Precious lawn owners

Some people have no shame. Others can be shamed. I was behind someone walking through a short cut in town who let their dog poop and carried on walking. “Excuse me” I said “your dog has just done a poo. I have a spare poo bag here which you can use” and produced one from my pocket. They apologised, they hadn’t noticed, but they picked up.

I live in a council house, not allowed to put up anything between the front garden and pavement. DH aged 74 was threatened by a 25+ chav who thought it was OK to let his dog poo in our garden, well it's council property he said. Picking dog poo out of grass leaves LOTS OF POO still left on the blades of grass it is absolutely disgusting

I have a grass verge outside my house, which I have to cross to reach my house. I often reach my gate cursing because I’ve inadvertently “stepped in something” revolting, and have to hop about in my front porch trying to remove the deposit from my shoes, then the shoes themselves, before entering the house in a foul mood. Council owned or private, it’s not acceptable.

I’m a dog lover and lifelong dog owner myself, btw.

That is terrible Grunty what responsible dog owner goes out without poo bags.
I hope someone made her aware of their feelings on this.

I was on the school run yesterday afternoon and whilst waiting for the GC, a young woman walked up to the school gates with 2 dogs on leads. Dogs are not allowed on school premises and so she stood waiting by the fence, probably to pick her own child/children up. As she stood there, one of her dogs squatted and dumped a pile of shit. She seemed oblivious until one of the other mums pointed it out to her. She frantically scrabbled about in her pockets looking for a poo bag but, finding that she had none, simply kicked the shit through the metal post fence into the school grounds.

Source for that - bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.2341

"Around 25% of people were seropositive for specific anti-Toxocara antibodies in the UK and Ireland in historical studies of hospital and paediatric populations, while average seroprevalence is 10.5% in Europe and 19.0% globally."

Does this mean that dog-owners on the continent of Europe as a whole are two and a half times as aware as those in the UK of toxocara and are more likely to make sure that their pets are wormed monthly to prevent infection and egg-shedding? Or is it that UK dogs are more likely to be in cities and exercised where people also work and take their leisure (which doesn't absolve dog-owners from their responsibilities with regard to worming)?

"Toxocara eggs contaminating public parks come from infected definitive hosts, including dogs, cats and foxes. In typical UK urban settings, the majority of Toxocara spp. eggs are predicted to come from pet dogs, and the vast majority being T. canis. This is because fox population density is much lower (less than 10 per square km) than that of pet dogs (more than 100 per square km) in UK towns and cities, such that higher prevalence of egg shedding in foxes does not translate into higher overall egg numbers, while cats have lower faecal mass and are also predicted to shed fewer eggs overall than dogs."

Cats also tend to dig holes and cover their excrement, unlike dogs, which are far more likely to just walk off and leave it to their owner.

Another annoying feature of “open plan” on new estates in my area is that new owners have to pay for compulsory expensive annual upkeep to maintain such areas. A real rip-off imo.

I agree, Elegran.
Here is my heart warming true story:

My previous house was on an open plan estate. Before I was aware of the restriction I had a low fence put up around the front . An anonymous neighbour complained tabout my fence to the builders ,who owned the right to make such a rule. The builder, a well known and reputable firm sent me a standard letter concerning removing my fence. I telephoned the CEO in person of the firm to explain I could not afford to have the fence removed and his advice was to ignore the whole business and the resentful neighbour too, and carry on as I had been doing.

The prevalence of T.canis in foxes in Europe was found to be 34.6% in a recent study so even if no dogs used the park, it would not be T canis free.

A perfect example of Irrelevant Whataboutery! 🏆

My daughter’s street is all open front lawns. No fences permitted. When I take my grandchildren out for a walk I’ve always discouraged them from stepping on someone’s lawn. Likewise if I’m walking their dog, I wouldn’t dream of letting him walk on a neighbour’s lawn.

