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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this women was being ridiculous

295 replies

Trizzlenbizzle · 29/10/2020 23:29

I was walking my dog earlier and he stopped on the pavement to do a week against a lamp-post, standard dog behaviour.

A woman went past and made a passive aggressive comment about how it was disgusting that i'd let him wee there and that it was really unhygienic because we were outside a supermarket and 'near to food'.

This is ridiculous because in order to actually get into the supermarket and be near to the food, you'd have to go through the 2 sets of automatic doors!

I just gave her a look and walked on because I couldn't be arsed with an argument, but she was being ridiculous wasn't she?

OP posts:
nicerbeing · 30/10/2020 08:52

@Mulhollandmagoo

You're fighting a loosing battle here OP, the only thing Mumsnet hates more than men, is dogs!

I don't hate dogs, I just don't particularly like stepping through their piss when it's trickling across the pavement. Dogs themselves are fabulous animals and the only reason we don't have one is the lack of time and availability to walk one

Poppynit · 30/10/2020 08:55

I’m hoping that the comment about spraying Zoflora was a joke Hmm

I don’t know where some of you live but where I’m from, pavements and lampposts are grubby and we try to avoid touching/licking them.

Saying that I do always take a bottle of water with me to swill the pavements after doing a wee or poo (dog not me), purely because when I was about 6 years old I dropped my ice cream and it landed in remnants of dog turd, worst thing is I didn’t tell my parents and carried on eating it. It’s scarred me for life.

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 30/10/2020 08:55

I absolutely love dogs and have had dogs all my life, haven't got one at the moment since our old one died 3 years ago. But I do think it's crazy that dogs are allowed to pee where ever they like, when you think about it, I bet our shoes are constantly covered in dog pee, minging really!

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 30/10/2020 08:59

You can't compare horse shit to dog shit! Horse shit is basically recycled grass, poses no danger to anyone, but dog shit has goodness knows what in it.

Roussette · 30/10/2020 09:00

i don't think it's unreasonable to carry a bottle of water around if you live in an urban area and just chuck some over where your dog wees. It's the norm in other countries.

Roussette · 30/10/2020 09:01

I collect horse manure for the garden, and my oh my it grows anything in my garden

jacks11 · 30/10/2020 09:02

I personally don’t get he absolute horror people seem to have of dog urine, I doubt it will do any harm as I don’t touch lamp-postS or do anything but walk on the pavements. I dare say my shoes come into contact with worse than dog urine. I don’t spend a lot of time touching the soles of my shoes either, come to think of it, so I have no hygiene concerns. I find some of the furore over this subject a bit hysterical generally though.

I think the issue being about it being near food was ridiculous. It’s not going to contaminate the food in the supermarket, is it?

DBML · 30/10/2020 09:03

In Italy (well at least in the town my in-laws live) you can be fined for not carrying both dog poo bags and a bottle of water to wash down where your dog pees if in a pedestrian area/footpath

This is exactly what should happen. And there should be dog walking parks and parks where dog walking isn’t allowed, so that people can enjoy the area without worrying about dog shit and piss.

justanotherneighinparadise · 30/10/2020 09:07

I don’t think people feel ‘absolute horror’ more irritation at people acting selfishly and without consideration for those who would like a nicer, cleaner local space.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 30/10/2020 09:12

This is exactly what should happen. Fine by me. And probably all the people who carry and use poo bags. But it won't change the behaviour of thse who don't bother. It's not policeable as it is...

And there should be dog walking parks and parks where dog walking isn’t allowed, so that people can enjoy the area without worrying about dog shit and piss. As long as there are also areas where people without dogs are not allowed. So dogs and there owners can have the same experience. Fair is fair after all. I'll even let kids with dogs in...

DBML · 30/10/2020 09:12

I can’t stand dogs. But some dog owners think their dogs are like kids and expect everyone else to treat them as such.
Dog owners need to realise that their pooch isn’t cute or adorable to everyone. And that their pee and poo is gross.
I also hate when dogs are off the leash in places where signs clearly state to keep dogs on the lead. And when the dog begins running towards you they call ‘oh, she’s friendly!’ like that makes a difference. Well I’m not and if your dog jumps up at me, she’s going to get unceremoniously pushed away with my foot.

DBML · 30/10/2020 09:13

As long as there are also areas where people without dogs are not allowed. So dogs and there owners can have the same experience. Fair is fair after all. I'll even let kids with dogs in...

