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.

[RunSoICanEatCheese]

YANBU dog shit is utterly vile. Don’t get a dog if you don’t want to pick up it’s shit!

[Mummyshark2018]

Dog shit should always be picked up! Unless it shits in your own garden and you decide not to which is grim for you and your neighbours. Where I live I see lots of dog shit and I know who does it- a big massive Alsatian and the owner never picks up. It's disgusting and I'm constantly pulling my dog away from it. I have picked up other dog shit in the park which is disgusting but better than my dc or dog standing in it.

[Floatyboat]

He was clearly being unreasonable. Can anyone suggest a practical way forward for dealing with this kind of person. You could take a photo of him and inform the council but that is hardly definitive evidence so doubt they'd do anything. Even if you filmed the dog shitting and him walking off her might claim he went back for it?

Anyone got ideas how to stop this?

[ScarletFever]

@Bananabixfloof

I dont know which park it was, it's very unlikely that it's not to be picked up, however a park near me (a massive woods really) does say if it's off the path, no need to pick up. As it happens I do out of habit.

In another park, anywhere it's to be picked up, and on holiday before lockdown the rule on the private island was kick off path and that was a hard rule. So can you see your parks rules online?

and you said I've just posted two places where picking up is either explicitly not allowed or personal choice.

how is kick it off the path translate to "explicitly not allowed" ? and "does say if it's off the path, no need to pick up." is not personal choice, its disgusting to leave your dogs shit anywhere

[Cocacola12]

@floatyboat I don’t know, there is someone In our area who owns a few dogs and let’s them do their business all over the place without picking it up. Everyone knows who they are but what can be done...people like that won’t change just because someone calls them out on it. It’s just grim

[SarahAndQuack]

People not picking it up 'because it's woodland!' or 'because it's wild' really disgust me. It spoils everyone's enjoyment of the countryside, just because you chose to own a dog you couldn't be bothered to take responsibility for.

I think it's disgusting to leave dog poo anywhere, but as others say, it's even more disgusting if you leave it where someone might not see it.

[Heroicasymphony]

Yanbu. If you make a mess, clean it up. If an animal you choose to own makes a mess, pick it up. Stick and flick is a rank policy, like the national trust has just given up on trying to get people to be clean. Leaving shit lying around is unhygienic and impacts on wildlife. Just pick it up fgs.

Also, the argument about foxes etc shitting doesn't work. There are six million dogs in the UK and fewer than 300 thousand foxes for starters and also foxes are a natural part of the ecosystem and no one is responsible for them. Dogs are only around because humans want them, same as cars and pipelines and every other aspect of our lives that fuck the environment up so we're in charge of trying to minimise the damage not just shrugging it off.

[SarahAndQuack]

@xingming, if you think where you're walking is too 'dangerous' for you to clear up properly, why not walk somewhere else?

You say a small child wouldn't follow your dog's path through briars etc., but you'd be really surprised. Small children don't necessarily have the same sense of danger/potential discomfort we do. I recently found my DD happily wiggling on her stomach under a hawthorn hedge with nettles growing on either side. If she'd stood up or sat up at the wrong moment she'd have been stung, and as it was she'd got prickly dead hawthorn all over her clothes, but it never occurred to her not to carry on going.

[Butterflyonmyshoulder]

As a dog owner and a parent I 100% pick up my dogs mess wherever I am. I always carry surplus bags and double bag if theres no bins nearby so the smell isnt unbearable until I can dispose of it. Theres no excuse not too.

[YesPleaseMary]

@Nottherealslimshady

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.

So kids can’t disturb the ground nesting birds but your dog can shit all over them?

[Heroicasymphony]

@SarahAndQuack absolutely. Also, there are plenty of little and not so little creatures making their homes in briar bushes etc and variously utilising them to eat/live etc. It's their actual habitat, not a toilet for domestic pets.

[TheKickInside]

There are woods local to me where people don't pick up unless it's on the path. The woods reek of dog shit all year round. It's not just about the risk of treading in it, it's the stink.

NancyBotwinBloom if it's a runny poo, try using a tissue to get what you can, including handfuls of grass/soil if necessary, or use water from a bottle to try to get it into the ground a bit more, and try to cover it with earth or stones if you can.

[therewillbelies]

The rule is always pick up unless you can't get to it,
E.g. My small dogs often poo under bushes where I can't reach. I think if I can't reach then it's unlikely someone will step in it so it's ok to leave it

[CoolCarrie]

We have got three dogs and always pick up after them which can be a pain, but we have a responsibility to clean up after them, it was our choice to have three so have to do it.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

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

In which case neither should a dog

Dog owners who don't pick up their dogs shit and carry it with them until they reach an appropriate bin (not someone else's wheely bin, not an overflowing dog shit bin) are filthy, selfish mongers. No exceptions.

[cdtaylornats]

Who do you think picks up after the feral dogs or foxes? Or cats.

[flirtygirl]

Of course it does.

[SerendipitySunshine]

Depends where it is. Round here the advice is stick and flick when on paths.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

This is the UK. There aren't very many feral dogs. Foxes don't have owners to pick up after them. Cats should be confined to the owners property.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

@SerendipitySunshine

Depends where it is. Round here the advice is stick and flick when on paths.

Stick and flick is only because they know dog owners will be too lazy and ignorant to actually dispose of their dogs shit responsibly.

At least this way it is off the paths, and not hanging in a tree in a plastic bag. There is never a circumstance when it would be wrong to pick up your dogs shit and take it away with you.

[IndieTara]

@nancy my dog had a permanent runny stomach so most poos are runny. I still pick them up!

[Porcupineinwaiting]

@SerendipitySunshine advice from whom?

[mumwon]

I don't like dog poo & I think people should pick it up
but
nobody picks up after foxes etc & judging from the occasional present they (un)kindly leave in my garden & mr/mrs/miss neighbours' cats who love my freshly dug veggie patch I am looking at you all (&wouldn't dream of picking it up with trowel & returning it back to their garden at night over the fence)

[Captainmarvel0160]

Dog poo SHOULD always be picked up end of...

I myself have a pooch & always do. I seethe when walking my own around parks etc... and other dog owners have not done the same as I and even more angry when they have bagged it & just hang it off a tree😡😫🤬

[SarahAndQuack]

YY, @Heroicasymphony.