However, it’s a common sight to see folk strolling aimlessly with their dog at full length on and extending lead. The owner usually giving their full attention to their phone while the dog strolls across every lawn in the street. Rude and entitled dog owners who often give responsible ones a bad name.

I have to say I don't like this habit by developers of forbidding owners from enclosing their front gardens. I looks very neat in the plans, but real people don't live on a plan. They have children who need to be kept safe from wandering and keep pets that could run under a car if a door is open, New-build back gardens are usually a size for fairies to sit daintily in.

A medium-height fence and gate defining the property edge mean that no-one can assume that the tempting lawn seen on the other side is not private property. That applies equally to lazy dog-owners and to youths on mountain bikes, leaflet distributors taking a shortcut and potential burglars taking a closer look through the windows.

valdavi

You have just suggested I train the dog to use the garden. He often does, & guess what - it's lawn.
The prevalence of T.canis in foxes in Europe was found to be 34.6% in a recent study so even if no dogs used the park, it would not be T canis free.

That is fine, Valdavi - it is your garden, so you are aware of what goes on in it and can clean up, and you can children off aanywhere that needs a clean, but allowing a dog to foul lawns belonging to other people is not fine. That is what this thread is about.

100 - 34.6 is 65.4 Nearly two thirds of the soiling in Europe is not by foxes, and that doesn't refer to Britain.

The area in front of our house is as the OP describes, with numerous trees. Less than 50 yards away is open country. Dog owners still allow their dogs into our PRECIOUS lawn, (which cost nearly £700 to returf) to wee and poo. When challenged, most owners tell me it’s ok because they’re going to pick it up. My reply ‘It’s my lawn and your dog is trespassing, if you can’t stop it from going onto my lawn, then your dog is not under control and I can report it’. That usually stops any further arguments.

No, I'm not.
I meant the dog owners.

Why would they cause bad feelings about them, and their dog, sooner than pick up after themselves

Its beyond me.

MissAdventure If you are talking about a "precious" grass owner, of which I am one, I cannot physically do that—I would fall over. I use a walking stick, but that does not help my mobility problems that much.

I don't understand why someone would sooner cause bad feeling, and argue their rights, than bene down, scoop up the poo, and put it in their bin.

Elegran is certainly not rude.

I am partially sighted and occasionally miss bits of dog poo on the pavement.

I certainly do not want a dog peeing or pooing on my "precious" open-plan front lawn, and I am not allowed to have 10-foot-high fencing.

mabon1

You are rather rude.

😂😂😂 Priceless!

You have just suggested I train the dog to use the garden. He often does, & guess what - it's lawn.
The prevalence of T.canis in foxes in Europe was found to be 34.6% in a recent study so even if no dogs used the park, it would not be T canis free.

Hard surfaces are easier to clean than grass, and on pavements there is no danger to dog or owner, whereas dog excrement is a potential health danger to humans as well as an unpleasant addition to a garden or playpark. It doesn't seem much to ask owners to train their dogs not to use lawns as loos, just as they are trained not to use rugs, carpets and bedding in their owners' homes.

mabon1

You are rather rude.

Who, me? I am not rude to other posters. I state facts in a straightforward way, but I don't rant at people. If you are shocked that I have used the words "dog shit", then you have lived a very sheltered life. It is a word that goes back hundreds of years, which is used by many people. I have read ruder words on Gransnet, and heard worse in real life.

And as another poster has remarked, there's a real immediate danger to life for both owner and dog if I moved the dog into our road to do his business.

Also there are dog poo bins all around our walks, which actually do smell even to humans. Do the dogs go there? No, it always seems to me & other dog owners that they go in the furthest removed place. There's certainly not a hotspot.
Cats will use a soiling place repeatedly. Dogs obvs cock there leg & scent mark where another dog has done the same. But in all my experience I haven't found that dogs use a popular soiling spot outdoors (of course, if it's a patch of grass next to a block of flats they will but that's owner-determined). Happy to be corrected on this...

I worm my dog every month along with his flea tretment, from the vet.