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Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: Pitboot on 21:29:35, 30/04/19

Title: Dog owners?
Post by: Pitboot on 21:29:35, 30/04/19
Decided to take myself and Mrs P for a late afternoon stroll around Buttermere today, it was very nice as most of you will testify.
Sadly the walk was marred by the copious amounts of dog excrement, nicely packaged in black plastic bags and deposited at most of the gates and even by some of the viewpoint seats, some was hung off bushes like sad black blooms, and some was even stuffed into crevices in the dry stone walls.


Now I'm not blaming the lovely pooches, and not even all of the dog owners, but there must be dozens of them who have no regard for the countryside they are walking through.


I have never seen anyone dropping their precious parcels for someone else to pick up, but if I do could I raise a plea for justifiable homicide? :knuppel2:


(Pictures available, but I am sure you all have better taste than to ask!)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 21:43:40, 30/04/19
We need some of these
(https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/sites/default/files/Dogpoofairycampaign.jpg)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Pitboot on 22:05:30, 30/04/19
 O0
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 22:16:42, 30/04/19
Better to avoid creating yet more plastic waste and just 'stick it and flick it' if it is on a path in the country.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: April on 22:17:59, 30/04/19
We are baffled by the people leaving the poo bags too. Why do they bother picking it up, only to leave it hanging somewhere?

Just as bad are the people who don't pick up after their dogs. I didn't know this until recently since Squeaky came to visit, that dogs will eat other dogs poo if they get a chance  :o We think that is how Squeaky got ill a few weeks ago. Farm animals can also become ill if they eat dog poo.

It is a simple message, pick up after your dog and put it in a bin. Very easy to do, even beefy can do it  :D

Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 22:24:00, 30/04/19

If your dog should make a mess
there really is no need to stress.
Find a stick, pick a spot,
flick into the bushes so it can rot.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: April on 22:36:51, 30/04/19
We will continue to pick it up, no sticking and flicking for us!

https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/aboutus/media-centre/latest-news/news-releases/countryside-code-call-for-lake-district-dog-owners
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Rob Goes Walking on 23:07:40, 30/04/19
You can get biodegradable dog poo bags if you don't want to contribute to plastic waste. Then again I'd imagine where Richard walks few roam and he's probably wormed his dog anyway.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 06:07:35, 01/05/19
No excuse for it, there are bad dog owners just like there are bad people, lots of areas have a stick and flick policy but it’s just as easy to bag and remove. I’ve never noticed my dog leave rubbish behind on a mountain though, one of my pet hates, no pun intended.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: beefy on 08:18:58, 01/05/19
It is a simple message, pick up after your dog and put it in a bin. Very easy to do, even beefy can do it  :D
Oi... >:(
How many times have we got on the bus with me smelling of the bags in my rucksack pocket :o
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 08:32:28, 01/05/19
You can get biodegradable dog poo bags if you don't want to contribute to plastic waste. Then again I'd imagine where Richard walks few roam and he's probably wormed his dog anyway.



Correct, Rob. I do use poo bags in busy areas of course.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 08:34:32, 01/05/19
I’ve never noticed my dog leave rubbish behind on a mountain though, one of my pet hates, no pun intended.

Tess usually empties herself within a couple of hundred yards of the car, so I often just bag it and turn back, tucking the bag under the rear windscreen wiper, before continuing with the walk.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: fernman on 08:45:15, 01/05/19
Walking on the Berkshire side of the Thames one day in March, I had never seen so many little black bags. The quantity of of similar bags and the consistent way they were strung from branches or left on the ground to one side made me wonder if it was done by just one maladjusted individual.

