So, a common complaint, that folk walking their dogs do clean up behind them then tie the full bags to trees or branches.
Why?
It’s not something that happens here. Folk do clean up but don;t do the tree thing.
So this interests. What is it that folk think they are doing? Sure, I grasp that it’s silly and stupid. But what is it that the folk who do this think they are doing? What’s their justification?
Why tie to a tree?
Not even, well, that’s a good idea or a bad idea. But what is it that they themselves think they are achieving?
Tie them? Or just attempt to throw them over the hedge and miss?
Sometimes it seems to be because there isnt a bin nearby. However some are too lazy even when the bin is further along and others too lazy to pick up on the path next to the bin. For those people I dont know the reason why but they need piles of the stuff dumping outside their doorstep.
It’s fairly standard practice for people walking dogs in the fields near us, when burdened with a bag near the outset of their walk, to leave it a tree by the path for collection and disposal on the way back.
Human nature being what it is, the problem sets in when less conscientious dog-walkers see the parked bag and put their own alongside it, never to return.
Virtue signaling?
The worst thing they don’t need to use them in the countryside. Just get a stick an flick it off the path.
BiND
Indeed. I see this when walking past huge piles of cow, horse, deer and other assorted animals poo out in the New Forest. As if a bit of dog poo is going to make any difference.
Is it intended as a blow against tree-huggers?
– that folk walking their dogs do clean up behind them then tie the full bags to trees or branches.
My guess is that particular behaviour is akin to a hillbilly being forced to comply with a law and then spitting on the ground in front of the cop; a combo of chickenshit defiance, insult and territory marking.
Of course, in a way (like graffiti and similar petty vandalism), there’s a healthy aspect to it in a highly regulated society. But one shouldn’t credit scumbags with much more than scumbaggery.
“Indeed. I see this when walking past huge piles of cow, horse, deer and other assorted animals poo out in the New Forest. As if a bit of dog poo is going to make any difference.”
Umm, yes it will, especially in places where everyone takes their dog for a shit. For one thing, dogs being carnivores their poo is far more toxic than that from herbivores. It can contain the worms that cause toxocariasis in humans, and it also can contain other parasites that cause diseases in farm livestock. The soil in land that has heavy dog traffic can become contaminated and the entire field become toxic to livestock.
https://www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot/sites/default/files/2018-09/Risk%20of%20the%20spread%20of%20disease%20in%20livestock%20from%20dog%20faeces%20-%20Briefing%20note%20for%20Access%20Authorities.pdf
So basically pick your dog poo up and put it in a proper bin for safe disposal. We in the countryside don’t want it any more than you do on your lawn.
The standard explanation is (i) leave the bag near the scene of the crime so you don’t need to Carr it around and (ii) tie it to a tree so it is both visible to you and not liable to be trodden on
And Jim – yes indeed. The public parks in Austin point out the dangers of horrid infected high density dogshitfor streams and the like
‘ BiND
Indeed. I see this when walking past huge piles of cow, horse, deer and other assorted animals poo out in the New Forest. As if a bit of dog poo is going to make any difference.
Because dogs are carnivore and their excrement is quite different and unpleasant to herbivores which you will find out if you pick up dog droppings and smell your hand, then pick up horse droppings with your other and smell your hand. You will also notice that when you put down the dog excrement it is smeared over your fingers, but no trace of horse excrement on your other hand.
If handling it is a bit too much, then put your left foot in dog-poo, right foot in horse muck then see which is easiest to clean off and on which shoe odour lingers.
As a horse owner, I did routinely pick up horsey nuggets with my bare hands, but I wouldn’t touch dog mess.
i always surmised it was new walkers who expect a bin and pick it up with a bag, then can’t find a bin and go…i’m not taking this home in my pocket.
Is a protest at the lack of convenient bins in the wild?
Nothing will grow under dog shit.
Cow shit is fertiliser.
The dog population grew by over a million under lockdown. And we are supposed to be surprised there are a million + pig ignorant dog owners?
