[Closed] Dog poo etiquette

Yes. Always.

...and then take it home with you and put it in a bin. Not in a tree.

If its an agricultural field, always. I think there are rules about not leaving that kind of thing on land where produce for consumption is cultivated as there can be long lived pathogens in the waste

Yes, always pick up in that situation.

Don't be like the person local to me who picks it up, bags it, then slings it over my fence. The wildlife camera will catch her in the act (I know who it is, just need proof)

I'm utterly sick of dogs using my local area as a toilet. Aside from motorists, I can't think of a more entitled bunch.

The field that belongs to a School behind me, the practice is either to not pick it up, or pick it up and sling the bag in a pile on the way out of the field. No-one is available to clear your dog's poo. The dumping the bag seems to have stopped after someone put a sign up asking dog owners to take it back - the field is used by children to play on as the school rarely uses it (it's 10 minutes walk from the School). The council does cut the grass once in a blue moon.

Don’t be like the person local to me who picks it up, bags it, then slings it over my fence. The wildlife camera will catch her in the act (I know who it is, just need proof)

Almost as bad as the dog-owners who bag it then leave the bagged shit on the side of the path. Utter morons.

Don't buy a dog unless you're prepared to carry a big of shit home in your pocket!

Good. Not just me then. It's a sheep field (very occasionally) but mostly left fallow.

To be honest if the shit was left in the middle of the field where nobody (including dogs really) should be walking then less of a problem. But it's the shits around the perimeter and more specifically so close to our fence that I can smell them, that I have an issue with.

Funnily enough we do now have one caught on camera as we had a wildlife camera pointing into the filed hoping to spot deer. Next question is how to confront said neighbour. He seems like a decent enough bloke who I had thought might be a potential new mate (we've recently moved to the area) so don't want to come across all arsey etc....

You do realise that everyone [i]says[/i] they pick up their dog's poo...

when you have picked it up and bagged it...you take it home... but then what?

or you put in in a bin with a lot of other plastic bags full of poo, but what happens to it then?

You do realise that everyone says they pick up their dog’s poo…

It's really not hard.
Dog's are pretty simple minded creatures and pretty easy to train to do what you want.

90% of my little dogs poos are produced within 10 yards of either of the 2 council provided dog poo bins near my house. I don't think I've ever had to carry a full poo pag more than 100 yards or so. Feed them at the same time, walk them at the same time and they'll produce at the same time.
If I'm taking the dog somewhere new or unfamiliar to her, i'll walk her round the block first, past both bins and she'll produce before we go.

If a dog is shitting in an unwanted place, it's 100% the owners failing and they should be clearing it up responsibly.

Yeh, always pick up. And not just in that scenario.

Tbh, we just trained our dog to go within the first few hundred meters of any walk/run starting and make sure there is a bin. They’re creatures of habit.

This bin is in my local park.
It's like this very regularly.
There's quite a few bins about.
Being full doesn't seem to stop more being added.

Still, being dumped in one place is preferable to not at all or hung in trees.

when you have picked it up and bagged it…you take it home… but then what?

or you put in in a bin with a lot of other plastic bags full of poo, but what happens to it then?

id have thought the answer to that was fairly obvious.

Youre other options is a composting hole in the ground at home, the biodegradable bags don’t last all that long in the right conditions.

You do realise that everyone says they pick up their dog’s poo…

I don't. If walking around in the forest the poo gets flicked out of the way into the undergrowth to naturally decompose. Much better than using a plastic bag and sending it off with the rubbish.

SNH lets folk walk their dogs in a field that's part of one of its properties.

The hay they harvested had to be discarded due to contamination from dog s***.

I noticed on my ride yesterday that the etiquette round here is to leave it in a bag by the path embellished by a used face mask or two. I expect they’re being considerate and using the face mask to make it easier to see so no one treads on it before they “come back to collect it”.