Then on a walk this month, I saw the notice below that an irate resident had put up in the Hertfordshire hamlet of Hastoe:

(https://i.postimg.cc/wj6kFfkG/DSC00856.jpg)

 
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 08:53:00, 01/05/19
I cannot understand the mentality of someone who would go to the trouble of bagging their dog's excrement only to abandon the bag! Goodness knows, there's enough plastic waste around as it is.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Ralph on 09:20:20, 01/05/19
We are going to have a generation growing up with the idea that [censored]*  grows on trees.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 09:22:58, 01/05/19
We are going to have a generation growing up with the idea that [censored]*  grows on trees.
c r a p  apples?
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: fit old bird on 09:31:03, 01/05/19
Oi... >:(
How many times have we got on the bus with me smelling of the bags in my rucksack pocket :o


I was walking with someone who's dog had a poo. He picked it up with a poo bag, tied the handles, then, pulled an old takeaway plastic box from his rucksack, deposited it in there, lid tight shut, and put it back in his rucksack. I was dead impressed.


ilona
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: gunwharfman on 09:56:05, 01/05/19
Just one of the reasons why my wife and I decided we would not have dogs, cats or other pets. When asked, or when we are in the mood, we are happy to take out friends dogs for a walk but the beauty is we can then return them to their owners.

I had two separate run-ins with dogs yesterday. The first just barked as he ran towards me, the owner some way behind shouted "it's alright he won't hurt you" and he didn't. Over the years I've heard people say that so many times! The second was a collie off the lead who ran straight at me, who really wanted to bite me but just didn't have the nerve to follow it through. Kept darting at me but then jumped back. His woman owner, in her 30s, then appeared with 6 separate dogs, all on leads. She didn't even acknowledge me, totally ignored the collie barking and darting at me and walked straight to her car parked by the kissing gate 100yds ahead. The collie then forgot me and followed her.

I assumed that the collie was her dog (off the lead) and the others she was walking for payment (on leads) but I'll never know.

As a non-dog owner what always fascinates me is how many people have no control over their dog whatsoever, they spend so much time screaming the dogs name but to no effect and so many seem to believe that their dog actually speaks English! In their embarrassment I have experienced some owners who give their dogs an 'intellectual scolding' to try to impress me that they are sorry and to try to prove to me that they are in charge when in reality they are not.  :)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: beefy on 10:04:15, 01/05/19

I was walking with someone who's dog had a poo. He picked it up with a poo bag, tied the handles, then, pulled an old takeaway plastic box from his rucksack, deposited it in there, lid tight shut, and put it back in his rucksack. I was dead impressed.


ilona
Thanks ilona O0
I put the poo bags in a plastic roasting bag now, that seems to hide the smell 8)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: fernman on 10:21:36, 01/05/19
I was walking with someone who's dog had a poo. He picked it up with a poo bag, tied the handles, then, pulled an old takeaway plastic box from his rucksack, deposited it in there, lid tight shut, and put it back in his rucksack. I was dead impressed.
ilona

OK till you mix it up with your sandwich box when you're in a rush one morning  :D
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: barewirewalker on 10:32:26, 01/05/19
Dog Owners create  an unnecessary friction between the owners of livestock and the leisure user of the countryside. The dogs gut has the ability to store up nematodes and other parasites, without symptoms, that are harmful to farm animals. These an have a significant effect on the high level of growth/yield required from high value animals and eventually kill. "Stick it and flick it" is a dangerous shortcut that will only encourage dog owners to be lazy in removing their dangerous residues from the countryside.


The pet industry, which lives off the spending of pet owners should be doing more in education and promotion of safe practice, this should not be the work of local authorities, whose precious budgets for the maintenance of our access network are frittered away on reacting anti-social behaviour.




Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 11:38:28, 01/05/19

I was walking with someone who's dog had a poo. He picked it up with a poo bag, tied the handles, then, pulled an old takeaway plastic box from his rucksack, deposited it in there, lid tight shut, and put it back in his rucksack. I was dead impressed.


ilona



Good idea. Do similar sometimes.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 11:39:11, 01/05/19
OK till you mix it up with your sandwich box when you're in a rush one morning  :D



Yuk.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Percy on 12:51:35, 01/05/19
I cannot understand the mentality of someone who would go to the trouble of bagging their dog's excrement only to abandon the bag! Goodness knows, there's enough plastic waste around as it is.
Neither can I.


I’m a dog owner and bags always go home with me.


