Dog walkers mess.

It would appear that my house is located on a road that is a circuit for dog walkers. About 3 times per week I have to deal with a large dog dropping either in my garden or on the footpath just outside my house. To date I haven't been able to locate the dog owner as I would dearly love to return his property to him/her. Interestingly I have observed the technique used by dog walkers not to clean up after their dogs. There is the obvious night time walker who can hide under the cover of dark. Then there is the person who walks their dog on quiet roads with big walls that they can hide behind. I saw recently an older woman carrying the plastic bag accessory that gives the impression that she was cleaning up after her dog. She was walking through Deerpark in Mount Merrion. After her dog had finished she bent over using the plastic bag pretending that she was cleaning up after it but didn't. Then casually walked away leaving the mound behind. There is also a neighbour who leaves her house with the plastic bag already full ? certainly looks good.

It's an unfortunate situation. If you catch someone in the act you have to confront them head on.

A couple of years ago I had an altercation with a middle-aged couple whom I caught permitting their dog to foul a green area near my house where children frequently play on. I had previously spotted them 'at work' the previous month but was in someone else's car at the time.
When taken to task, they tried to brazen it out and when that didn't work, the man decided to throw a punch at me. Luckily I possessed a modicum of self-defence skills and easily parried it while delivering a return blow to his jaw.

While they left the scene without attending to the mess, they have not been back and the problem has righted itself. As there were several instances of dog dirt in the vicinity prior to our encounter it can reasonably be assumed that they were responsible.

Dog walkers mess

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Are you saying that the dog walkers are doing a poo on your pavement!?

we've had this before but under a different guise ie dogs loose. Its against the law the have a dog out for a walk without a lead, so it shouldnt be too hard for the dog warden to spot them. but I suspect that most dog wardens pass their time as league of ireland referees ie blind.

Confront them, it's the only way. Dog Wardens are a waste of time as they can only do anything if they spot them "in the act". We had ongoing problems with people walking dogs past our house and letting them do the business on our front lawn so we confronted every single one we spotted, usually we would ask them would they appreciate it if we wandered down to their homes and took a poo on their lawn! It astounds me that some dog owners think it is perfectly acceptable to all the dogs to do it wherever they feel like it and not clean up after.

I have found a good dosing of Jeyes fluid around the outskirts of the garden area seems to put dogs off using our lawn, we spray once or twice a week and for now it seems to be doing the trick.

We have tried the Jeyes fluid but unfortunately the smell of it is so strong it can be sickening. Our main problem is that we can never catch the dog owner while their dog is doing their business. I don't want to get in to mounting a 24 hour watch and becoming obsessional about the thing but having to clean up after someone else's dog is disgusting.

cuchulainn said:

we've had this before but under a different guise ie dogs loose. Its against the law the have a dog out for a walk without a lead, so it shouldnt be too hard for the dog warden to spot them. but I suspect that most dog wardens pass their time as league of ireland referees ie blind.

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This is not correct. It is not against the law to have a dog out for a walk without a lead.

"Your dog must be accompanied by and be under your effective control or the control of another responsible person if it is outside your home or premises or the home or premises of the person in charge of it. "


There are some areas where bye-laws exist but generally on a public road, your dog does not have to be on a lead. It must simply be under your control. There are some breeds which must be muzzled and on a lead and those are listed on that oasis page also.

However, not cleaning up after your dog is a littering offence of course and it is disgusting.

There is a bit about littering there also:
"You can make a complaint to the District Court under the litter laws against an owner or someone in charge of a dog who allows that dog to foul public places and who fails to act responsibly. Before you do this, you must first inform the dog owner of your intention by completing a special form available from the Dog Control Unit of your local authority"