Like others have said, I leave my house and walk 100m through woods to arrive at a bin. She always dumps before getting to the bin. Its a rare occurrence that I have to carry a full bag for more than 1 min.

As well as spoiling crops and silage crops, dog muck in field with stock can pass on parasites and diseases. Can't remember the name, but it can cause sheep to abort lambs.

Pick it up, bag it and take it home unless there is a suitable bin available.

If you see your dog take a dump, you pick it up right? T & C's for pet ownership is that you clean up after the things. I don't have a dog. reason being I don't want to walk around with bags of dog turd in my pocket.

We walk ours down a public footpath alongside a field. Very popular route locally and has a council bin at the entrance. Yet still there is an unreal amount of poo lining the sides of the path.
It must be mostly used by regular dog walkers, so what I can't understand is how the same people who left it one day can walk past the same massive turd the next day and not feel any pangs of guilt about what they have left there? Some people just don't deserve dogs.
What makes it worse is that the majority of people enter and exit through the same point so they are passing the bin on the way out again!

I think the main thing is to run/cycle at a decent pace with your 'trail dog', so when it craps you don't see it and it doesn't count. In fact it probably didn't crap and where's the proof anyway?

5 pages?

I’m utterly sick of dogs using my local area as a toilet. Aside from motorists, I can’t think of a more entitled bunch.

So much this. Every single patch of green space around here is primarily a dog toilet. And any hint that someone might want to use the land for some other purpose prompts letters to the paper, organised campaigns on social media and a level of entitled outrage that is truly sickening.

you put in in a bin with a lot of other plastic bags full of poo, but what happens to it then?

Heads to landfill, which is not where most people go for a walk.

Youre other options is a composting hole in the ground at home, the biodegradable bags don’t last all that long in the right conditions.

yeah, recall my dad dug a few of those over the years, didnt really do the job - be that down to soil conditions or shear volume of great dane poop.

so everyone else is quite happy with tonnes of plastic bagged dog poop going into landfill?

If walking around in the forest the poo gets flicked out of the way into the undergrowth to naturally decompose. Much better than using a plastic bag and sending it off with the rubbish.

Not always

https://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/act-wildlife/wildlife-advice/dog-walking-reserves

A mate is a ranger at one of the London parks and also on the SWT advisory board, and leaving dog poo to degrade on low nutrient habitats like the SWT typical sandy loam is gradually adjusting the indigenous plant life which in turn is changing it for the indigenous animal life.

Sometimes stick and flick is OK. Bagging and disposing properly is never wrong.

so everyone else is quite happy with tonnes of plastic bagged dog poop going into landfill?

Biodegradable poop in biodegradable bags?

Yep. I'm fine with that.
It's probably the most eco friendly thing in most peoples bins.

Always pick up.

ads678

carry a big of shit home in your pocket

haha! That only goes wrong once 😄
Prefer to swing the bag merrily around on my finger

I have a dog that likes to poo as much as any other. I clean it up, there was an exception to this when she went down the side of a water run off from a field, steep sided and muddy, getting to was likely to end up in a swim for me and it was highly unlikely anyone else would get to it.

She's currently back at the vets getting treatment for an autoimmune problem spurred by eating an infected cat poo, I don't see any entitled cat owner messages on here, but they go all over the place and most often not in the own gardens.

While we are at it, foxes and badgers, stinks and is a favourite to roll in or eat, our local dog field is covered in it, but no one is calling for a cull of the ****ers are they?
I will also often clean up other people's dog's crap from our local field as I would prefer that than leaving it there to cause a problem for others. Then it always go into a council provided bin after.

so everyone else is quite happy with tonnes of plastic bagged dog poop going into landfill?

Yep, I'm pretty down with that TBH - far better than on my shoe's sole, my bike's tyre, a kids shoe or clothes, in a sheep's stomach or hung in a tree 👌

I say this as an adopted dog owner (the GF has one...).