I have an unfortunate habit though - I absent-mindedly twirl the bag by the loop of the tied up handles - I know one day I’ll lose my grip and the bag will fly dozens of yards through the air landing who knows where.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Dread on 14:01:53, 01/05/19
Probably not always the case but don't some people bag up the poo then leave it to pick up on their way back?
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 14:29:01, 01/05/19
Probably not always the case but don't some people bag up the poo then leave it to pick up on their way back?
  Must be a lot of people still out there judging by some of the harvests I've seen.  Leaving it hanging around with an intention to collect later is still unacceptable in my book.  If they can't deal with the product - they shouldn't have dog.


Now don't get me started on cats, which are apparently allowed to do their business wherever they please - including my lettuce patch.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 15:03:47, 01/05/19
Tess usually empties herself within a couple of hundred yards of the car, so I often just bag it and turn back, tucking the bag under the rear windscreen wiper, before continuing with the walk.
It was a joke Richard, meaning people leave rubbish but my dog doesn’t, not an obvious one lol
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 15:14:22, 01/05/19
Dog Owners create  an unnecessary friction between the owners of livestock and the leisure user of the countryside.

Really? Oh well too bad! Not all dog owners are the same, just like not all people are small minded for instance and no I’m not talking about you BWW. I am a responsible dog owner and will continue to enjoy my walks and the countryside with him. Some people think it’s acceptable to discard rubbish all over the place, but those that don’t should not be tarred with the same brush should they  :)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: barewirewalker on 16:12:34, 01/05/19
Really? Oh well too bad! Not all dog owners are the same, just like not all people are small minded for instance and no I’m not talking about you BWW. I am a responsible dog owner and will continue to enjoy my walks and the countryside with him. Some people think it’s acceptable to discard rubbish all over the place, but those that don’t should not be tarred with the same brush should they  :)


Little more awareness of their corporate reputation would be helpful. I am well aware that there are many good dog owners, blameless of the sins of a few, but those few are numerous in the scale of livestock owners to dog owning public. This is a walking forum, as an ex member of an LAF having served for 5 years on one I am only too conscious of the speed with which landowners cite dogs as a reason to restrict access.


Further to this at a family gathering, I listened to the problems of farming on the fringes of Stoke on Trent, where the repeated loss of cows from rotting livers due to a particular nemotode hosted by dogs and causing repeated cases because those dog walkers, feel free to allow "blamless fidos" to run off into the nice lush grass to relieve themselves, without being properly educated by the small animal vets that spring up all over modern suburbia.


Rather than feeling slighted by criticism, should the pet industry be looking towards there own corporate responsibilities and not expecting the local authorities to carry the can.




As to dog poo bags either adorn tress or slung in hedge rows, they reappear every fall, and will get broached by wildlife. Pecked by birds, chewed by hedgehogs or whatever and so the parasite chain continues.



Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 16:31:31, 01/05/19
If you are well aware that not all dog owners are the same, then perhaps a better choice than the standard “dog owners” is in order. BWW I have agreed with and even supported you in the past, while you seek to educate us mere mortals in the ways of the CLA and the corruption of the definitive map and yes you have stated many times of how you used to be a member of a local access forum. Landowners and farmers, although I’m sure not all of them, may jump on any excuse to complain about the likes of walkers in the countryside, so do we pander to them? Ignore them? Get rid of our dogs? Maybe it winds them up when you stray off path too  ;)  I speak for myself so don’t lecture me if you don’t mind, neither you nor I can control everything, just our own behaviour and my conscience is doing just fine.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: barewirewalker on 17:34:56, 01/05/19
I am sorry that you feel I am lecturing you, far from it. I merely pass on the collective as so often directed towards myself, though I have not owned a dog for many years since my conversion from country person to town dweller.


Once standing in a mid Wales farmyard with a collie at my side, I gave it a scratch behind the ears in that spot they seem so much to enjoy and listen to a long lecture from the farmer about us walkers and our dogs. When he had finished I had to point that I did not own a dog and the one at my heel was in fact his own.