With all this dog stuff it seems to be a modern thing. I don’t remember having to look out for dog shit when walking home from school in the ’70s. What changed?
I’m glad to hear Portuguese dog owners do the right thing. Five years ago, I had a touring holiday in Spain, and broke the journey at Perpignan, just because I’d never visited. It’s a very nice spot, but like most places in France, you can’t look up to admire the buildings, because you have to watch out for all the dog shit on the pavement (despite loads of signs, bins etc).
Cross the border to Zaragoza and the streets are spotless. Why? I’ve never seen the Spaniard as a naturally law-abiding type, rather the opposite. perhaps our Spanish correspondent could shed some light?
Maybe the Iberians are too lazy to take their dogs for a walk and just let them shit in the yard.
Or too lazy to own dogs.
@Chris Miller
I think it’s because they feel a certain ownership for public spaces. It’s remarkably common to see shopkeepers sweeping the pavement outside their shop. Even washing it. A lot of householders do the same thing.
And, of course, where they’re starting from. City where I live, the streets are washed every night. That’s after their swept. So the place is extraordinarily clean. Even the poor areas of cities are.
Contrast the places in London I’ve lived. The last, Bayswater, was pretty good. But it’s Westminster & I was only 100 yards from the park. Tourist land. Crouch End was horrific. A street just off the Broadway in a place that’s largely restaurants & bars. Where half of North London goes out for the evening. Ample dog shit. Maybe they swept my street half a dozen times a year. (The amusing time was the bloke trying to do it with half an inch of black ice on it, trying to prise up bits of paper with his stick. Never thought to grit it, although there was a plastic bin of the stuff at the end of the street) Sweep it myself? Too engaged in clearing the front garden of pizza & burger boxes & beer cans. And a woman’s handbag been snatched & rifled more than once. Came out one evening & there was a woman squatted down behind my car, having a dump. So not just dog. Why do you think I moved here?
France? Paris. It is dog poo country. But then again the Poo Patrol. Guy on a bright green motorbike. Freezes it solid with liquid nitrogen, scoops it up into a bin on the back. (Lille had one as well. So did Bordeaux.) Dunno what it’s like now though. Since the Hiidalgo vache’s been running it. Pretty bad I’m told. Socialist of course. French villages are usually spotless & shit free. Ownership of public spaces again.
Maybe the Iberians are too lazy to take their dogs for a walk and just let them shit in the yard.
Or too lazy to own dogs.
You’re kidding. The place is infested with them. Mostly small one who go for weekly beauty treatments & wear canine apparel.
jgh said:
“With all this dog stuff it seems to be a modern thing. I don’t remember having to look out for dog shit when walking home from school in the ’70s. What changed?”
Completely the opposite in my experience. On my walk to school in the 70s, the pavements were strewn with dog shit; despite mostly taking care it was very common to end up with some on your shoes. These days, hardly any, at least not on pavements.
Apparently the oft repeated line by ‘observational’ comedians – ‘Where did all the white dog poo go?’ is down to the fact that dog food in the 70s was full of bone meal, which after being passed through a dog and dried out in the open air turns white, as its mostly calcium. Nowadays bone meal isn’t used in dog food, hence why dog poo doesn’t turn white any more.
Another little bit of data to support the ‘We are considerably richer than we used to be, whatever the usual suspects say’ argument – we are now able to afford nutritionally correct dog food.
Dunno where jgh grew up. Sounds very odd.
At the risk of turning into Gillian McKeith;
Swapped our dog from the generic stuff plus biscuits onto raw meat (we get it from the butcher, usually, minced up off cuts). Several advantages, it calmed her down (a bit), the shit didn’t stink so much, plus, she could process the whole lot (given a certain amount of exercise) such that she wouldn’t need to take a dump for days.
There’s a certain amount of cereals or rice in the generic stuff, which seems to be the problem. That and not enough proper exercise, at a guess.
Thanks very much BiS – I knew you wouldn’t disappoint! And Tim got a column out of it, so it’s all good.