I am revolted by the amount of dog shit that's left on streets, paths, fields etc.

If I took a crap at the side of the street I'd be arrested, but for some reason dogs are allowed to do it everyday. Yes I know its technically not allowed but the sheer quantity means it happens very frequently.

Pick it up please & bin it. Cleaning kids shoes with poo on them is not fun. Seeing it is pretty grim too. I'm fed up with lazy/inconsiderate people.

Here are the diseases linked to leaving dog poo in fields.

ps You can report full bins quite easily on fixmystreet

. I’m fed up with lazy/inconsiderate people.

Yeah, you're probably going to have to live with that. They're literally all over the planet and their numbers are only increasing.

Every single patch of green space around here is primarily a dog toilet. And any hint that someone might want to use the land for some other purpose prompts letters to the paper, organised campaigns on social media and a level of entitled outrage that is truly sickening.

Yeah, we're currently trying to support a scheme in Leamington Spa for some fairly small bike trails in a large local park.
The dog walkers (of which I am one in addition to being a cyclist) are all rallying together and putting out misinformation to gather angry opposition to it.
Seemingly they're not happy with a small part of a large former golf course being used for something other than what they're interested in 😕

Always bag and remove wherever. I use biodegradable bags. I’m a do-gooder who treats the outdoors as if it was not just my own garden, but one that others enjoy sharing.

I did one extra-long wildlife-starving winter see a crow swoop and pick up my dog’s poo from the snow with it’s beak, before I could get to it. It flew off with the prize and disappeared into the freezing fog. Was one of the most melancholy things I ever saw.

I pick up our dogs poo 95%+ of the time. If it's in the middle of nowhere and somewhere where people aren't likely to go, like the middle of a bush on very steep slope, then it stays and degrades. If it anywhere likely to be stepped in then it's picked up.

I buy bright dog poo bags and often leave them behind trees or signposts if I know I'm walking back down that path on my way home and there isn't a bin in the direction I'm traveling in as I'd rather no carry a bag of poo around. I've never forgotten to pick up a used dog poo bag.

Bag it and put in your pocket, makes a great hand warmer in the winter

Sometimes stick and flick is OK

Yes, that will be in the scenario's I do it and it remains a better option in those scenario's that using a plastic bag. Even if the bag is bio-degradable it still has to be produced, shipped etc,..

Pick it up, bag it and bin it 95% of the time. If it is appropriate to flick or kick it into the undergrowth then i/we will.
If it's a warm day and we've driven somewhere to walk them (pre C19), then i tend to hang the bags off the towbar ball of the car rather than inside.

hang the bags off the towbar ball of the car rather than inside.

That could go one of two ways for the car following you.
Although probably a better option than the time my wife stuck two bags of it in the front passenger footwell of my car after a walk then promptly forgot about it until I couldn't work out what the crippling smell was in the car when I got in a few days later!

OK what about down the toilet ?

We got a Puppy coming Sunday week and for back garen jobs do you bag n bin or down the toilet.

Now carrying the mutt's biz through the house isn't great obvs.... but what about if I've got access to the soil pipe outside ??

I won't claim to pick up every poo my does does, but I do pick up every one I see her do. I then carry the bag to the next bin. On some walks that's several miles but I can't guarantee that I'll return the way I came so leaving it for later isn't an option.

She's freaking useless as a trail dog (strong prey instinct, so she's off at the first scent, sometimes for far longer than I'm comfortable with) so stick and flick doesn't apply.

Biodegradable poop in biodegradable bags?

Yep. I’m fine with that.
It’s probably the most eco friendly thing in most peoples bins.

Our dogs poop is not anything-friendly.

Quite the opposite.

If a dog poops in the woods with no-one to hear it, is it still poop?

If a dog poops in the woods with no-one to hear it, is it still poop?

No. it's Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhite

Heads to landfill

Not where I live....goes to an Energy Recovery Facility and gets fed into the National Grid.