I did not realise that the nemotode issue was so important, this particular one migrates in the bloodstream of a cow to the liver, unlike many that only affect the digestive tract. It was a new grudge that farmers hold against walkers and is prevalent in urban belts. My initial concern was that 'stick and flick it' might go unchallenged, without this further information being added to the debate and it is after all people, who walk there dogs, who are those most under scrutiny from the farmer.


My raising my term on a LAF is a result of the many times I have been pointed out as 'you walkers', therefor carrying the burden for all walkers, good and bad, but when the landowners accuses me of spreading a disease of Rhododendrons, I had to grit my teeth and speculate why walkers were more liable to spread fungal spores that deer or badgers.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 17:38:13, 01/05/19
It was a joke Richard, meaning people leave rubbish but my dog doesn’t, not an obvious one lol



Went straight over my head, phil!  :)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 17:41:30, 01/05/19
When I walk on Dartmoor between 1 March and 31 July, I see far more dogs off the lead than on it, especially just away from the car parks round the main honeypots such as Haytor Rocks.  If, in conversation, you ask the owners why the dog isn't on the lead, they will explain that their dog doesn't need to be.  It's a bit like speed limits that never seem to apply to the cars haring past at 70+.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 17:45:08, 01/05/19
Ground nesting birds don't appreciate dogs being off the lead on Orkney clifftops.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 17:55:17, 01/05/19
You would enjoy the N Pennines with a dog Richard - they pretty much have to be on the lead at all times.  If you keep it on a short lead you end up falling over the dog as you thread your way through the heather, which can be thigh high, and if you use a flexi you spend half the walk untangling it.  Took my daughter's dog up there once - didn't offer again.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 17:56:38, 01/05/19
I use a bungee attached to a thick waist belt - works a treat for me. We've some pretty deep heather up here too, especially on the north facing slopes.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 18:00:16, 01/05/19
I use a bungee attached to a thick waist belt - works a treat for me. We've some pretty deep heather up here too, especially on the north facing slopes.
Just what I need - a dog pinging back into me nads!  ;D
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 18:09:07, 01/05/19
Ouch!  :D
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 18:09:22, 01/05/19



Once standing in a mid Wales farmyard with a collie at my side, I gave it a scratch behind the ears in that spot they seem so much to enjoy and listen to a long lecture from the farmer about us walkers and our dogs. When he had finished I had to point that I did not own a dog and the one at my heel was in fact his own.


General point taken BWW and no harm done. The above regarding the farmers collie did make me chuckle  :)



Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 18:15:51, 01/05/19
When I walk on Dartmoor between 1 March and 31 July, I see far more dogs off the lead than on it, especially just away from the car parks round the main honeypots such as Haytor Rocks.  If, in conversation, you ask the owners why the dog isn't on the lead, they will explain that their dog doesn't need to be.  It's a bit like speed limits that never seem to apply to the cars haring past at 70+.
Careful with that tar and brush, wouldn’t do to get any on you now would it  ;)  In all seriousness I agree with dogs on leads around livestock and especially during lambing time, but maybe, just maybe some of those people have a point, dogs should be under control, not necessarily on a lead 100% of the time, mind you some humans  ::)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: ninthace on 18:20:08, 01/05/19
Careful with that tar and brush, wouldn’t do to get any on you now would it  ;)  In all seriousness I agree with dogs on leads around livestock and especially during lambing time, but maybe, just maybe some of those people have a point, dogs should be under control, not necessarily on a lead 100% of the time, mind you some humans  ::)


1 Mar to 31 July is nesting season for ground nesting birds - does you dog know to avoid them?  Does the bird know you dog means no harm - and if it came across a nest would it do no harm?  At least most humans stay on the paths.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 18:29:08, 01/05/19

1 Mar to 31 July is nesting season for ground nesting birds - does you dog know to avoid them?  Does the bird know you dog means no harm - and if it came across a nest would it do no harm?  At least most humans stay on the paths.
What about you? Oh and yes he knows to avoid them, he’s very clever you know. I am aware of the nesting season but thanks for assuming I didn’t. I did mention about 100% of the time didn’t l? Yes I thought I did.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: lostme1 on 15:03:31, 02/05/19
Oi... >:(
How many times have we got on the bus with me smelling of the bags in my rucksack pocket :o

