Dogdirt Capital of the canals

[dor]

I used to think that between Henhull and Nantwich was one of the worst. My son counted over 200 heaps (the things the young do) about 10 years ago. It is much better now, but the towpath is used generally much more now so I think that helps. The worst place in this area is on the Llangollen just south of Burland; much used by dog walkers but not many others. Seems to me that dog owners will tend to leave it if they think no one will see them.

[carlt]

Seems to me that some dog owners will tend to leave it if they think no one will see them...

...and others are just as disgusted by the practice as some people who don't have dogs.

[PaulG]

Never mind dogs. Went up the Farmers Bridge flight last September and there were piles of human poo and drugs paraphernalia everywhere.

[dor]

..and others are just as disgusted by the practice as some people who don't have dogs.

 

Quite right. I'm sure I meant to write "some" in there.

[jonathanA]

another vote for skipton visitor moorings. Despite poo bins lots of dog mines laying around for the unwary...

 

last time i was there I found one on the deck - clearly a pooch had crept on, cr**ped and crept off....

 

also seems to me that owners of 'bigger' dogs seem to pick up more than owners of "rats on string", who seem to think the smaller quantities of faecal matter make it less of a problem or/and pretend they haven't noticed the dog doing what comes naturally.

 

We are owners of two 'poo machines' and I never leave the boat with the dogs without a pocket full of nappy bags although another recent thread suggested that 'stick and flick' is now more accpetable for disposing of the results of cannine defecation.

 

I've also found a couple of 'walnut whips' on the foredeck, but that turned out to be a neighbouring boats cat and they were mortified and immediately offered to clear it up and went and got some cat repellent spray to stop it happening again.

[Lady Muck]

pretend they haven't noticed the dog doing what comes naturally.

 

If they were to try that in London, (I'm thinking of somewhere posh, like Highgate Woods), they'd be mown down and battered to death by a pack of Ugg wearing yummy mummies with their £999 Bugaboo designer prams.

 

Probably.

 

Even Akita and Pitbull ridden Tottenham Marsh has very little dog poo as does the towpath.

[mayalld]

This will probably be controversial, but in our travels from about as far South as the Thames to about as far north as Middlewich / Northwich, I would say that the whole problem is much worse in the North of that area than in the South.

 

Well, as a northerner, I would naturally wish to vehemently argue against that dreadful slur on the north.

 

Sadly, however, I can't, and I would like to throw my (not inconsiderable) weight behind Martin to say that Lock 16W on the HNC is indeed the single worst location that I have ever encountered.

 

We've also encountered a close second place this weekend, having ventured onto a bit of towpath that we seldom actually walk.

 

Leaving Buggy to return to New Mills, the kids shouted from behind that they were having problems (nothing serious, just a broken fan belt), so we pulled up just past the bypass bridge on the main line to effect repairs. The whole grass section alongside both boats was littered with dog crap. We were grateful that the grass was fairly short to give us a chance of avoiding it, and really feel for the guys who cut the grass here.

 

This is a lovely stretch of the canal, with a couple of liveaboards opposite who keep everything pretty tidy over there, spoiled by the inconsiderate.

[bizzard]

When i was a kid playing in the street was fraught with the dog pooh problem,it was litter-ally everywhere,nobody ever bothered to clear it up, it just remained there Bluebottle ridden and stinking until it became hard and bleached white by the sun.And we rarely went home without having trodden or fallen off our Go-carts onto it.

These were the days when lots of what seemed to be stray mongrels trotted about with great purpose,but were friendly little fellows.This was down in the south but general in all urban areas throughout the country,i stink.

[Nightwatch]

When i was a kid playing in the street was fraught with the dog pooh problem,it was litter-ally everywhere,nobody ever bothered to clear it up, it just remained there Bluebottle ridden and stinking until it became hard and bleached white by the sun.And we rarely went home without having trodden or fallen off our Go-carts onto it.

