Picking up dog poo in long grass.

[SurreyHillsinspring]

DW and I were walking on a grassy path on Common land ,one side a forest the other long grass surrounded by rolling fields.Old dog does his business a couple of metres into the long grass.We start having a convo about picking it up ,the wife insisting yes, I'm saying no.

Out of nowhere a bloke in his seventies shouts from a fair distance to pick it up.I picked it up after a long interlude.

I'm not saying what happened next but we went straight home both annoyed.

Who was in the wrong?

Cat food...... didn't realise you can give him that.He goes nuts for apples ,really helped with training but I'll slip in some cheese aswell thanks.

Didn't get this...but thanks anyway 😊

Dog poo, long grass, pick it up. You say it’s ‘never cut’ but actually lots of long grassy fields are actually cut for hay at the right time of year and dog poo everywhere from people who think it doesn’t count, somehow, ruins the whole crop

It's because dog poo can cause all sorts of disease in livestock, in some cases fatal.

Absolutely, this is the reason.

I think I worded my original post poorly with the commas - I should have said “from people who somehow think it doesn’t count, ruins the whole crop”.

My point was really that it always counts, and you should pick it up even if it looks like “just” long grass, or “countryside”.

I thought this, but horse poo is dangerous for dogs to eat if the horses have just been wormed or had other medications.

The same goes for any other livestock poo - but they'd need to eat a fair amount for it to have a negative impact unless you're talking tiny puppies or toy breeds.

Mine loves a bit of sheep or cow poo - the fresher the better 🤮

Doesn't matter where the poo is you need to pick it up.
I hate picking dog poo up, weak stomach, have to hold my breath until I'm nearly fainting 😁 but I always pick it up.
Get one of those poo bag holders that clip to the lead.
Enjoy your doggo 😉

Thanks he's great in so many ways😁.Last bit of a technical query. Great walk ,see through bag with treats worked with all horse doings for a whole hour .But near the end being a bit knackered he raced in front and ate some light brown fresh poo.The majority is Bournville black so this freaked me out a tad.

Why the different coloured poos..sick horse..breed...diet?

FFS. Pick your dogs filth up! Do you think people and kids and other pets don't play in long grass?

I walk on an organic dairy farm I bent over the other day to pick up my dogs poo (in a bush way away from where people walked) and the farmer told me not to bother to summarise he said he'd rather I didn't put the organic and biodegradable into the non organic and non biodegradable (a plastic bag) and to definitely better to leave it than leave it hanging in a bush/on a fence post.
As an ex horse owner my dogs have always eaten horse poo and never come to any harm and horses are not wormed quite so obsessively now because of significant resistance issues.

Imagine a child running around in the long grass and then they come across your dog’s poop! Dogs love horse pop and it’s fine for them - the wife of our stables owner is head vet for the county and said this when ddog was scooping up the horse poo in his mouth. Cat poo is less ideal as it’s rich/meat-based.

@IseeScottishhills don’t you use biodegradable bags? Never understood those who bother to pick it up then sling the bag in a bush. Baffling.

I do (although I've no idea how quickly they actually biodegrade), obviously plenty don't I think he was making a statement about poo bags in general.

Well just to add as a dog owner pick it up from wherever and if no suitable dog poo bins - take it home and dispose of there ( not on trees or by the side of the road or inappropriate bins ) Dogs are ( to our family ) a great joy but with that comes responsibility. Motherhood and apple pie over . The more people who behave well with their dogs , the less dog owners will get a bad name . But it is the the right thing to do. One view . But I think you are on board so - great

All best

Yes I suppose because you only see adults with dogs there on the daily walks this didn't occur to me.It actually stretches a mile in all directions and is well away from any kids areas.But I know now and will pick all poops up where ever they are.

@SurreyHillsinspring 👏
💐

Our local woods have a stick and flick policy but still have an astonishing number of people who bag up and leave bags of poo discarded around. If you're going to leave it anyway, why bag it??

I realise it isn't quite the same scenario but by it really annoys me when people don't pick up poo because they think it is "off the path". Where else do I stand when I give way to people passing? People round here seem to think that an inch or two off the path is fair game for leaving it too 😡. If your dog does it, please pick it up!

@Gertrudetheadelie I agree with you

Teach a strong leave it for horse and sheep poo. My last boy was obsessed with the stuff, but a few weeks hard work seeking out fields with sheep in and he got over it. Bloody dog was never interested in sheep, just their poo.

yes pick up the dog poo, I often see picnickers in the long grass at our common and kids running through it as well. I don’t think the man should’ve shouted though, I rarely pick up poo straight away as my current dog waddles a few steps for a bit of a follow through so I’ll wait for him to actually finish- I don’t know why people have to launch straight into aggression and nastiness

Horse poo is absolutely NOT fine for dogs. Sometimes it will be ok, but you won’t know if the horse has been wormed or had any other medication that can be excreted. Working medication is super toxic to done breeds and not ideal for any

Thanks.Not alot of sheep round here but rabbits he's very interested in their poop which I still get a bit stressed about him eating.I wasn't really convinced about the safety of horse poo so grateful to the lady that advised treats which really works thanks.
Would be interesting if any proper studies on it but I doubt it.He's six months and eats anything at the moment and a couple of other owners and people on here have advised letting him off early so want to sort this along with ignoring dogs,people ,bikes and runners which he's very keen on😆.

six months.

Yes I was quite annoyed about the bloke shouting even before we started debating whether to pick it up.Really wanted DW to see how beautiful it was but we ended up having an argument and went home after five minutes.
Deffo picking up poo everywhere now genuinely I didn't know it was the right thing to do where it is more overgrown countryside type places.

Herbivore poo is generally safe enough. Gross, but carries far fewer hazards, especially if its from owned animals (eg farmed sheep and cattle, ridden horses)which are wormed.

Carnivore/omnivore poo has a wider range of interesting inhabitants, and is best avoided. But dogs seem to withstand it fairly well (eating each other's) which is probably because they are scavengers.

Not that being scavengers seems to prevent all the ills arising from Other Stuff they get their jaws around. There's a remarkable amount of things that can poison or damage dogs if ingested. Such a design fault!

@wetotter for dogs carrying the ABCB1 gene mutation such as collies a tiny dose of horse wormer is actually toxic. So the fact these animals are wormed makes the droppings dangerous. As if you are just walking through a field you won’t know when the animals were wormed there is actually a very high risk for some breeds