I know a dog owner who uses nappy bags as they are scented and disguise the smell. If they work for baby poo they should do the same for dog poo.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: beefy on 05:06:17, 03/05/19
I know a dog owner who uses nappy bags as they are scented and disguise the smell. If they work for baby poo they should do the same for dog poo.
Thanks lostme1 I do use nappy bags, as you say they are scented however they still don't work unfortunately  :)
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Bigfoot_Mike on 05:50:33, 03/05/19
I saw a report that in some areas of the USA authorities are performing DNA tests on dog excrement to identify offending parties.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Rob Goes Walking on 07:19:10, 03/05/19
I saw a report that in some areas of the USA authorities are performing DNA tests on dog excrement to identify offending parties.

I really hate dog mess and would support that here but some people might say the money would be better spent on schools or services for the disabled or homeless veterans, etc. Not me mind, I think leaving dogs mess should attract up to 6 months in prison. It should be treated on par with common assault, I'd rather get assaulted by a good deal of people (not someone "handy") than step in filthy dogs mess and have to clean it off my boots/trainers.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 07:59:30, 03/05/19
I’m not sure about DNA testing dog poo, but I would certainly back stiffer fines for fouling. But prison and putting it on a par with assault? I’m sure someone will google an example or two to back up that argument  ::)  I don’t have all the answers, but continued education on tv and the media, plus maybe income based fines may help.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Rob Goes Walking on 08:13:46, 03/05/19
I’m not sure about DNA testing dog poo, but I would certainly back stiffer fines for fouling. But prison and putting it on a par with assault? I’m sure someone will google an example or two to back up that argument  ::)  I don’t have all the answers, but continued education on tv and the media, plus maybe income based fines may help.

No Google here, not even sure what I could back it up with, it's just my opinion based on how much I hate stepping in dogs mess. It really ruins my day and it's a selfish act you're unlikely to be caught for so with a minor penalty it's not worth bothering with if you've no sense of responsibility. On reflection maybe 6 months prison is overkill and income based fines (or 25-50 hours community service) is more reasonable.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: phil1960 on 08:25:32, 03/05/19
I said “someone” Rob not you. But you are right, people are unlikely to get caught, as I said I don’t have all the answers, but as with most wrong doing, I don’t believe knee jerk reactions are the answer.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: richardh1905 on 09:10:57, 05/05/19
.. but as with most wrong doing, I don’t believe knee jerk reactions are the answer.



Agreed, phil.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: Jonathan1990 on 20:06:51, 27/05/19
I hate the fact that there are just too many signs in the UK telling people to clean dog excrement up and probably more getting erected every week somewhere, yet they get ignored.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: jontea on 22:24:50, 27/05/19
I hate the fact that there are just too many signs in the UK telling people to clean dog excrement up and probably more getting erected every week somewhere, yet they get ignored.


It's not signs needed, its more dog poo bins and regular collection.
I visited a NT park not long ago, where not one dog poo bins were available. When I asked a warden where the bin was, with a bag in hand, he said ”you need to take it with you” and so it went in the boot of my car.
......I didn't return.


I regularly carry a full poo bag a couple of miles, but not everyone will. More bins would help.
Title: Re: Dog owners?
Post by: barewirewalker on 09:22:02, 28/05/19
But who do dog owners' look to provide those bins, should they not the NT or hard pressed countryside access budgets. There is now a vast and far reaching industry behind the ownership of pets. It goes further than just the breeders of dogs, dogfood manufacturers must have massive turnovers, small vet practices have sprung up in their thousands over the the last 50 years, who are supplied by pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies target pet owners for additional premiums and even the pet charities are now big concerns. Pet pollution should be their concern, because just as we pollute and are being forced to realise that we must take individual and collective responsibility for it, so should the businesses that take profit from peoples natural desire to own and care for a dog.