Ro5ey - thats what we used to do. Dog did its business in the garden, collected into a bucket and washed down the sewer using the hose.

not difficult to train the pooch to poop in one corner/area of the garden.

perchypanther
"You do realise that everyone says they pick up their dog’s poo…"

It’s really not hard.
Dog’s are pretty simple minded creatures and pretty easy to train to do what you want.

I'm amazed, you can train dogs to pick up poo?

What I was saying, I thought it was obvious, sorry - is that what people SAY and what they DO when nobody is watching, are different things. so asking the question "Do you pick up after your dog" really won't achieve anything. Therefore, neither would - "If your dog pooed in the field would you pick it up or not?".

I’m amazed, you can train dogs to pick up poo?

They dont need training for that

I buy bright dog poo bags and often leave them behind trees or signposts if I know I’m walking back down that path on my way home and there isn’t a bin in the direction I’m traveling in as I’d rather no carry a bag of poo around. I’ve never forgotten to pick up a used dog poo bag.

not to pick on you specifically, but I hate this attitude. If I'm going for a walk or ride in the countryside, regardless of where it is, I simply don't want to see bags of shit hanging about - even if you are going to pick it up later. Visually, it's disgusting.

If you want to own a dog, then own it responsibly. That means picking its shit up, putting it in a bag, and carrying it to a bin. If you walk doesn't include a bin, then consider what walk your planning on doing, and if carrying a bag of your dogs shit is too arduous, consider whether you should really own the mutt.

I buy bright dog poo bags and often leave them behind trees or signposts if I know I’m walking back down that path on my way home and there isn’t a bin in the direction I’m traveling in as I’d rather no carry a bag of poo around. I’ve never forgotten to pick up a used dog poo bag.

I think quite a few entitled dog owners hold this opinion, by the number of bagged shits I see by the side of the trail. I've seen people do it and have mentioned it to a couple who have said they'll pick it up later. I don't want to see your animal's shit on the side of the trail and I don't want my kids getting it all over them. Take it with you.

OK what about down the toilet ?

We got a Puppy coming Sunday week and for back garen jobs do you bag n bin or down the toilet.

Now carrying the mutt’s biz through the house isn’t great obvs…. but what about if I’ve got access to the soil pipe outside ??

You can but you must put it down the toilet and flush. Drains rely on the water carrying solids down the pipes, you may inadvertently block the pipe without the water going down too.
Obviously don’t put the bag down the drain.

I have heard of people storing full dog poo bags in their dog's saddle bag. Seems like a good solution for those that don't want to use it as a hand warmer.

While we are at it, foxes and badgers... no one is calling for a cull of the ****ers are they?

Uh. Yes?

OK what about down the toilet ?

Huh. I do this with cat poo. It never even crossed my mind that it might be problematic. Is it?

I buy bright dog poo bags and often leave them behind trees or signposts

I simply don’t want to see bags of shit hanging about

I mean, I take your point and agree with you. Less of an eyesore issue for me but rather I always wonder, "are they coming back for that or have they just dumped it?" But the poster said they're hiding them, so the only way you'd see them is if you went crawling around behind trees looking for them. Which would be a bit weird.

On the other hand though, sucks if you're a geocacher.

At our old house, any 'garden' waste was scooped up in a shovel' lifted the sewer drain cover and away it went - quick blast of the hose for any remnants. We have a septic tank here, so it gets bagged in a compostable bag and goes in the wheelie bin. We clean up 99% of the time - the only exception is if I'm walking/running somewhere remote and the dog well off-track amongst the heather where it's difficult to fish it out. I will however clean-up in the local fields where there is livestock - interestingly all the local farmers/shootists don't. Don't start on cat crap - there was research that suggested that most toxicara infections in children were due to things like cats on domestic surfaces, not from dog poo in parks.

Just what is the point of bagging it in a biodegradable bag then either leaving it or chucking it?

