best. Small, don't smell and most raw fed dogs only poo once, maybe twice a day

@DoginATent Current UK guidelines are:

"You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:

• shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
• any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
• travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home."

By our interpretation, each adult is allowed out once a day (excluding shopping, etc.) for 'exercise' and, as the dog needs to toilet, I take my 'exercise' walking the dog in the morning, and my husband takes his 'exercise' walking the dog in the evening.

I admit, if we lived in a flat with no balcony (or in our old house with our previous dog), we'd have to cheat on this because our poor dog would have nowhere to pee, so it's possible dog toileting counts as an 'urgent medical need' (well, it is for the dog).

Ahh I see now!

This thread is a bit bonkers.

I do wonder if he poos more now my DH is wfh confused. I'm normally the only person wfh and he normally only does the two poos a day. When I take him out during the daytime, he normally just pees confused.

Animals defecate more when they eat more. Animals, dogs, whatever - eat more, do more shits.

So your dog is getting fed more, I expect as a consequence of being shut up at home.

If your DH won't admit to seeing it do a crap in the garden, though, he's not going to admit to feeding it more either, I expect.

DH problem, not dog problem.

Read the Doghouse posts if you genuinely want the opinion of dog owners. This has been hashed over several times.

Keep the grass cut short. First thing in the morning do a poo patrol and then before it gets dark. Tell your husband to do the same. Try and keep on top of it.

Errr

You make sure you only poop when you take the dog out ok?

Then any other time you're now allowed to poo at all. Ok?

Works well right?

Spraying the garden with bleach?!?

Are you kidding me? You're going to kill the garden and god knows what other wife life!!!!

Do you bleach when you go out with the dog? Otherwise it's double standards

Plus bleach on a garden where kids play?!? Good god

Just hose it down. Pick it up as soon as. Easy.

Your dog needs to go to the toilet more than three times a day! It'll get a uti like that! Just pick the poo up either when its done or in the morning. Poor dog.