Dog Turds

paul

Moderator
[Split from litter thread as its turned into a dog turd discussion. ]

Yes, I often pick up bits of litter when walking here in the Peak. In my opinion banana and orange peel is also litter. Even if they do eventually rot away, that can take many, many months as nothing eats them.

What I really cannot understand is dog walkers picking up dog sh*t in a small plastic bag, tying it up and then hanging it in a bush just at the height of any passing inquisitive children as well.  :mad:
 

RobinGriffiths

Well-known member
I think the psychology is that they like to be seen as responsible dog owners, but once they think no one's looking, they get rid of the bag. That doesn't explain the penchant for hanging the bags off branches or fences though. I saw a bag hanging off a branch under the Froncystyllte Aquaduct a while ago, and in order to that, they'd have had to climb over a fence in order to do so, so there must be something else going one, maybe some strange exhibitionist or anti-authority thing ?
 

paul

Moderator
Possibly just chucked over fence and ended up on branch? I would rather they just flicked the crap out of the way with a stick rather than sticking it in a plastic bag and leaving it. At least then it would gradually disappear.
 

Vulcan

Member
Sometimes when walk the dog if we are walking back the same way we will hang the bag on a tree etc too avoid carrying the poo around for the entire walk. However we will always pick it up on the way back past and take it home with us. That might be it (I suspect most people don't pick it up on the way back though).

That said there's no excuse for being lazy and not taking your litter home with you - the people who drop it must have carried it up in some sort of bag so why not take (the now lighter empty packet) down in the same bag? The number of remote spots I have picked up litter is worrying high.
 

paul

Moderator
Vulcan said:
Sometimes when walk the dog if we are walking back the same way we will hang the bag on a tree etc too avoid carrying the poo around for the entire walk. However we will always pick it up on the way back past and take it home with us. That might be it (I suspect most people don't pick it up on the way back though).

I think the problem is that others see the "bundle" hanging on the tree not realising it will be collected and then hang theirs up but leave it there. Why hang it up anyway in full view if you are going to collect it later? Why not place it somewhere more discrete and pick it up later? Just a suggestion.
 

Vulcan

Member
paul said:
Vulcan said:
Sometimes when walk the dog if we are walking back the same way we will hang the bag on a tree etc too avoid carrying the poo around for the entire walk. However we will always pick it up on the way back past and take it home with us. That might be it (I suspect most people don't pick it up on the way back though).

I think the problem is that others see the "bundle" hanging on the tree not realising it will be collected and then hang theirs up but leave it there. Why hang it up anyway in full view if you are going to collect it later? Why not place it somewhere more discrete and pick it up later? Just a suggestion.

Typically we leave it only leave it for 1hour or so max. If it's too well hidden then it will be temporarily forgot answer end up walking back to get it.

We have never had anyone 'add to the collection' when we do it. In any case if they did we would take both back with us.
 

SamT

Moderator
Sorry - but I dont care if you only leave it for 10 minutes - its still unsightly, and spoils the walk for anyone else out and about.

Really - take a step back and look at it objectively, your hanging a plastic bag of shit, in a tree.  And you think its acceptable.  :confused: :blink:

It makes my flipping piss boil when I see it.  When I had small children, I did not just let them shit on the grass and leave it, I did not dump their nappies at the foot of gate posts, let along hang it in a tree, be it for 10 minutes or not. 

Its abhorrent behavior that somehow so called civilised folk have rationalised in their head that its ok.

If the police see a gent pissing in public, its considered an offence and they'll usually be pulled up and charged.  But dogs - ahhhh - look at its cute little fluffy wooffy face (as it pisses up the side of a litter bin)

[/rant]

 

BradW

Member
I'm with Sam on this one. Is it so horrible a thought to carry a bag with a turd around in it? So horrible a thought that it's better to display it in a tree, where, as is clear, many simply get left behind. Stop doing it and others won't copy.
 

JasonC

Well-known member
(y)  Glad I'm not the only canophobe ;)


Actually (and before all you dog-lovers get your machine-guns loaded) it's dog shit, piss and slobber I don't like, not the dogs themselves...
 

tony from suffolk

Well-known member
Whatever happened to those white crumbly dog turds you used to see everywhere? Another of life's great mysteries.

Like others, I'm completely befuddled by people who think it's OK to hang their doggie bags in bushes. Perhaps they think the poo fairy will come along and carry them off to dogshit heaven? We've two dogs here in very rural Suffolk, both of whom are trained to venture out into the fields to do their business, which eventually disappears into the soil. I hasten to add, our local farmer is fine with this (although dogshit isn't recommended as a fertiliser). We spend half our time in the Lake District, & up there, unless the dogs wander off into dense undergrowth, we pick up the poo. I don't like doing this (although it makes a useful handwarmer in the cold weather), but these are public spaces and it's illegal, as well as very unpleasant for others, to leave dog poo in such areas; all a part of being a responsible dog owner. Perhaps those who decorate bushes think they're avoiding prosecution by doing so? Perhaps they are.
 

RobinGriffiths

Well-known member
The paucity of white dog turds appear to be linked to the rise of the supermarket, and demise of the family butcher. I think dogs get those chewy things these days rather than a big beef bone.