These were the days when lots of what seemed to be stray mongrels trotted about with great purpose,but were friendly little fellows.This was down in the south but general in all urban areas throughout the country,i stink.

Correct. However I don't know about your last two words of the post.

 

Martyn

[PilgrimFather]

Stourbridge flight...great festering, stinking piles of the stuff.

[Naughty Cal]

You're all wrong. IME the worst place of all is the Aire and Calder towpath in Knottingley.So bad its like a game of stepping stones. What used to be an enjoyable walk has been ruined by a handful of dogwalkers who don't pick up. I agree with Alan and Cath. There is a North South divide when it comes to poo.

 

They must have cleaned it up when we were there at Easter

[Lady Muck]

Or maybe the big dog with the overactive bum that does the huuuuge orange poos has died.

[Naughty Cal]

Or maybe the big dog with the overactive bum that does the huuuuge orange poos has died.

 

Maybe

 

Although the towpath was looking really very clean so I expect there had been some kind of tidying session very recently

[Athy]

We were grateful that the grass was fairly short to give us a chance of avoiding it, and really feel for the guys who cut the grass here.

 

 

Indeed. There are few smells as distinctive as that of freshly minced dog dirt.

[Guest]

Lady Lane Bridge on the Stratford... when I moored there last year the locals were piling baggies up against the bridge.

 

Parbold visitor moorings used to be pretty yuck as well.

True, that's where I live. Not as bad these days, 'cause they have put bins up, but still could be better.

[Rural rebel]

Logan street. On the market harborough arm anyone!

[madcat]

The more the irrisponsible dog owners allow their pets to intrude upon and spoil the pleasure of others the harder it will become for responsible dog owners to get along. My dog owning friends are equally fed up of unpicked up dog crap everywhere.

[carlt]

the harder it will become for responsible dog owners to get along.

I've never had any trouble getting along...Then again, I take my dogs out to give me and them some exercise, not to make any lifelong friends.

 

I don't really care if a complete stranger is misjudging me, to be honest.

[Doorman]

I see my post title has been edited. Not quite sure why, the S word in that context is surely not obscene nor offensive nor a swear word, merely commonly used slang. For the record, I consider dog dirt to be those annoying muddy pawprints and hairs left by the barking beasty brigade, not a euphamism for what comes out of their posterior. I wonder if faeces or excrement would have been acceptable, being the "proper" words for it? Funny how lots of personal abuse goes uncorrected, but that word is clearly banned on this forum! Never mind, I will get over it!

 

Sometimes, the message (or title) has to be direct, in order to leave an appropriate inprint on the mind's of the offenders.

 

 

 

It's a great pity that responsible dog owners are invariably, or even often blamed for the irresponsibilty of others. Where we are presently moored, dog walkers are sometimes to blame for leaving their pet's outpourings as a legacy for towpath walkers to 'enjoy'. It is probably us, as boaters with hound dogs as part of the crew, that get blamed for the idle ways of others!

[mickspangle]

I do sometimes wonder what our canine friends make of the fact that their owners pick up their dog toffee and keep it in plastic bags. If someone followed me around putting my poo in plastic bags and then carrying it around I'd assume they thought I was some deity.

 

I also wonder what archeologists will make of the civilisation that used to put dog poo in bags and then put it in the ground...

[Doorman]

Some will disagree on my North/South divide, no doubt, but we do a fair amount of boating, and every time we go further North to places like the otherwise beautiful "Four Counties" we always note a lot more uncollected dog crap.

 

Hi Alan,

 

As a seasoned boater, have you also noticed the prevalence for licence evasion down South in comparison to up Norf?

 

Our very experienced boaty friends always comment about the shortage of valid boat licences when they venture through the southern regions.

 

 

 

I also wonder what archeologists will make of the civilisation that used to put dog poo in bags and then put it in the ground...

 

I believe that their findings will confirm that those who bothered to tidy up after their pets where just that, civilised.

 

 

Mike

Edited May 24, 2012 by Doorman