AIBU by being upset about this confrontation about my puppy?

[silversable]

Sorry if this isn’t the usual post on here, just wondering if anyone can related or has any thoughts! So, I’m a bit shaken. I‘ve just taken my puppy for a walk and she has had some looser bowels today after she disagreed with a type of treat we’ve been giving her. When I took her on a walk earlier, she unexpectedly just went to the toilet right outside someone’s gate. Normally, I walk her through the fields or on the trail but with it being dark i’ve felt safer going through streets with street lights. I got my poo bag out and started picking it up.

As I was doing so, a car arrived just next to me where an older lady (I’d say about 75-80) got out the car where she’d been dropped off. Obviously I felt awkward and when she saw me she snapped “don’t let it mess in my gate!”. I was a bit taken aback so I said “sorry, what?” she then repeated it again but with a swear word or two. I was a bit shocked and said “I always clean it up. I’m so sorry, she normally doesnt go near gates”. She then replied “Yes but I don’t like it!” She was shouting which really threw me off, I think it was partly as I was already having a bad day and this happened. I then apologised again while she was walking to her door and clarified that I don’t encourage her to do that but she is a puppy and has been poorly. She then jist shook her head and slammed the door at me.

So, I want to clarify two things: 1. The mess wasn’t actually inside her drive, it was right outside. I don’t let any of my two dogs inside people’s property or garden. 2. I completely understand not wanting dog mess by your gate and that’s a reasonable request. But I would think most people would understand that dogs can be unpredictable and not be so hostile? 3. I know some people can be particular about their homes and surroundings and I do appreciate that. I have anxiety and I think that is partly what triggered me so much.
I know she could have just had some bad news and reacted in that way, or had some anger about something else. But I feel awful that I upset someone and at the same time a bit annoyed that I was spoken to like this.

Has anyone had anything similar happen with their puppy, and AIBU for thinking this could have been handled better?

But this thread is about OP and her puppy.

One afternoon I took the dog out for a walk. Took some pooh bags. Nice quiet afternoon walking. Then the dog decided to unleash a huge steaming pool of diarrhoea on the pavement outside someones house. The dog and I did the only thing we could do and ran like the wind down all the back alleys till we reached home....
I'll get my coat 🤣

I’m starting to question your intelligence now.

doesn’t matter if my dog goes in the garden, he’ll still go on a walk. And either way, I’m picking it up. So why do you seem to think him going in the garden would be a bad scenario for me?

Yeah discussions are allowed to veer off the original post.

@Dollymylove
Hilarious 🙄

Then don't have a dog if you don't have a garden for it to shit in...?

My mum's dog never poos before his first walk. He then poos a further 4 or 5 times throughout the rest of the day. Some in the garden, some out on walks.

Some people on here are embarrassing themselves trying to be knowledgable about dogs when it is clear they have probably never seen one, let alone had one.

According to whom? If it is your own rules, then YOU live by them.

Definitely impossible to train a dog to poo at home though funnily enough no one has ever tried...

You say no and then you put them in the garden. Eventually they associate the urge to poo with going out of the house into the garden. They learn that their owners will not make them wait for this to happen; that they will be let outside immediately so that they can empty their bowels.

What you can’t do is make them hold their bowels for a much longer period of time. If you are on a walk some distance away from home, the dog can’t be expected to just hold it in until such time as you get home. It couldn’t hold it in even if it wanted to (which it probably would because dogs generally want to do what their owner wants them to do). When training at home, if the owner failed to let the dog out into the garden in a timely fashion, the dog would soon just shit in the house. Because it literally can’t help it.

Try it on yourself as an experiment. Next time you get the urge to go when you’re away from home, just hold it in until you get back. Some people can and do do this, but it’s really not very good for bowel and digestive health.

It’s been an interesting and quite amusing discussion. Night all, off to cuddle the hound 🐕 💚

I've been asking myself what pavements must have been like before people were expected to bag dog poo. It must have been horrendous for pedestrians.

You’ve been asked several times but haven’t answered, which is weird seeing as you are indeed an expert - how is a dog meant to indicate that it needs a shit when already on a walk? We’re already outside, so it’s not as simple as standing at the door. We’re an hour away from home, which he has no way of knowing because he is a dog, so has no idea how long it needs to be held for. How is he supposed to let me know we need to go home so he can shit in the garden?
How does that work when we are away for the weekend?

I remember going to Sweden in 1990 and seeing people pick up dog poo. Can’t recall it was commonplace in the UK then.

Guess there were fewer dogs around in the past.

People leave dogs at home, or even in crates, for hours at a time - and they don't shit in it.
Aren't crates recommended to be small because dogs will deliberately hold on rather than shit in them?

Sometimes, they do shit. If they need to go, they need to go.
Again, you are just proving you have no dog experience whatsoever.

No. For some of us, our only experience with dogs is selfish dog owners inflicting the negative consequences of their furbabies on us.

So you have not lived with a dog, or know anything about them other than that their existence annoys you.
OK

Try it on yourself as an experiment. Next time you get the urge to go when you’re away from home, just hold it in until you get back. Some people can and do do this, but it’s really not very good for bowel and digestive health.
Sorry but I think this is normal?
I haven't shit my pants since I was 3, most adults do not shit their pants regularly.
You should be able to control your bowels 🤔

Being mobility impaired and trying to dodge their shit on the pavement annoys me. Having been knocked over by the extended lead of a dog running riot annoyed me. Having slobbery dogs running at me on the beach, when it isn't even the time of year they're allowed on there, annoys me. Negative consequences of dogs inflicted upon me by their irresponsible owners.

Um. Yes @maggisimpson . So you use a public toilet, don’t you? Or the toilet at work?

The level of explanation required is quite surprising 😂

How many well behaved dogs have you not even noticed?

No, she has trained herself to only have a wee at home.

A well behaved dog is no advantage to me. An ill behaved dog is a significant disadvantage to me. Dogs are a net negative effect upon me.

Well I don’t think dogs should be left alone, especially not in crates, for hours at a a time on a regular basis, but that’s a whole other can of worms, and I don’t want to offend anyone or get into any more rows so I won’t go down that road.

But you don't notice the well behaved ones that leave you alone. I bet they outnumber the ones that annoy you.