Hi all,
We have a public footpath running through our land - old farm land - which we have no problem with as it is mainly very local dog walkers using it. We have a dog ourselves so very dog friendly.
However, the land was unused for quite some time and people have got used to allowing their dogs through without being on a lead.  We've found crap in the garden and a brand new line of lavender plants is already 60% dead due to dogs peeing on it when they come past.  It runs along the right of way.
We don't want to come across heavy handed but at the end of the day these people have a right to walk through the drive, not use it as a toilet and it is private garden.  Would a carefully worded sign annoy you if it were you walking through with your dog?
We're starting to get really hacked off with the complete lack of respect.
Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

I would put up signs requesting people pick up after their dogs as it's your driveway and to keep dogs on a lead until they are away from your garden. Not sure if it will work but it might make people think. I wouldn't have any objections to complying with signs if I was walking my dog

Do you have a Parish Council?  These are often great people to talk to about ROW issues with locals.  Your Local Authority will also have a Footpaths Officer who you can consult, and who can give you advice about your obligations as a landowner, and what you have a right to expect from walkers.  Your footpaths officer will also be able to give you practical support such as new signs and sometimes monies toward gates and stiles.

There are very clear guidelines about what you can plant nr to footpaths, whether you can plough or disrupt the soil, how quickly footpaths have to be restored afterward etc.  Try having a look at DEFRA for additional information too.  In practise though, planting nr to a regularly walked footpath is asking for dogs to mark - it's just what they do - although a native hedge will be more hardy.  Whatever you decide to plant, do take care not to fall foul of the guidelines about acceptable widths/distance etc as you'll find some helpful resident will report you and get planners involved...

I used be a Parish Councillor and I had special responsibility for footpaths in our village so I completely understand where you are coming from.  You are well within your right to ask people to keep their dogs on a lead and to pick up after their dogs.  The correct signs from the Council will help or you can lift some of the wording from the Dog Control Orders in place in your region.  You might also be able to ask your Parish Council to help you get a dog waste bin sited nr the access to your land.

Finally if you have a Village Magazine or town or village website, you might also be able to get something in there.  I manage our village website and I'm always pleased to get letters about dog poo!!  Saves me from always having to be the one to say it :)

The actual footpath goes directly through our drive from one end to the other and the drive is approx 5 metres wide so there is no good reason for the dogs to be anywhere near our garden which runs on both sides.  The garden is not technically the side of the path so to speak. Thanks for your advice, didn't realise there was a local footpaths officer with the council so will speak with them. Thanks

Someone has recently bought an old farm building on the start of a well-used footpath for walkers.  This has been used for centuries but when the new owners did up the building as a house and garden they put a notice out on the grass at the side of the house(not actual garden) to keep dog off as they don't pee on our gardens.  Made me think twice as it was a much frequented toilet stop for all the dogs that walked there. (First bit of greenery after getting out the car).  I now keep my dogs on a leash till we are through the first gate now and well away from the house/garden.  Anyone with any regard for others would respect a well worded notice as they might not notice where the dog is going.
This couple also got dog bins put in across from this grass so people had somewhere to put the baggies, which helps a lot.
Once dogs start marking territory like that though, it is very hard to stop them going there unless they are on a lead, tbh.

I've had the same problem so to speak. Dogs fouling on the footpath outside of my house and in my front garden.

I contacted my local council through this website....

http://www.fixmystreet.com/

I received an email the following day from my council. I wanted to clarify with the council that i would not be contravening any by laws if i erected posters on wooden boards in my front garden making dog walkers aware that their dog poo was not welcome on the public foot path outside my home and on my property. The council were absolutely fine with this. I also spoke to my neighbours as neither of them have dogs and i didn't want offend them but i'm glad to say they were all for it.

It has to be said there has been no poo since the signs went up but i suspect the offenders may have changed their walking route.
This is what i wrote on my poster, A4 size....

DOES THIS BELONG TO YOU?


Dear dog owner,
Almost every day now I find a pile like this on the pavement outside my house and my neighbour's house.  It always seems to have come from the same dog? Is that your dog?
Not only is it against the law, your dog waste doesn't disappear by magic. I clean it up.
IF YOU CAN'T CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR DOG YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE A DOG - SIMPLE!
Please take responsibility for your dog, it doesn't know any better. YOU SHOULD DO!
PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG!!!

I went to google images and found some very good posters which have been used by various councils up and down the country.
I hope you find a solution soon.

As a daily user of a huge range of public footpaths, I would be MORE than happy to see signs reminding people to pick up their poo, to avoid having their dogs wee on certain areas etc.

I really appreciate public footpaths (particularly ones with Radar key gates that I can access with my mobility scooter!!!)  and absolutely detest having to wash dog crap off my scooter wheels, off my own feet or pick it out of the paw fur of my fluffy dogs. I always pick up wherever they go, no matter if thats a pavement or a path across arable land - the only exception is if they wedge their butts so far into the hedgerow or nettles that I can't safely get at it (and most times then I'll find someone elses to pick up, theres usually some around!)

Don't want to hijack your thread but do you or anyone else with a public footpath on their land know how the funding works if you are replacing say a style or kissing gate with one accessible to wheelchairs/scooters using a RADAR key.. or does this vary from area to area?

Contact your council and ask to speak to a countryside warden if you are in a rural area as they will be able to help both on advice on what you can do and maybe what they could do about the dog fouling and also about funding for the gate.

I had a chap come out to see me a couple of years ago about an issue on the state of a footpath and he was really good and did the liaison with the landowner and got the problem sorted .

My son rents the fields adjacent to my house(very peppercorn rent) the bottom field has a PROW  that runs across it My son runs summer store cattle on these filelds after cutting the grass for organic hay Despite plenty of polite notices  requesting folk  not to allow their dogs to run free and to pick up any fouling to  very little avail i took to walking the fields at peak dog walking times (early mornings and eveneings duly armed with a camera . When a person allowed their dog to foul  I would photo the act, then appraoch the person enquiring about their dog and if they were enjoying their walk MOST REPLIED `Oh yes its so lovely` To which my reply ` Yes it is apart fom the crap you have allowed your dog to leave I would then show therm the photo and ask them to remove offending pile explaining that the fields were being cut for hay / or that cattle were  going  in them  and would they like it if their organic hay was contaminted by dog crap  Plus as I had a photo of their dog in the act I WOULD CONTACT LOCAL DOG WARDEN IMMEDIATELY
adding that their lack of duty could result in a fine of up to £1000
Most were appologetic and complied
My advice is plenty of signs and observation