I ran into a member of the poop patrol today when out walking Snowy

[mnhtnbb]

and I so wished I had been quick with a one up response.

Background: I've been walking Snowy in my neighborhood at least 3 times/day for the 6 1/2 years we've had her since we adopted her.
I always carry a baggie and always pick up after her.

There are a LOT of other dogs in the neighborhood. I know the owners aren't picking up after all of them, because we see the results.

Still, I was astonished to have this older woman (and I'm 65) accost me--while Snowy was just sniffing a spot of grass--and ask me what I was going
to do to pick up after her. I couldn't have been more astonished, since all she was doing was sniffing.

What do you say to someone like that? I blurted out, "she didn't do anything...what's your problem?"

Later I thought I should have asked her where she lived so I could deposit the proof of picking up after Snowy on her porch and show her
that she could be confident that her poop patrol efforts were well rewarded.


Then I wondered if this was an example of the new NC neighbor: totally obsessed with bathrooms and defecation.


Anybody else with pets ever encountered someone like this? What did you say?

[Turbineguy]

1. In Singapore

years ago a policeman came up to me to remind me not to spit on the sidewalk. All I could offer him was an astonished silence.

[mnhtnbb]

7. Years ago I lived in California--Woodland Hills--and would walk my then dog (also a rescue)

at a park just outside our condo development every morning before going to work. I always carried a baggie and picked up after Honey.

One morning--about 6 am--we were walking and I noticed a car sitting on the other side of the park.
When Honey stopped to do her thing, the car started up and raced toward us. I pulled the baggie
out of my coat pocket, picked up after her, and deposited the bag in the trash can. I think the
poop patrol car was very disappointed he didn't get to come write me a ticket or warning or whatever.

[intheflow]

2. There was a woman in my old neighborhood

who I'm pretty sure did nothing all day but watch out her window to make sure no dogs peed or pooped in her yard. Like you, my dogs would just be sniffing - like they did at every other house on the block - and she'd be out her door screaming at us. Happened two or three times before I just started walking my dogs on the other side of the street. But really. My dogs were probably only sniffing where other dogs had already peed, probably after their owners were so annoyed at that lady they walked their dogs at midnight and trained them to pee on her flowers.

[mnhtnbb]

8. See my response to Tobin

[Orrex]

3. Does it seem like an unreasonable question?

"Just sniffing" is often a precursor to "shitting in the yard," so I don't see how the woman is out of line for asking.

As for what you might say, well, that depends on her general attitude.

If she's friendly, you might simply gesture with the baggie and say "I got it covered."

If she's rude, then you can wave the baggie and say "I don't carry this shit-sack for my health, you know."

[mnhtnbb]

6. I thought it was extremely rude of her.

Dog walking is 98% sniffing. Anyone who has walked a dog knows that.

Generally, in the south, people greet each other when they pass by. In my 6 1/2 years of dog walking here, I have
never before encountered someone who, rather than say 'hi' accuses me of not cleaning up after my dog because
she is sniffing the grass.

[Orrex]

10. Well, which is it?

Did she accuse of not cleaning up, or did she ask what you were going to do about it, as you described in your OP?

The difference is significant, because I don't think it's at all unreasonable to ask what someone is going to do about their dog's shit, especially if the homeowner has had a problem with other people's dogs shitting in their yard. You're taking issue with her shitty tone, while she's taking issue with actual shit in someone's yard.

The right answer, in terms of politely defusing the situation, would be to say "If he poops, I'll clean it up." Then, if she says something additionally shitty like "You damn well better..." or "I'll believe it when I see it..." then she's proven herself the asshole, and you've proven yourself polite.

In short, I don't think she was rude, based on how you described the situation in your OP. I certainly wouldn't object if someone told me not to let my animal shit in somebody's yard.

But even if she was flat-out rude, you gain nothing from challenging her about your dog's shit.


