AIBU to ask a woman not to let her dog crap on the pavement?

[furrycat]

I was walking with my buggy yesterday and a woman of about 25 was chatting on her mobile phone while her dog poo-ed copiously on the pavement (about 5 yards from a nursery).

I am sick of dodging dog poo all the time - it's everywhere, it gets on the wheels of my buggy and therefore into my house, and scraping it off my son's shoes isn't much fun either.

I asked her politely not to let her dog do that as it was a health hazard. She said repeatedly how she ALWAYS cleared it up at which point I said, great, thanks, and walked off.

She shouted after me that I was a "nosy bitch" and I turned round and said I wasn't, thanks very much, but I didn't see why it should get in my house, or make my children ill.

I was so angry and wondered if I should have intervened at all.

Must say I would feel defensive if someone shouted at me because I always pick up the poo so I can imagine that people would be angrier at being shouted at if they did pick it up rather than people who never bother. They would have just said "are you going to make me?".

oooh, i agree with YOU, kitti
can we form a clique?

A long time ago I had the job of trimming the trees that stood on the pavements each year. We'd cut some of the new growth off to stop it becoming a hazard and the gutter would be full of long twigs and branches.

We'd arrange them into bundles and tie them up. Then we'd lift the heavy bundles up to a lorry and find we had dog shit smeared down our clothes. It happened several times a day so we'd spend all day every day covered in dog shit.

Remind me why "ohhhh look he's doing his business!" is so cute again?

Damn! I don't think I've ever been in a corner-y clique-y thing before!!! !!

I agree with Kitti, I would be defensive too, I think.... BUT surely, if you walk your dog every day, you know the routine...

I've got my dog into a routine whereby his morning walk is the 'constitutional' walk (IYKWIM!) and we always stay away from any public areas..... (thankfully, I have to say, in the area I live in, there are loads of bins and free doggy bags provided too! so thumbs up to the council from me!) then I know, for the rest of the day, he's not going to be 'caught short'...

works for me..........

I'm sure dogs can be trained to poo in the gutter, but many roads are narrow, and the dog could get hurt.

Dog poo IS gross, but people p*ss, spit, throw rubbish, leave used tampons, vomit and god knows what else on the street, and generally don't pick it up.

i have 2 staffies, and always pick up atfer them (except the other w/e when dog had icky tummy, so used a bucket of water ). I loathe walking in dog shit, but feel i have absolutely no right to complain if i don't clear up after my dogs!

I second the lack of bins tho. I usually walk my dogs to school with the kids every morning. it's a good mile, and on the route we take there is ONE bin, by a bus stop, 20 yds from school. so i walk to school swith 2 kids, 2 dogs, 3mo baby in a sling, and multiple bags of dog poo! lovely! but then, there's absolutely no point in picking up after your dogs, if you then chuck the bags in the hedge is there...?

broken glass is just as bad tho. severed tendon, sliced pad, has cost me huge amounts of dosh at the vets over the years.... always same blinking dog too..stupid mutt! am sick of trying to avoid broken glass when i walk the dogs.

People leave used tampons on the street?
Where do you live!

YANBU.I have 3 dogs and 2 children and don't let them crap on pavements[even though I would clean it up].When I lived in an urban area I drove to forests etc and now I live surrounded by forests and fields.It is gross,I am constantly shouting 'look out for dog poo'when I am in town or walking to shop with the kids but also

sorry have gone abit posting crazy today - it's not like I haven't anything better to do - sorry I should say haven't anything else to do like washing up etc - feeding the dogs would be a start but I'm thinking if I starve them now there won't be any poo to clean up tonite

Primark
I know! I live in a medium sized town in Hampshire.

There is an underpass we use to get to the kids school, and there have been used tampons, condoms..

Some one in our local park clears up the poo, puts it in a bag and hangs it from tree branches.

I'm sure another mumsnetter has witnessed the same thing? (another thread, can't remember..)

What is that all about!?

purple duck that is manky!

Agree with PurpleDuck...

I used to live in Marlow - which has a LOVELY reputation, but some of the things people used to get up to in the main park there defy belief!

Broken bottles, puke, condoms, tampons, food and pee.... Especially at weekend and during school holidays...

To be fair to the Ameneties chaps there, they did a great job at cleaning the place up, but it does happen, I'm afraid....

I have a weimaraner, he normaly poos in the field we walk him in, but sometimes he goes in the grass by the road i walk him down. I pick it up. I would be very annoyed if someone challenged me about picking it up without waiting to see if i did or not. I'm sorry but i'm not going to force my dog to cross his legs until i find somewhere more convenient (for a start he once he squats i 'aint gonna move him. He weighs 40k) I carry 50 billion bags with me so i can clean it up and be responsable, it is going to far to get cross just because a dog poos where you don't want it to imo.
Having said all that, there no excuse for not cleaning it up, and the woman shouldn't have called the OP a "nosy cow"

Oh I hate the hanging poo bags in tree thing, like some revolting christmas decoration. Surely getting your dog trained to poo well away from where anyone is likely to walk, or flick it under a bush or something (in very rural areas I mean, not parks or pavements) is preferable to that - at least it would rot down then?

My dog wees on command before car journeys!

Well having listened to your responses and next time might hover a bit to see if the owner does pick it up, but I'm sticking to my guns - letting your dog poo on the pavement is ALWAYS a no-go, even if you do clear it up. Gutter, maybe, if the dog's desperate, but a huge pile of steaming crap on the pavement never is.

I think Frumygrumpyhasnofaceon has a good rule of thumb:

If your CHILD was desperate, where would you let them 'toilet'? If you wouldn't let your child poo in the middle of the pavement, then it's not acceptable to allow a dog to either....

pmsl at 'revolting christmas decoration'

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People are being too unreasonable with dog owners. Apparently we can't win if it gets left or if we clean it up. Dogs are not humans and although some can be trained others can't. I would MUCH rather they did their business in my garden and I try to get them to before we leave for a walk but if they won't then I can't force them. Is someone going to strat complaining next about cats pooing in someone else's garden?? I've had to clean my lo up several times before we even got dogs because next door's cat would come and poop in our garden and she fell over in it. Perhaps we can get all birds culled because they crap on windows and cars (and our heads!!). I clean up after my dogs that's all I can do. What I will also make sure I do is NOT let my teenage children out after a certain time (and check if they're meant to be at a friend's house) because I refuse to be one of these parents who allows their kids out to "give them some freedom" and we have to sidestep the broken glass in the parks the next day (or the used condoms, puke, poo etc) that they've left behind. Every parent wants to believe they're responsible parents yet SOMEONE is the parents of these kids and every park seems to have them loitering around come 9pm at night with lots of bottles of booze (and I live in a fairly smallish pleasant town so no-one is immune)

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Trolleydolly71 - there must be some pavements you have to walk on??? Not everyone can drive their dogs out to some nice fields/woodland etc. But I do always pick up after my dogs and would never dream about leaving it and I don't understand anyone who does leave it behind unless it's men or kids and then I totally understand why it hasn't been picked up but they CAN be trained

mAYBE DOG OWNERS SHOILD CARRY AN ANTIBACTERIAL SPRAY...SO IF HE DOG GAS NO CHOICE BUT TO POO ON PAVEMENT..THE POO CAN BE PICKED UP AND THE AREA DISINFECTED[SMILE]