... so passers-by don't tell them off for not bagging it.

That or they're just morons, anyway.

For the remote leavers, bush flickers and bag hiders; the locations your leaving these things aren't that remote, the bush your leaving it under isn't that out of the way, and the bag your hiding isn't that well hidden. Youre the reason there's a dog shiz literally everywhere and anywhere you step foot these days.

so everyone else is quite happy with tonnes of plastic bagged dog poop going into landfill?

I once climbed up a huge wall and much to my surprise when I crested the top my hand landed on a massive dog turd. This was years ago and to this day I still can’t figure how it got there. The wall was about ten feet high. Proof that dog shit is everywhere! Seriously, how the **** did it get there?

If you have a dog, pick up the turds and take them with you.

This thread is good PR for cats.
Deals with its own poo. Buries it somewhere outside, maybe the garden, maybe someone elses.

This thread is good PR for cats.
Deals with its own poo. Buries it somewhere outside, maybe the garden, maybe someone elses.

YES, IN MY BLOODY GARDEN WHERE I DON'T WANT CAT TURDS.

I recently got two kittens to add to an existing cat. They are all indoor kitties for varying reasons so aren't trying to shit in anyone else's garden. Which is good because the neighbour on one side has variously laced the top of our dividing wall with barbed wire and concreted-in bottoms of broken milk bottles.

There's some sort of weird logic puzzle going on in the house currently around "if one cat can fill one litter tray in X time, how long will it take three of them to fill three trays?" Spoiler, it ain't X. I think I'm literally witnessing a pissing contest.

Bloody dog-shitting, log-burning, German car-driving, Seiko-wearing, Sonos-listening, Radio 6-loving, Leica-viewing, Ooni pizza-eating, On One-riding, 15 year old single malt-drinking, Motorola-talking, back in the day-boasting, winter tyre-using, craft/artisan/handmade-loving people. I salute you all...

You can but you must put it down the toilet and flush. Drains rely on the water carrying solids down the pipes, you may inadvertently block the pipe without the water going down too.

Never heard of anyone emptying their toilet of liquid before filling it with solids, so why the cautionary tail?

Well then Kerley and the other stick and flickers you are selfish beyond belief. Not everyone walks exactly on the path do they? But you've decided what's right for everyone.

Disgusting selfish behaviour. Just take it home with you.

why the cautionary tail?

When it's wagging it's usually happy rather than cautionary.

Oh and the "bags are bad for the environment so I just leave/spread dog muck around" argument. Jesus wept, if you are concerned about the environment don't get a dog in the first place.

Well then Kerley and the other stick and flickers you are selfish beyond belief. Not everyone walks exactly on the path do they? But you’ve decided what’s right for everyone.

I live in the New Forest, this one;
https://www.newforestdog.org.uk/article/202/working-together-for-a-cleaner-forest

You will note;
- On paths away from car parks or picnic areas, use a stick to flick poo into shrubby vegetation, where people cannot tread on it.

I would write to them if I were you. Remember to use green ink.

You will note;
– On paths away from car parks or picnic areas, use a stick to flick poo into shrubby vegetation, where people cannot tread on it.

I would write to them if I were you. Remember to use green ink

Seems odd, that goes against their own code of practice which just says pick it up. You can imagine this in green ink if it helps 😉

– On paths away from car parks or picnic areas, use a stick to flick poo into shrubby vegetation, where people cannot tread on it.

The "cannot tread on it" bit is often confused with "in loose leaves or long grass where children will surely run or fall into it".

The stick and flick option isn’t the best option but a compromise.

Well then Kerley and the other stick and flickers you are selfish beyond belief. Not everyone walks exactly on the path do they? But you’ve decided what’s right for everyone.

Disgusting selfish behaviour. Just take it home with you.

+1

– On paths away from car parks or picnic areas, use a stick to flick poo into shrubby vegetation, where people cannot tread on it.

