Most of us have been there at one time or another.

That boak inducing moment when you step in dog poo.

Whatever good mood you may have been in has been completely robbed by the stinking mess that now adorns your shoe.

But what do you do about it? Curse, stomp on, and search for a place where you grimace as you try to scrape off the offending faeces.

This week Peeblesshire News reporter Hilary Scott was chatting doggie doo with Innerleithen Community Council and discovered what they’ve been doing to tackle the poo problem in their town.

DOG owners not picking up after their pets are a blight on all settlements up and down the country.

However, the community council of Innerleithen decided in January last year they had enough - and embarked on a year-long campaign to eradicate dog fouling.

Now, thanks to a successful bid for funding, new bins and bag dispensers have been located throughout the town.

“I’ve always found the notion of dog poo smeared across our streets abhorrent, even as a small child,” said community councillor Jackie Couchman.

“Innerleithen has a high density of dogs in a relatively small area which magnifies the issue.

“Most dog owners are responsible and pick up, a sizeable minority do not and, it would seem, will not. I thought it was worth a concerted effort to see if we could make a difference to the state of our streets to benefit everyone. I was prepared to make a personal commitment of time and effort to this cause.”

The project got off ground last January when Innerleithen community councillors made the decision to try and rid the streets of dog mess.

Reflecting on the actions they undertook, Jackie said: “I became involved after Gordon Daly taped plastic bottles to lampposts to dispense free poo bags to those in need.

"Susan Meikle and I offered to help these from supplies Gordon had procured from the Dogs Trust.”

The following month, the community council was encouraged by local authority councillors to apply for funding through the Localities Area Bid Fund.

“This concentrated my mind and I took it upon myself to complete the application with offers of help from both a previous applicant and The Bridge,” said Jackie.

“We heard our project had been shortlisted to be put to the public vote in time for our May community council meeting.”

But the timetable for the public voting process was disrupted by other political happenings, and after a tense wait and a flurry of activity to encourage voting, good news was delivered.

Jackie added: “We heard our bid was successful in time for our July meeting.

"Various conditions had to be met before the funds could be released, including 10 percent of the amount applied for supplied by us, copies of our constitution and accounts.

“Having won the funding, final details of ordering, delivery, installation and maintenance had to be agreed.”

Whilst waiting on the new bins to arrive, the community councillors did not rest on their laurels.

With the help of SBC leader Shona Haslam, Jackie and Gordon stencilled anti-fouling signs on problem pavements in Innerleithen.

Community councillors also mapped out locations for the new bins and Scottish Borders Council agreed to install these and remove or relocate the redundant ones.

“Operationally, the local authority agreed to provide the litter bags and to replenish the poo bags with us taking responsibility for funding them,” added Jackie.

With the bins now in place, the community council is due to meet on Monday to discuss further fundraising initiatives.

The town’s community council, in particular, the poo-busting trio of Jackie, Gordon and Susan, have worked tirelessly this last year to combat the dog fouling issue in Innerleithen.

Nevertheless, inevitable questions remain.

Will they no longer witness the flattened deposit bearing the imprint of a shoe, the stressed parent quickly steering their child away from the offending brown mess, or irritated adult repeatedly scraping their foot off a kerb?

Probably not says Jackie, adding: “Was it worth it? Yes.

"And in the shorter term it has made a difference.

"Longer term, my feeling is that it will depend on continuing effort and collective ownership of the problem. People have generally been very supportive although every post on social media has triggered ‘they won’t ever pick up comments’."

Despite the campaign Jackie says it’s unlikely that everyone will become law abiding citizens and pick up after their dog, but says she’d do it all again in an effort to keep clean the streets and grass verges of the bonnie town she resides in.