She had to step around dog mess 11 times during a 150m walk to the dairy.
"I have slipped and twisted my ankle on the poo before."
Ms Cowan, who isn't a dog owner but has experience walking her parents' dogs, said there was an simple solution to the problem.
"The thing is it's not hard to have a plastic bag on you, and there's got to be a rubbish bin around somewhere." But dog owners weren't picking up after their pets on Shakespeare Rd, she said.
"One time leaving the house I did see a lady who didn't pick up after her dog.
"Then of course it rains and the whole footpath becomes a spotty mess."
Ms Cowan said she hadn't complained to the council about the poo.
A Napier City Council spokesman said there is a $300 fine for people caught not clearing up after their dogs.
A council bylaw states: "The owner of any dog that defecates in any public place or on land or premises other than that occupied by the owner shall immediately remove the faeces and dispose of them in a hygienic manner."
The council had received a complaint from a resident on Bluff Hill recently and sent out an information pamphlet to dog owners in their registration pack.
Ms Cowan isn't the only Napier resident to complain about careless dog owners.
A texter said to Hawke's Bay Today: "Each morning a person walks a big dog along Neeve Rd, Taradale. This dog does a giant poo on the berm or footpath.
"Would the owner please clean up the mess. We know who you are now!"