Is more about not wanting to empty dig poo bins and trying to avoid bags hanging off trees than accepting that spreading dog poo around is acceptable behaviour

It still doesn't stop those who flick being dicks

The stick and flick option isn’t the best option but a compromise.

The "don't stray from the path" strategy, it's not a compromise, it just allows dog owners to ignore their responsibilities and makes a space into a dog toilet

As I said previously, stick and flick can do more than just leave a little smelly landmine for someone to tread in, it can change the nutrients in the soils and in doing so impact the ecosystem in some fragile areas.

In some cases stick and flick is OK; in all cases bag and bin is OK, so if in any doubt, bag and bin.

As for the link in Kerley's email, that is interestingly a dog owners group and their opinion on whether S&F is OK. They say they are "working with the Forestry Commission and New Forest National Park Authority to improve the experience of local people and visitors to the forest" but that doesn't explicitly mention dog poo - just the experience of others in the forest. Although as it's on the page about it I think it's reasonable to assume poo is part of the agenda.

But i went a little deeper (being careful where to tread obviously) and looked at the websites of both the forestry commission and the New Forest to see if they say anything specifically.

FC: "Bag and bin your dog's waste. Or 'stick and flick' it when you're deeper in the woods"

https://www.forestryengland.uk/dog-code

NFDC:  "Dog fouling is an offence. The council can issue a Fixed Penalty Notice of £50 to anyone who fails to clear up after their dog. The law states that being unaware a dog has fouled or not having a suitable bag is not a reasonable excuse.

You can use any plastic bag to pick up your dog's waste. It must be put in a public dog waste bin or a public litter bin for general waste"

https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/1225/Dog-fouling#:~:text=Dog%20fouling%20is%20an%20offence.,-The%20council%20can&text=You%20can%20use%20any%20plastic,time%20you%20walk%20your%20dog%20.

I'd be interested to what extent therefore the Dog Owner page's advice is really that of NFDC. I'd also query whether the NFDC advice, which knows more about the ecology of the area specifically or the FC advice which covers all of England is more reliable.

Which brings me back to being unsure whether S&F is really acceptable in the New Forest but certain that bag and bin is.

On that basis, I'd really like it if Kerley would stop using stick and flick.

I bought a wee shoulder bag from Trespass for our Groo turds and bags. Saves having to carry the things everywhere. I seem to remember some sort of disbelief when I asked if something like that existed, seems I'm not the only one who's not partial to a hand warmer.

Oh and 100% attempt record here, can't do anything about the occasional runny one but do our best.

On that basis, I’d really like it if Kerley would stop using stick and flick.

You are going to be disappointed. I will continue to flick into hedgerows, bramble bushes etc,. where no one is ever going to walk. I will now take a picture each time I do it and post it on this thread as I love annoying people with zero sense of perspective.

I like to go for walks in the woods sometimes. I don't always stick to the trail, sometimes I go looking for something interesting (a bird? a nest? a fox hole? an edible plant? etc etc) and walk through the undergrowth.

Yes I have trodden in dog mess doing this. Multiple times.

I also have young children who like to run around and explore when walking in these places. I can only remember one time they've actually trodden in the stuff but I've had to warn them many times (granted the early warnings are only for the stuff flicked to/left at the edge of the path. I can't warn about the hidden ones that are properly and, erm, responsibly flicked).

I don't live anywhere near the New Forest but did go there on holiday once as a child. Great memories, mainly of how much fun it was to run around in the deep undergrowth.

You are going to be disappointed. I will continue to flick into hedgerows, bramble bushes etc,. where no one is ever going to walk. I will now take a picture each time I do it and post it on this thread as I love annoying people with zero sense of perspective.

Do whatever you like, it wont change the fact you're behaving in a selfish manner. This doesn't reflect well on you and your likeminded allies.

Oh and let's not hear a peep from you when other people behave in an anti-social way which negatively affects you.