Dog poo sacks along trails: Why?

[Lurch]

What makes you guys so sure the business in the bag is from a dog?

[kaltbluter]

Good point, maybe they are bags of cookies left behind by trail angels. Better start checking those baggies for trail magic.

[BigBear]

Trail magic, huh? I guess its doorstep magic when its flaming paper bags on your doorstep, right? (stomp hard)

[kepPNW]

LOL @ Peabody

HA! Indeed!!!

My guess is they were going to pick their bag on the way down (and some probably forget or can't find it). Otherwise I don't understand why they'd bother using plastic bag in the first place, if they planned to leave it

My theory is, someone saw the dog squat, so the attendant stooped to scoop to avoid social scorn. And then flung the burden at first opportunity. I think we all behave in this way, under varying circumstances, the only exceptions being saints and sociopaths.

EDIT: I see Guy already said my say. Should've read first, then responded.

While Mr. Peabody's post made me laugh out loud I've got to agree with Adam.

Also I don't think the majority do forgot, they put it in the bag because they don't want people to see them letting their dog poop on the trail but then when they come back down they no longer have to take ownership of it, nobody knows it belongs to them.

Double-Yep!

[retired jerry]

"What makes you guys so sure the business in the bag is from a dog?"

They have those bags at trailheads

I've seen dog owners picking up poop, turn inside out, and knot

I dog sitted once and did it myself

[aspen 20]

We were on the trail by sunrise with no other signs of visitors and those bags were prominent. People are forgetting them or just not retrieving. The bags hidden behind logs were the obvious pricks. I don't have an issue with dogs but I have never hiked in a place with so many doggy bags and lack or pets on leashes than the Columbia Gorge.

[Aimless]

I happen to think that there is no valid excuse to leave a poop bag behind, vowing that you'll pick it up on the way down. This is mere rationalization for shirking one's responsibility.

If you bag your dog's poop, then it is directly in your possession and under your control, and if you carry it with you, it remains so until you can finish your responsibility and dispose of it properly. The moment you leave it behind, all of this becomes a matter of chance. You might forget about it. You might look for it and not find it because you forgot where you put it. Another animal might move it. It might get kicked. You have no idea what will happen because you've refused to retain control of the situation, even when you easily could have.

And for whose benefit did you make this dubious choice to leave the poop's fate to the vagaries of chance? Well, one thing is certain, it wasn't for MY benefit! Or your dog's, either.

[ThePortlandeer]

On my way up a trail, I move bagged dog poop from discreet locations along the side of the trail right into the middle of the trail for all to observe. I figure this will either dissuade people from doing it because they see how it ruins the natural beauty of the trail, or at the very least it will be a not so subtle reminder to pick it up on the way down if it's yours.

On the way down I'll grab one or two if it looks like it was bagged properly and I have space for it. They tend to be light bags unless someone is hiking with a wolfhound or the like.

[OldHouseMan]

On my way up a trail, I move bagged dog poop from discreet locations along the side of the trail right into the middle of the trail for all to observe. I figure this will either dissuade people from doing it because they see how it ruins the natural beauty of the trail, or at the very least it will be a not so subtle reminder to pick it up on the way down if it's yours.

On the way down I'll grab one or two if it looks like it was bagged properly and I have space for it. They tend to be light bags unless someone is hiking with a wolfhound or the like.

Funny, I have been doing this too. I don't pick them up on the return though.

[200,000']

I started noticing this a few years ago and it's become common wherever there's a trail. After ATV's it is truly one of the stupidest outdoor trends I've ever seen. Feces decomposes. Quickly. But wrap it in plastic and it becomes a two-fold problem - preserved feces and plastic.