To expect this area to be dog-shit-free?

[SickOfAllThePoo]

Name changed for this as it's very outing.

We live on a new estate (built in last 10 years) close to the centre of town but in a rural area. It was built on what was formerly a number of privately owned buildings and car park.

The estate is not adopted by the local authority, it's owned by the management company. It’s a mix of flats, terraces, semis and detached homes - privately owned, privately rented, housing association, etc. Some have large gardens, some have small yards and some have no private outdoor space at all.

The estate is designed and laid out around a huge, beautiful, protected tree and an enclosed (by small fence) green space but there are a number of other small green spaces dotted round the estate as well as planted/formal shared space in the middle. All these areas, while owned by the management company, and paid for by the residents, are technically accessible to the public.

The space around the big tree has always been used by the residents for little meet ups, for kids to crawl or run about in without parents having to worry about them running into the road. This ramped up over lockdown for obvious reasons. In recent months though someone or a number of people have been letting their dogs poo on this area and not picking up after them. This means if anyone wants to use the space you have to go out first with doggie bags and clear up poo. Crucially, this could well be residents but could be someone who doesn't live here but uses the space anyway.

A number of residents have moaned about it on the shared Facebook page and ideas have been thrown around about how we can prevent it. A few people have suggested that we make it a No Dogs area. We are within walking distance of a very large park and a number of smaller areas suitable for letting dogs run around on. The logic is it will make it easier to police the general dog poo issue as no dogs should be there at all. It also means there shouldn't be any remnants of dog poo there. However some residents (with and without their own gardens) use this space to let their kids and dogs run around in together and always pick up after them. They don’t feel they should be penalised for other's poor dog-shit etiquette.

AIBU to think that this nice secure, central, high quality space should be an area which (human) residents should be able to spend time without worrying about the inevitable side effects of it being used as a dog toilet? Or should those people with dogs be able to use it as a run around / pooing area?

Any suggestions for dealing with the general dog poo issue welcome!

I'd just make it dog free. I have a dog but wouldn't have an issue with this.

@ComtesseDeSpair

It should be dog free. As to “penalising” the good owners: I never understand why anyone would want their children playing and sitting and rolling around on grass where their dogs have just taken a shit. Surely it’s a positive for everyone?

I suspect decent dog owners will take their dog for a walk/ to do the toilet before tossing it in to play with children. My dog plays in the garden with dc all the time. She doesn't go to the toilet there not even for a wee.

I'd say I live in a similar ish type of place. Our estate is fully open to anyone and you could drive right through it, although not much point as you would end up almost where you started. I find that people like to walk their dogs here as there is v little traffic - even with a couple of hundred houses, the comings and goings are not that much. So dog walkers are from here and also from anywhere accessible on foot. People do leave dog shit, some people are filthy ignorant animals and you won't change that, sorry to say. The best thing to do would be to divide the area so that there is a dog free zone and a zone where both dogs and people could go. I don't think residents' dogs should be banned from the area entirely, but I do think there ought to be a zone where kids can play where dogs don't go, as like you say, sometimes there are traces of shit even if people pick up. Having said that, in my area there are mini playparks with just a slide and a springy rocker toy, nothing else. These are completely fenced and dog free. What you find is that people go in, sit on the bench and let their dog roam. And you also find people drinking in there and smashing the glass afterwards. When my kids were little, I got a slide and swing set in the garden as I was fed up of going to public areas and risking small kids getting dogshit on them and glass cutting them. Some people are bastards - a small minority spoil things for everyone.

@SickOfAllThePoo

The argument the resident dog owners use is that they like to play there with their kids and they can't stop their dogs pooing anywhere. Our dog never, ever pooed in our garden as we trained her to only poo on her walks (twice daily). If you can train cats to poo in litter trays and puppies to poo on pads and then outside how hard can it be to prevent your dog pooing on this communal area even if they must be there with the rest of the family?

These dog owners are just lazy and selfish. If it's such a small area, it should be dog-free.

As a dog owner i would vote for a dog free area.
When i walk my dog i pick up his mess with a poo bag, unfortunately he also raises his leg to urinate.
I do not consider it hygenic for children to play where my dog could have possibly urinated.
There are plenty of place to walk our dogs, so these areas put aside for children's safety (being fenced away from road) should be only for children.
Good luck with at least starting the discussion with your neighbours.

@jytdtysrht

I'd say I live in a similar ish type of place. Our estate is fully open to anyone and you could drive right through it, although not much point as you would end up almost where you started. I find that people like to walk their dogs here as there is v little traffic - even with a couple of hundred houses, the comings and goings are not that much. So dog walkers are from here and also from anywhere accessible on foot. People do leave dog shit, some people are filthy ignorant animals and you won't change that, sorry to say. The best thing to do would be to divide the area so that there is a dog free zone and a zone where both dogs and people could go. I don't think residents' dogs should be banned from the area entirely, but I do think there ought to be a zone where kids can play where dogs don't go, as like you say, sometimes there are traces of shit even if people pick up. Having said that, in my area there are mini playparks with just a slide and a springy rocker toy, nothing else. These are completely fenced and dog free. What you find is that people go in, sit on the bench and let their dog roam. And you also find people drinking in there and smashing the glass afterwards. When my kids were little, I got a slide and swing set in the garden as I was fed up of going to public areas and risking small kids getting dogshit on them and glass cutting them. Some people are bastards - a small minority spoil things for everyone.

Thanks for this! It's too small to divide, but maybe we can look at fencing off another of the areas and making one dog free.

@Janew1978

As a dog owner i would vote for a dog free area. When i walk my dog i pick up his mess with a poo bag, unfortunately he also raises his leg to urinate. I do not consider it hygenic for children to play where my dog could have possibly urinated. There are plenty of place to walk our dogs, so these areas put aside for children's safety (being fenced away from road) should be only for children. Good luck with at least starting the discussion with your neighbours.

Thanks

Obviously it would have to be your management company to do so, and they are notoriously difficult to get to do much so doubt they will police it.

I agree in principle but would imagine it wouldn't make any difference. In my experience the people who don't pick up aren't people that listen to signs!
We have a dogs on lead area here, what happens is all the people who are responsible but their well behaved dogs on leads, and the people who's dogs were the problem in the first place due to being unruly ignore it

We also had a spate of Christmas lights cut and things stolen from door steps which after long campaigns about how the neighbourhood had gone down hill, turned out to also be foxes

This is hysterical!

I can't believe the foxes did that!