What you could do is sneak back to her lawn after dark tonight and take care of business yourself. She'll never see that one coming!

[mnhtnbb]

12. She had assumed my dog had pooped in the yard where she was smelling

and that I wasn't cleaning it up. She didn't know what she was talking about and it wasn't her yard. Her tone
was not polite. It was accusatory of me not being a good neighbor.

[Orrex]

14. I will defer to your assessment

And I will reiterate my suggestion that you visit her yard after dark.

[MH1]

21. In her defense ...

From your description in the OP, SOMEBODY is being a crappy neighbor. (pun intended.)

Yes, she probably shouldn't have assumed it was you. If I happen to notice someone letting their dog squat in my yard, I try to discretely pay attention to whether they pick it up or not. But we don't have a big problem with that here. (Cigarette butts are a MUCH bigger problem. I'm not sure why people seem to know that they need to pick up dog poop, but seem to think it's ok to drop their cigarette butts on someone's lawn or the sidewalk.)

So I agree she was being a bit rude, but maybe she was just having a bad day. You can be the bigger person and just let it go.

[Tobin S.]

4. I kinda know where she's coming from.

That kind of thing doesn't bother me anymore but it used to a long time ago.

I owned a house with a nice yard about 15 years ago. It seemed like every time I put my trash out I would find a huge dog turd right where it was supposed to go. I would clean it up and next week it would be right back there. There was also a neighbor's cat who would come over to my yard and root around in the mulch of my landscaping. Both of those things pissed me off to no end.

I'm much more easy going now days, but I can see how the woman in your post might be pissed off.

[mnhtnbb]

5. It was not her yard because I know the guy who does live there.

Several years ago a guy in the neighborhood put out a sign that literally referred to dog shit. Not poop, not turd, not feces,
but big sign that said something to the effect of "clean up the dog shit". This was across the street from a house
with an elementary school age kid in it. It was also at the time when anyone driving through the neighborhood to
look at a rental or house for sale would have seen the sign because the only way out of the neighborhood was past
this house.

I would see this guy watching us walk by--and he'd be yelling in his front window--to clean up the dog shit!

I called our local community police person--with whom I have a relationship--and asked her to visit the guy to tell
him to remove the sign. She did--and he did.

He has a dog. I see him walking his dog. I have NEVER seen him carrying a baggie with the results of the dog's walk in it.
And neither he nor his dog are friendly when Snowy and I pass by him and his dog.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

28. I feel the same way. I'm a dog owner and always pick up after her.

I pick up after her on walks and at the dog park where lots of people seem to think its ok to leave poop - It's not.

But I swear I was close to going all ninja and hide in the bushes to catch the person leaving dookies outside our building's back gate in the alley. Same spot two or three times a week. I thought I had her one day when I saw a woman walking a big dog (these are big dookies) stop in the exact spot. She saw me and yanked the dog along.

I get it. My dog has a spot where she goes 100% of the time if she passes that spot. And the offender probably justifies not picking up because it is an alley. But my neighbor's and I park their cars there and have to walk over it every day.

The worst is when people leave the dookies on the sidewalk. On my block, most lawns have iron fences aroun them and there is no parkway grass.

[mackerel]

9. Shake the bag in front of her

and say, "to answer your question, I always come prepared."

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. In Rowlett Texas my sister was busted for this offense by a neighbor

He called the cops and they had a nice investigation. She was charged and had to go to court. She now has a genuine criminal record as a result of her doo doo boo boo.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Wow.

That's harsh.

Our neighboring town, Carrboro, has an ordinance requiring dog walkers/owners to pick up feces. I don't know what they
do to people who refuse to comply and whether there are any cases of criminal charges being filed. Our town, Chapel Hill, does not
have that ordinance (I just checked) but does encourage picking up dog poop.

[The Second Stone]

15. Is this a paid job or a hobby for you?

Would you like to take pictures?

