Dog poo doesn’t need to be picked up in long grass

[LittleSheps]

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.

I'm amused by the thought that anyone would care about rabbit poo

Where I live, not only can you be fined for leaving dog poop behind, you can be fined for having your dog off leash.

Walking around footpaths on Dartmoor in West Devon, the council signs suggest that you find a stick and flick the faeces into the fence/hedge to be broken down naturally. There are signs to discourage the use of poo bags, because the bins are few and far between. And there are very very few small children playing. It's miles from anywhere close to a park. No play area, not a park.... it's a National Park, and managed to be wild. It's also dangerous unless you know what you are up to.

@BumpBundle dog poo can blind people. Badger and fox poo don't.

If it’s a busy park I always pick up even in the long grass, usually Bubs around too so it’s not even inconvenient. High likelihood someone will tread on it if left. My dog never goes on pathways or pavements, or even our garden and will seek overgrown areas, it’s harder to pick up there but still important for safety and hygiene reasons. In more remote areas, like forests, I will cover over with leaves and so on, that’s about the only time I will leave it, usually no bins about either. But urban parks, campsites, busy areas and beaches should always be cleaned up. He was an idiot and well done you for calling him out.

Bins not Bubs!

There are times I really want a filled baby nappy to hand to rub on something/someone. See how they like it.

@RealLifeHotWaterBottle

100% would always pick up. Pavement/park/woodland - it really doesn't matter. I would always pick up and would be disgusted by anyone who doesn't

Good luck following my dog to pick up. Through bracken and wild forest brash.... your sentiment is laudable, but her speed across rough ground, bracken and briars, after prey, is so fast, a human couldn't follow. And no small child would even try.

Stick and flick is generally acceptable if you can flick it out of the way, and you're not on private property where the rules state otherwise.

Depending on how long the grass it then it could be out of the way. If we're talking thick waist high grass then it's unlikely to be trodden on. If it's simply regular grass that's not been mowed then it should be picked up.

If your dog shits anywhere off your property, you pick it up!

Stick and flick is much more environmentally sound.

He's being a lazy shitty dog owner. I have two dogs and 3 kids. I pick up always. I've crawled through prickly bushes to pick up. Even if it's away from a footpath, it stinks. Who wants to smell that on a hot day. Don't get me started on horse poo, whole other thread. They don't pick up and dangerous for dogs because of their worming medication.

It's very clear that the majority of contributors here live in towns and expect maintenance crews. I live on the edge of Dartmoor, and the walking areas are far too large to be titivated and tidied. In many places you need a map and compass, because there is no path at all. The terrain is managed and maintained for livestock. My dog runs off-lead, unless there are animals grazing, in which case I have her close at heel.

Depends what kind of area you're talking about. A cyclist once kicked of at me telling me to pick my dog poo up at the woods, she'd pooed in the thick grass under the trees. No one should be running there anyway because of the ground nesting birds.
He fucked off once he saw my massive husband.

Your kids shouldn't be running in the long grass parts, they keep those bits wild for the wildlife, including ground nesting birds.

@CaveyWavey how do you envisage horse riders picking up horse poo? Where will they carry the shovel? Where will they carry the full sack? Who will hold the (large, possibly skittish) animal whilst they're doing it? Who will hold up the rest of the traffic on the road whilst they pick it up?

Don't be so ridiculous.

Besides, horse poo is lovely for the garden. It's a prized commodity around here.

Addendum... when I visit my mum in a market town in the Midlands and take the dog, I absolutely clean up every scrap behind her. I am just slightly bemused that anyone could think the same rules apply to a town park of 10 acres and to a National Park covering several hundred thousand acres.

man was a total cunt. i would have challenged him too unless he looked like a brainless thug dog owner type

I'd have been tempted to pick it up and deposit it in his bag.

I pick it up wherever my dog does it , bag and bin it , my dog is regularly wormed but I wouldn't take a chance .

Grim. I have a dog and pick up poo in all environments. Leaving it is grim and unfair on others. It’s awful for pedestrians, grim for cyclists/prams/wheelchairs, horrible for other dogs who might step in it, eat it or roll in it (mine isn’t an eater but does roll). It’s just generally unpleasant. Bag it and bin it, it’s not hard.

YANBU, If you don't want to pick up dog shit don't get a dog.

Lots of places actively discourage you from picking it up and ask you to stick and flick. In those circumstances I flick it into the undergrowth and leave it. Nobody is going to be walking through waist high stinging nettles and brambles!

Pick it up.and bin it. Dont stick and flick - most places have hundreds of dogs going through every day, that's a lot of faeces. Far more than the local badger or fox population is going to produce.

I ALWAYS pick up regardless of it’s in long grass/woodland/secluded areas. Sorry but it’s just part of having a dog. Having 3 small children who run everywhere I know how annoying it is when someone trods on dog shit. If you can’t pick you’re on dog poo up, don’t get a dog!

In a park 100% you should pick it up (unless we’re talking somewhere huge and wild like Richmond park and he was way away from a path in which case it’s more like common land and I could see his point).

If you’re on a long walk in the countryside and it’s a good few metres off the path then I think it’s ok to leave it.

My absolute pet HATE is people who bag it and then hang the bag in a bush/tree!!! WHY?!?!?! It will never decompose and some poor soul will eventually have to move someone’s old dog shit. Even if it’s a biodegradable bag it will take months and people have to look at it and avoid it. It would be so much better for these people to train their dogs to shit in bushes way off the path rather than hang bags in trees (although of course no one should have a dog if they’re not willing to carry a bag of shit home). It disgusts me and it’s getting more common and I don’t understand why these morons think it’s ok.

And I say all this as a non dog owner.