What would you think if your gardener sent this message to all their clients?

[DoggyDooDooDoo]

"Hi all, just to let you know a new service I'm offering -

Poo picking - Happy to clean up after your dog before I start work
£15 first 1-15min
£1per min after that

Thanks!"

This follows an incident on Monday where they got dog poo sprayed all over them whilst strimming a garden that hadn't been poo-picked (as previously requested) before they started work. They had to leave work to go home and shower as it was splattered over their face.

YABU - dog poo is an occupational hazard of gardening and that's an outrageous price to charge for clearing it up

YANBU - fair enough, dog poo is rank and that's a reasonable price to charge for dealing with it before starting work

Someone has started a poo picking business back in my home town. They advertise it as a service for the elderly, less mobile, pregnant etc. I looked at their rates just now and it would work out about £80 per hour so his rates are very reasonable.
And yes he's quite right to not want to have to poo pick.
I love my dogs and I know picking up is just part of the job as an owner.

I'm not a dog owner - I didn't know letting your dog shit in the garden was a thing, let alone not clearing it up 😳

I think it’s quite a high price but hopefully it will encourage people to pick it up before he comes.

He could potentially charge for picking up poo £1 per poo or an extra charge of £5 if there is poo in the garden.
So the job is X amount but he’ll add on £1 per poo he finds or a flat rate of an extra £5 if he finds any poo.

The trouble is is that cats and wild animals also poo in the garden and so charging an extra £15 because a neighbours cat has just done a poo, may feel a bit mean.

Where do you think they went to the toilet lol?

I think that's completely ok if the gardener has repeat offenders who clearly aren't making the effort to clear up after the dog. But I'd also expect the gardener to check an area and take appropriate health and safety precautions when strimming (e.g. goggles / mask / overalls) because in any garden there's going to be bird poo/smaller wildlife poo and lots of gardens will have the odd fox poo too and I wouldn't be impressed with a gardener who had to leave to have a shower if they got some wildlife poo on them - by all means ask to use the bathroom to wash it off, but dealing with wildlife poo is an occupational hazard of working outdoors.

He needs to re-word it. By offering it as a service it still gives people a choice over whether to pay it or not. Some won't want to pay for such a service but still won't clear it themselves either, so he'll still have the same problem.

A better wording would be:

Please ensure that your garden is cleared of ALL dog poo before your scheduled visits. Due to recent events and resulting health & safety issues a surcharge of £30 will be added to your normal gardening fee if we have to remove any dog poo during our visit, following which we reserve the right to terminate future services.

As others have said £15 isn't enough, and it needs to be added in the form of a fine so they know that they don't have a choice. Then if payment isn't forthcoming or it happens again you can stop going.

Photograph or it didn't happen😂best mumsnet poo troll ever!

Can't believe anyone would think it was ok not to make sure all dog poo had been cleaned up before expecting someone to work in their garden tbh, wtf is wrong with people?!! Gardener is being more than reasonable OP, I would be binning that client in his shoes. I don't think his other clients will be offended by the email, they probably won't think much about it at all if it doesn't apply to them but the offending one will know it's aimed at them and will hopefully be shamed into picking up the poo.

I'm fascinated by this, how often do they come to clean your lawn? When we had a dog I used to check the lawn at least every other day.

He’s a genius. That leaves the onus on the owner. If they want to pick up the dog crap before he comes or pay extra is up to them. If it’s part of his terms and conditions then great!

I am not the MN poo troll. I haven't actually asked the gardener, but I'm fairly sure they aren't either. Do you want me to check?

My dog sitter offers this service, I'm not sure how much she charges but she is busy enough with it. She was talking about trying to find a way to turn it into energy...

I'd wonder more what the gardener's plan B is for a garden where they haven't paid in advance. Is the idea to put an additional charge on the bill if it's discovered whilst gardening?

Well done to the gardener ! People who have gardeners presumably do not have long overgrown grass, so dog poo is easy to spot and picked up by the home owner. Lazy and entitled behaviour to not do so.

Yes good point, they need to be clearer so it is clearly part of the contract

It's the only thing lazy fuckers understand imo.

Yes please! On another note, who are all these people paying gardeners to cut grass in late November?

She's talking shit...

I think the message is fine. Our parish council had to send out a strongly worded message in our newsletter as our lengthsman was fed up of getting splattered in dogs mess in our church yard when strimming. If you own a dog you need to pick up their poo.

I cut my own grass, but it's still growing because it's been so warm and wet [fnar]

On their bloody walk!!! Then their human picks it up and sticks it in a poo bin!

Everyone dog should get two walks a day for their toilet needs. Mine do. They might wee in the garden (and by that I mean in one fenced in part that they know is ‘designated’ as such) but they don’t poo in it. They haven’t done it since they were four months old (puppies are different as bladder and toilet control is harder). It’s only lazy dog owners who let their dogs shit in their garden. And it’s only lazy who pay for someone else to do it - probably the same people who have a dog walker as they can’t be arsed to be a responsible owner. The fact the gardener in this case has texted astounds me, mine would just refuse to work and I’d pay him for the days job! And he’d deserve it.

My garden is where I sunbathe in summer, it’s where kids play, it’s where I host friends - I’m not gonna spend my free time in a shit infested crap hole - why should my gardener?

Only grotty b*astards don’t pick up their dogs shit in their garden. The fact there are people on this thread who don’t check their garden daily is actually disgusting and a timely reminder to anyone moving house to do a thorough walk around the property; if they can’t pick up their dogs own shit in their garden, know who knows what sort of grotty crap is hiding in the house.

Should be £15 per poo!

Good for the gardener.

I just wish people would pick it up from the pavements too (as someone who drove her pram through someone yesterday and spent a good chunk of time trying to scrape it out of the tyre grooves 🤢)

The grit is out in fair force around my parts.

A gardener shouldn't have to poo pick. Poo picking is an absolute minimum basic hygiene maintenance if you choose to have a pet dog. A dog owner shouldn't expect anyone else to do it and surely it's something that needs to be cleared up every day. Preferably as soon as a poo actually occurs!

If I was a gardener I'd refuse to work in a garden with poo in it.