Some people have nothing to do and get worked up about shit.

[LanternWaste]

22. Kinda like you're getting worked up about the response?

Kinda like you're getting worked up about the response? Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

(insert distinction lacking relevant difference below to maintain pretext of holding others to a higher standard than yourself)

[dembotoz]

16. i understand the need for remove fecess but give some folks a bit of power and you get mini hitlers

they do not make enuf chill pills

as to whether this will breed a new bunch of bathroom monitors ala N C

i do hope that if confronted i would be able must the self control required to pee on the monitors feet

[3catwoman3]

17. I must admit that I find it on the rude side...

...if someone lets their dog use my yard while I am out in said yard at the same time. If I were the dog walker, I'd be inclined to move on a house or two.

I am a cat owner, so I don't know - is there a basic etiquette to letting one's dog "take care of business" in front of a property owner?

[mnhtnbb]

18. Dogs tend to go where they want to go when they need to go

but they sniff everywhere. I always pick up after Snowy when she goes in anyone's yard.

What I really dislike are the joggers who take their dogs with them and leave the dog droppings in
the street because they are too preoccupied with their run to stop and pick up after the dog.

My dog was sniffing. The woman who accosted me was out for a walk: she did not live in or near the house
of the yard where Snowy was sniffing. In fact, she is new to the neighborhood and I don't know where she lives.
I have seen her a couple of times when I was out walking Snowy.

Interestingly enough, when I was researching the ordinances for picking up after dogs, although my town
does not have a law to do so, it does have a law that makes it a misdemeanor for cat owners to
allow their cats to use any neighbor's property repeatedly (flower gardens, sand boxes, etc).

[3catwoman3]

24. Our cats are indoor cats, so they do not bother anyone.

)Except my husband sometimes - )

We actually had to put up a fence to keep our new neighbor's giant German shepherd from leaving his equally giant calling cards in our back yard. My husband spoke to the guy several times, all to no avail. The neighbor's solution was that we should get some of those little plastic flags on the thin metal stakes and go around our yard and mark his dog's leaving so he would know where to come to clean up.

I don't think so.

His wife has been rather cool toward us since the fence went up, claiming that we couldn't be sure it was there dog, because "there are all kinds of dogs running loose." Out village has a strict leash law, and there are NO dogs running loose except theirs.

They are generally not great neighbors in other ways. Their daughters have a little motorized car that they regularly drive onto our front lawn. The guy mows his lawn at 9:30 at night. He repairs noisy diesel trucks in his driveway around midnight.

We miss our former neighbors dreadfully!

[mnhtnbb]

25. We had a neighbor like that whose lot was

adjacent to ours. He let his dog out to run around--inevitably in our yard--to do his thing. He actually asked me one time,
"what's the matter, don't you like my dog?" I told him I didn't like his dog crapping in our yard. He was surprised I was so blunt.

We didn't have a dog at the time. After we adopted Snowy, we fenced a part of our backyard so she could have some outdoor
time.

The guy was annoyed.

[Dreamer Tatum]

19. YOU said that plenty of dog owners don't clean up after their dogs

yet you get all butthurt that someone dares ask you if you intend to clean up after yours?

What makes you so special?

Maybe she's as tired of dog poop around the neighborhood as you are.

[magical thyme]

20. the problem is the people who don't pick up after their dogs

I have 2 dogs and live in the country, so when they poop on walks it's not into people's yards. But when I take them into the local towns, I make a point of picking up after them. Also when I take them to the beach and to the local pond. At the pond and in town there are fines for leaving dog poop.

Unfortunately, especially at the pond, other people do not pick up after their dogs. It is unsanitary and unfair to everybody else. I certainly did not appreciate stepping into dog poop in the middle of the dirt drive to the boat landing last summer!

I would have simply pulled out the bag and let her know I'm not an offender.

While she shouldn't have used any tone with you, her question was unfortunately reasonable. Not because you are negligent, but because others are and they give dog-owners a bad rep.

