Walking with my 3 month old in the pram in my local park this morning and see two dogs bounding a little way ahead of me, off leads. Cautiously slow down as they were big dogs and didn’t want them to run into the pram. See one of the dogs take a dump in the “wild” area to the side of the path and then see it run towards its owner. So I ask the guy “Is that your dog?” He says yes and I tell him I just saw it poo and please would he clean it up. He enquired as to where exactly so I point and he says “I don’t need to pick it up there, it’s the long grass, that’s why they don’t cut it”. To which I tell him I see plenty of kids (including my 3 year old) run in and out of these areas - lots of bushes, longer grass to the main park, trees, a lot more fun! and he should pick it up so that no one treads/falls in it. He said no and got a bit shirty with me saying if it bothered me that much I should pick it up. I should probably have just sighed and walked away at this point but his attitude really irked me so I told him that if he was a responsible dog owner he would carry bags and clean it up and if I had a dog and it had done a shit in the park I absolutely would but it’s his dog, his responsibility and that he shouldn’t ruin it for everyone else just because he isn’t keeping an eye on his dog and can’t be arsed. He then told me to shut up, waved his bags at me and walked away.
So was I being reasonable in asking him to pick his dog shit up or was he right about not needing to pick it up “because it’s in the long grass” and I was being unreasonable and should’ve minded my own business? I am not a dog owner so prepared to be told I don’t know the etiquette.