AIBU to want to know what a 'normal' response to dog's mess is?

[Cara707]

I have severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, with a contamination obsession as part of my condition so these kind of things are a problem to me. I am just wondering what a normal reaction to seeing dog's mess on other family members/household member's shoes is? It seems like every day there is a small quantity of dog's mess on someone's shoes and as I'm not able to clean it myself and don't want to be constantly nagging people to clean their shoes I would just like to know how much this bothers 'normal people' (without OCD).

For example if you see a small amount of dried dog's mess on yours or someone else's shoe do you clean it? How do you go about that? (e.g. do you wear gloves?, do you handle the shoes or avoid touching them? etc.)

We are shoes-off household so it's not as though people are tracking it on their shoes through the house but it's a source of anxiety to me so would like to know what to do about it!

If it is actually dog shit rather than mud, the normal reaction is

'Ugh'

'You need to clean your shoes outside as you've trodden on dog muck. Gloves under the sink'

Or

'Ugh'

Put on gloves, try to avoid being downwind of it, clean them outside (preferably by a quick blast with a steam cleaner and then some washing up liquid), bring back in when clean, say 'ugh' again, wash hands thoroughly.

Unless they're canvas/sandals/knackered already and it's more akin to cow shit size. They'd be more likely to get binned.

I have a stash of old silicon spatula/scrapers & stiff brush by the outdoor tap for exactly this purpose.
just take the shoe outside scrape out what you can and brush the rest out under cold running water.
Never use warm water to clean shit. Nobody wants a poo sauna.

I have 2 dogs who I have no issue cleaning up after whatever they have created but poo-shoes properly does make me boak.

I walk kms every day and never get dog poo on my shoes, my kids are out all the time too and never do it. It does seem unlikely that it is dog poo if you are seeing it so frequently. If it did happen though I would just clean it off. I wouldn't touch the poo obviously but I probably wouldn't wear gloves while cleaning them I'd just wash my hands afterwards and jobs done.

Like I said it never happens so it isn't really something that I think about or stress about.

There’s no way your family members can be walking in dog mess EVERY DAY, no way.

I'm afraid being disgusted by dog shit doesn't make you special

It does happen in some places.

My sons primary school was obviously on some late night dog walkers circuit as every day there would be at least 3 new areas of dog poo on the pavements.

Over time this built up to about 40 areas where a dog had poo'd in the last fortnight.

It was gross. It was the most complained about aspect of that particular primary school.

It stank. Everywhere.

I can't remember the last time this happened to me, things seem to have improved massively on the dog poo score here, but usually would just blast it with the outdoor hose to get most of it off, then spray on some disinfectant and give another quick wipe. No big deal (not that anyone should have to be dealing with it, but it happens).

This. Once or twice a year, max.

My little boy is a wheelchair user, he's in his chair inside the house as well as outside. Sometimes we manage to get animal poo on his wheels so I use a Boot Buddy with disinfectant to clean the worst off then hose his wheels clean. It's much easier to deal with on shoes than it is on the wheels of his chair as leaving it outside isn't an option because a) his chair is his legs and b) I really can't afford to have his chair stolen if left by the front door.

we have 3 dogs, 2 are pretty large so its not common but also not uncommon for someone occasionally to step in a mess despite our efforts to keep the yard picked up. Luckily its rarely the whole shoe, usually the toe or heel.

We keep 2 boot scrapers by the back door and if those don't work shoes come off at the door and are taken outside or to the laundry sink to have soles washed off. If its bad I put disposable gloves on but usually just rinse, say YUCK and move on.

I don't fret about it too much but I also never ever go barefoot at home, I feel that even if I washed my floors daily the dogs still trample through the grass where they pee so its all contaminated to me. 10 minutes after mopping I think floors are dirty bc of the dogs.

Can you put a boot scarper near the entry and urge everyone to use it before coming inside? Who keeps on walking thru dog poop? If its the same person they need an eye exam lol.

Yeah, this summarises what I do. Horrified that people just chuck shoes out for a bit of dog poo. Madness.

Blimey, your family steps in a lot of dog poo. I own a dog, always have, have three children who come on walks, play in local parks, fields, recreation grounds and I can’t recall any of us stepping in dog poo, ever. If I did, I’d have to clean it, I wouldn’t want my children doing that. If I was my own dog’s poo I could just about cope, if it was a strangers dog I would find it absolutely gross.

It's MN. People wash their sheets daily, vomit at the thought of washing their knickers with their outerwear and think having a toilet brush is a mortal sin (although I kind of agree on that point).

I would wipe the poo off with a paper towel, put it in the bin and not think anything more about it.

There are far wore substances than dog poo.

I would scrape what I can off with a stick ,wash them with the hose and scrub them with a brush and some dish soap. I certainly wouldn't throw out perfectly good shoes. The bottoms of all shoes worn outside are dirty, and we step on all manner of gross things on the pavement (spit, wee, poo etc). It's just a fact of life. However surely it's just mud you're seeing? I have two dogs and almost never step in poo.

If we have dog mess on shoes they are dumped outside. I wear gloves and scrub soles with an old toothbrush and bleach. Wipe the uppers down thoroughly with some bleachy washing up liquid then leave to dry and air outside.
Toothbrush and cloths binned straight away.
I make a right drama when I have to pick up poop when walking a relatives dog. Three bags, gloves and wrap first bags in newspaper. Eeew.

🙄

If any member of our family trod in dog mess, they'd wash it off outside under the outside tap. If they were too young to have done it themselves, the parent supervising when the trod in dog mess would have been responsible for doing it.

However, despite having a dog and going on dog walks, I really don't remember this happening more than once or twice when the children were tiny, and never with adults who can look where they're walking.

It's exceptionally unlikely that people in your family are treading in dog mess near daily, and I suspect that is the OCD speaking. It's more likely specks of mud or dust, which don't need any specific cleaning (apart from not walking mud over the carpet).

That's extraordinarily wasteful for the dog walks. Maybe invest in a pooper scooper?

How are you getting dog poo on you every day? Don't you watch where you're walking? I don't think I've trodden in it since I was about 6.

The last time I trod in dog shit I wiped my foot repeatedly on grass/moss nearby and got most of it off.

We are a shoes off indoors household so I then went home, took my shoes off and put them on the rack and put my slippers on,

I didn't clean them. I just kept using them outside. It dries and drops off soon enough,

Oh God, it is so disgusting isn't it? There are some very irresponsible dog owners where I live and I am frequently tempted to become a one-woman anti-poo militia!

Locally I walk around with my eyes almost glued to the ground and always carry a torch when it's dark.

If we ever picked up muck on our shoes I would be extremely revolted and struggle not to vomit. I would wash everything outside with a brush, disinfectant and hot water then throw away the brush.

Just wipe them off? I can't imagine wasting my time doing anything else.

I do this too. No amount of gloves and disinfectant will make me want to scrap dog poo out of shoes. We live in London and there is dog poo everywhere all the time so I could believe it happens daily. Near my children’s school there has never been a day without dog poo somewhere on the street

This has made me remember the time when I was a housekeeper for a really wealthy family. One morning I came in to the kitchen and was hit with the smell of dogshit to find the owner cleaning her child's wellies in the kitchen sink 🤮 I was heaving. Dirty cow 🤢

It doesn't happen very often here but when it does I just chuck the shoes.