You wouldn’t have me to worry about. I’d completely avoid.

jacks11 · 30/10/2020 09:15

Posted too soon- I think some people are just very cautious, some prissy and others need to get a grip, frankly. We had people who bought a cottage on next farm along who complained about all sorts (like the sheep in the field backing on to their garden being g to loud), wanting trees near them cut down because the birds made too much noise early in the morning. My particular favourite was a complaint they made about horse manure on the private road to MY house, when they drove down to complain (actually to moan about the farm traffic, the work going on late into the night, and the fact that the road was muddy). Unhygienic to get horse manure on the car wheels apparently. I think there is a time and a place for being careful re hygiene, but people could also do with being a lot less precious (unless you have a good reason, such as immunosuppression, when clearly there is a reason to be really careful). My children have grown up with various pets, on a farm with sheep and cattle and have horses. I am not very strict re hand washing etc when they are out and about, they’ve survived just fine.

Notmybloodymonkeys · 30/10/2020 09:17

@Katypyee

And the suggestion(s) that we take a spray bottle of water with us to squirt every time our dogs take a wee outside is just ridiculous.
It’s actually the law here in Spain - it’s supposed to be filled with either soap or vinegar. Takes literally seconds after your dog has had a wee and there are fines for non-compliance.
MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 30/10/2020 09:19

Dog urine in particular has a vast array of bacteria present which is why they are so prone to UTIs

UTIs are not caused by bacteria normally present within the bladder, but by colonisation from the perineum.

Now that we can test for bacteria using DNA (rather than culturing the bacteria in the lab, the standard method), we are understanding that even parts of the body previously believed to be sterile do contain bacteria. But these are microbiome ('friendly bacteria') at infinitesimally low levels. They do not represent an infection risk.

DBML · 30/10/2020 09:19

@jacks11

And if that’s how you want to live then fine...but it’s not for you to tell others we’re prissy. I mean, I know I’m prissy. My house is like a show home, cream carpets throughout, white walls and I challenge you to find a spec of dust. But that’s how I’m comfortable, when my environment is clean, hygienic and dirt free. I feel no need to go expose my family to disgusting bacteria just because it’s less “prissy”.
I don’t know why my desire to have clean streets is trumped by a dog walkers desire to let their dog ‘scent mark’ everywhere for communication purposes. 🙄

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 30/10/2020 09:24

I am hoping anyone that thinks you're being unreasonable doesn't own a cat.

LonelyFromCorona · 30/10/2020 09:24

Pee on the pavement or up lampposts. Disgusting.

Control your dog.

DBML · 30/10/2020 09:25

I am hoping anyone that thinks you're being unreasonable doesn't own a cat.

Well I don’t. Can’t stand cats either.

CounsellorTroi · 30/10/2020 09:26

@Dazedandconfused10

Dogs piss on things as a form of communication to others especially if they have been pissed on before.
Yes. If you let your dog sniff around as you walk (and why wouldn’t you, their nose is their main way of experiencing the world) it’s inevitable they’ll piss. We get enough rain in this. Country to wash it away.
jacks11 · 30/10/2020 09:26

But why is dog urine on a pavement or lamppost so terrible? It’s not like you have to come into contact with the lamppost (and if you did, I dare say they’d be contaminated with a great many other things) and only walk on the pavement. I am not that concerned if I walk over dried dog urine (and could step over wet if required). I don’t walk my dog in built up areas, so not an issue for me personally, I just find the disgust slightly OTT.

TheShapeJaper · 30/10/2020 09:26

@EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide

You can't compare horse shit to dog shit! Horse shit is basically recycled grass, poses no danger to anyone, but dog shit has goodness knows what in it.
🤔 dog food? And in the case of my precious little prince, the finest dog food money can buy 😋
PlanDeRaccordement · 30/10/2020 09:27

YABU as the woman was right, it is disgusting. It’s perfectly legal and acceptable, but also disgusting. So, not she was not “being ridiculous”

WoooImAGhost · 30/10/2020 09:28

My aunt trained her dog to only pee at the kerbside, I've always thought that was a good idea. Less likelihood of people having to walk though it.

Snackasaurus · 30/10/2020 09:33

@AIMD

I might start a AIBU about being angry about cats shitting in my garden.
@AIMD

YES to this! Have you heard or scaredy cat plants? Google it if you haven't Smile