Interestingly the Egyptians set great store by the healing powers of white dog eggs; often mixed with honey to treat throat inflammation, or on the skin to heal wounds. It was also used for dressing leather.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but back in the 70s, didn't you find dog turds on pavements with a lolly stick stuck in them?
 

Aubrey

Member
One of the great things about caving is you don't get dog turds underground.  (y)

p.s. this is a caving forum,?
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
I find it disgusting to think of now. But when I had a dog, I used to kick the poo under hedges, It seemed to be a good idea at the time.
If I looked at myself now, I'd probably think it was a tad scrubby.

But then I'd only do it at the start of the walk, it would have time to rub off the wellies before the end.

If it did one thing, it saved on plastic bags.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Out of interest, thanks to those dog-owners who aren't insane, and actually do take their pet's crap home with them, or dispose of it in a dog-litter bin - where does it end up? It's far too meaty to be used as fertilizer, as pointed out already, but is there a process used by councils to render it more useful? I know human waste can be converted to bio-fuel and compost, but we're far more omnivorous than dogs. And what about cat-shit? Given that almost all is 100% meat-derived, and if dumped in a litter tray ends up as council-collected refuse, I presume this either ends up as landfill or is incinerated. But cats also shit a lot in people's gardens.

On a recent 2-mile walk in some local woods I came across 13 separate shit-bags swinging in the breeze. I counted them on the return journey as I'd been so astonished on how many I'd seen on the way out. I agree with one of the posts - this is very conflicted behaviour, I believe caused by some weird anti-authority impulse triggered by countryside exposure. Social pressure (and CCTV) in urban areas shames most folks into picking it up. Out in the woods, they feel a little bit naughtier and like to rebel - they still bag it up like good citizens, but then that nasty side pops out and they fling it, as they hate carrying the stuff around really. There's a lot of very slightly mentally-ill people out there.
 

tamarmole

Active member
RobinGriffiths said:
The paucity of white dog turds appear to be linked to the rise of the supermarket, and demise of the family butcher. I think dogs get those chewy things these days rather than a big beef bone.

Interestingly the Egyptians set great store by the healing powers of white dog eggs; often mixed with honey to treat throat inflammation, or on the skin to heal wounds. It was also used for dressing leather.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but back in the 70s, didn't you find dog turds on pavements with a lolly stick stuck in them?

I think white dog turds may have had some commercial value; possibly in the tanning industry.
 

Vulcan

Member
pwhole said:
Out of interest, thanks to those dog-owners who aren't insane, and actually do take their pet's crap home with them, or dispose of it in a dog-litter bin - where does it end up? It's far too meaty to be used as fertilizer, as pointed out already, but is there a process used by councils to render it more useful? I know human waste can be converted to bio-fuel and compost, but we're far more omnivorous than dogs. And what about cat-shit? Given that almost all is 100% meat-derived, and if dumped in a litter tray ends up as council-collected refuse, I presume this either ends up as landfill or is incinerated. But cats also shit a lot in people's gardens.

Good question - i'm not sure. At home we put it into to black bin so landfill. I had a quick Google but I couldn't find anything definitive. I mostly found it said incineration or landfill.

As councils are increasingly moving to combined litter/dog poo bins I would guess landfill mostly.

tamarmole said:
RobinGriffiths said:
The paucity of white dog turds appear to be linked to the rise of the supermarket, and demise of the family butcher. I think dogs get those chewy things these days rather than a big beef bone.

Interestingly the Egyptians set great store by the healing powers of white dog eggs; often mixed with honey to treat throat inflammation, or on the skin to heal wounds. It was also used for dressing leather.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but back in the 70s, didn't you find dog turds on pavements with a lolly stick stuck in them?

I think white dog turds may have had some commercial value; possibly in the tanning industry.

Dog turds where use for tanning leather in the in the past, I can't remember if they used white or fresh though. They where rubbed in by hand (what a nice job). It is where the phase tanner's only marry tanner's comes from. I don't know if they are still used, I would have thought they have an alternative nowadays.
 

RobinGriffiths

Well-known member
from Wikipedia:

"After the hairs were loosened, the tanners scraped them off with a knife. Once the hair was removed, the tanners would "bate" (soften) the material by pounding dung into the skin, or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Bating was a fermentative process which relied on enzymes produced by bacteria found in the dung. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were those of dogs or pigeons.[2] Sometimes, the dung was mixed with water in a large vat, and the prepared skins were kneaded in the dung water until they became supple from bacterial enzyme action, but not too soft. The ancient tanner might use his bare feet to knead the skins in the dung water, and the kneading could last two or three hours. This combination of urine, animal feces, and decaying flesh made ancient tanneries malodorous. Children employed as dung gatherers were a common sight in ancient cities. Also common were "piss-pots" located on street corners, where human urine could be collected for use in tanneries or by washerwomen."
 

Vulcan

Member
From the same Wikipedia article.

To make it even nicer they loosened with urine.

However since 1840 Chromium(III) sulfate is used instead of dog poo.
 
Top