OTOH, if you think that was bad, a few years back I was walking my dog in a nearby town. He sniffed at a flower bed and a woman ran out of the store and screamed abuse at me to not dare let my dog crap in*her* flowers. He wasn't going to crap in them, had already dropped a poop appropriately and I had collected and disposed of it properly.

Turned out the screaming headcase was the store owner. Thing is...they aren't *her* flowers. They are donated and maintained by the Master Gardener Program...of which I was a member at the time! So technically they were *my* flowers. And by design we put enough mulch down to soak up a ton of dog pee. And there's one jewelry shop in Rockland, Maine that I will NEVER purchase from, ever!

[mnhtnbb]

23. I agree with you. I don't agree that the answer is for anyone walking past a dog

to assume authority for demanding the dog walker be accountable to the person nosy enough
to want to know how/where/when any dog poop might be removed when all the dog is doing is sniffing.

Who appointed this woman Queen of the Poop Patrol?


1)There is no ordinance in town requiring dog owners to remove dog poop.

2) It is a voluntary, neighborly thing to do to remove your dog's poop when walking
around the neighborhood.

3) I am probably one of the most conscientious dog owners around when it comes to picking up
after my dog.


I was genuinely curious how and why other dog owners might respond to my OP.

I have decided that if I encounter this particular woman again and she insists on trying to make me accountable to her
for how/when I pick up after my dog, that I will respond by telling her to

Get a life!

[gratuitous]

26. Is agreeing with her out of the question?

Is it out of the realm of possibility to respond mildly and say, "Yeah, there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners around here. The evidence isn't hard to find. {Bring out poop bag} But I'm always prepared on my walk. {Return poop bag to pocket} You have a nice day."

[Demonaut]

27. good for her

[a la izquierda]

29. We have online poop nannies here...

My community has a Facebook page and everyone whines on it. I have three dogs, and I even pick up the 5# chihuahua's rabbit poo. But most of my neighbor's don't and its gross, but I'm not going to yell at someone about it.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

30. My suggestion

"I don't answer insulting questions from rude people."

[we can do it]

31. Why not have YOUR dog shit in YOUR YARD? (Your dog is what I meant, my pets stay inside)

Last edited Thu Apr 28, 2016, 04:50 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm really sick of hearing how people "pick it up"....Do you wipe your ass after you poop? Cause when I do there is always evidence, so I am sure you are leaving some on the other person's property. I crawl through my garden weeding at the edge of my yard and am sick of smelling like poop and pee. I try to grow organic and use my lawn clippings as mulch, I really don't want dog shit on my salad.

Go ahead and scream at me now.

edit for spelling which changes meaning

[mnhtnbb]

32. Mending Wall

Mending Wall
Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.'
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.'

From The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1916, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1949, © 1969 by Holt Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Copyright 1936, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, © 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 by Robert Frost. Copyright © 1962, 1967, 1970 by Leslie Frost Ballantine.

[B Calm]

33. I'm on morel mushroom patrol and I think my neighbors dogs

are eating them before I find them. Had a big yellow morel on the edge of my yard or the edge of the woods I left yesterday, now this morning it's gone. Do dogs eat wild mushrooms?

[mnhtnbb]

34. I don't know. But I would guess squirrels and deer would. Maybe even rabbits?

Even though we are in town, we have a horrible deer and squirrel problem when it comes
to keeping critters out of veggie gardens. My husband's garden is totally wire enclosed--top, too--
to keep the squirrels, birds, and deer out of it.

On edit: google is so much fun

http://www.michiganmorels.com/funtalk/showthread.php?t=17112

[Orsino]

35. "Nothing that should trouble you" is probably a more polite response...

...than "none of your business."

[Demoiselle]

36. I NEVER walk my dogs without picking up their poop. But there are people around here who let it lie

I hate it!!!!